It was a typical day on the front. A battle was brewing, but people continued to live their lives, knowing that the day might well be their last. Women in hoop skirts made meals while the men practiced battalion maneuvers and cleaned their bayonets. No really. This was yesterday in California. SFist decided to celebrate Memorial Day by hitting the Civil War re-enactment at Roaring Camp in the Santa Cruz Hills. We were curious about this event for several reasons, the first being our certainty that there were no battles of the Civil War fought in California (turns out our public education was correct on that point). We also have always been fascinated by extreme hobbies, especially those that involve re-creating stuff. We’ve always sort of shied away from Renaissance Faires (in all honesty they kind of creep us out), but decided that the Civil War was one re-creation we could get behind. Besides, since we already knew the outcome of the war, there wasn’t too much to worry about.

Photos by Travis Cripps