Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Lexi
“Road trips should be illegal so soon after breakfast,” I declared, getting in the back seat of Gray’s car and buckling in. “You guys know I have somewhat of an issue with car sickness.”
“It’s been two hours since breakfast,” Gray said. “We can’t wait forever on your stomach. Roll down the window. But I’m warning you, do not throw up in my car. Is that clear?” She pulled onto the Atlantic City Expressway with military precision.
“Crystal,” I replied. “But where were you when Basia, Gwen, Elvis, and Finn all threw up in my rental car on the day before my wedding?”
“I still thank God I missed that,” Gray said pointing to the sky. “But the rule still stands. No puke in my car from anyone…or else.”
“Fine,” I said, rolling the window down and sticking my head out. The wind was cool and felt good. My stomach seemed fairly stable, so that was a good sign.
“I’m so excited,” Gwen said. “Batsto Village sounds super interesting.” She wore a light brown coat with a bright red, yellow, and orange scarf wrapped around her neck.
With her matching red hair, she looked like the living embodiment of autumn.
“Just think. Historic charm, fall vibes, and educational enrichment.” She toasted me with her pumpkin spice latte.
“I’m looking forward to it,” I said. “I just wish we could transport there.”
Basia laughed. “It’s going to be a lovely drive, Lexi. Relax.”
It wasn’t hard to follow her advice. The drive was pretty, even though most of the trees were already bare.
Distracted by the lovely view, my stomach didn’t give me any problems. By the time we hit Wharton State Forest, I had to admit the drive had been easy as promised.
I hadn’t expected the village to be so rural, but it was located right by the forest.
As we got closer to our destination, Batsto Village nestled against the trees and the gentle hills behind it looked like a time capsule with quaint wooden colonial-style buildings, historic signs, and dirt sidewalks.
We exited the car and made our way to the visitor center, where we bought tickets.
There weren’t many tourists and no kids in sight.
I guess November wasn’t exactly high season for the village.
After a brief discussion, we decided to tour the glassworks first, where molten sand shimmered in glowing orange furnaces like mini supernovas.
Two men and a woman were working intently on the glass.
Dan, our guide for the glassworks, lit up as he explained the process of blowing glass with eighteenth-century tools.
Gray and I leaned in at the exact same time. “So, they achieved those hot temperatures just by using charcoal-fired blast furnaces?” I asked.
Dan nodded. “They didn’t use electricity and had no forced draft. They just used manual bellows and airflow control.”
“Genius,” I said, shaking my head in awe. “Primitive thermal engineering. Seriously cool.”
Behind us, Basia yawned audibly. “You two realize you’re geeking out over colonial sand, right?”
“It’s silica,” I corrected automatically. “With iron impurities, which gives it that green tint. See?” I pointed at it.
“I’m not sure I understand the exact science of how it changed from sand to glass, but I’ll be the first to say the results are amazing,” Gwen said. “The blown glass is stunning.”
Basia nodded and rubbed her belly. “I agree. The glass is gorgeous. That vase would look lovely in my living room. But also, how long until we visit the gift shop, and is there a bathroom nearby?”
Gray and I exchanged a glance as Dan told her where the restrooms were located. Gwen looped her arm through Basia’s.
“I’ll take her,” she said. “You two can continue to geek out.”
“Hey, I’m not geeking out,” Gray protested. “I’m absorbing interesting information.”
I rolled my eyes at Gray. “You are geeking out. Thanks for taking Basia, Gwen. Gray and I will head to the ironworks. You can meet us there when you’re ready.”
“Sounds good.”
We stayed in the glassworks a bit longer before we walked over to the blacksmith, located in a refurbished barn.
As we stepped into the barn, we were immediately met with the strong scent of burning coal.
The forge was located at the center of the blacksmith shop, a brick hearth with a roaring fire fed by the bellows.
A massive anvil stood on a sturdy wooden block, its face marred only slightly from years of hammering.
Along the one wall, a variety of hammers, tongs, and other tools of unknown purpose hung on neatly crafted iron hooks.
The blacksmith, a cheerful man in a tricorn hat and outfit of the era, greeted us and gave a quick technological and historical background. Before I could even ask a single question, he launched into a full explanation and history of Batsto’s Revolutionary War contributions.
“Every musket ball and iron bar was hand-forged right here to help the Continental Army strike for freedom,” he said.
“The history is really fascinating,” I said. “But that blast furnace is amazing technology. The way they channeled the heat upward for even smelting—well, that’s CFD before CFD even existed.”
The blacksmith looked at me blankly. “What’s CFD?”
“Computational fluid dynamics,” I explained. “That blast furnace is like an eighteenth-century version of CFD. Just with more heat, soot, air, and a lot less software. The blacksmiths of this time cleverly manipulated airflow and temperature without ever running a single simulation. That’s genius.”
“I’d assume there was a lot of trial and error,” the blacksmith said.
“That goes without saying.”
We discussed the process for a while before he left to adjust something with an oversized set of tongs.
“Now you are totally geeking out,” Gray said, raising an eyebrow at me. “Extra geeking is happening.”
“Okay, maybe a little,” I admitted. “But come on. You have to admit, this is seriously cool.”
“Yeah, it’s cool,” Gray admitted.
We looked around a bit more before leaving the building and heading for the gift shop, since we hadn’t seen Basia or Gwen return. We still had a lot to see in the village, and that included the town mansion, church, farm, post office, and general store.
“Too bad they didn’t have VPNs back in the day,” I joked to Gray as we left the blacksmith.
“Why?” Gray asked.
“Well, if they did, I’d have been the only witch spared. They’d have needed me for firewall maintenance.”
Gray laughed. “You really are the geekiest person I know.”
“Guilty as charged,” I said with a grin. “And I don’t really mind you saying it.”