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Went to Gettysburg but didn’t stay long…..I was using Gypsy (our Nuvi GPS) to help us get there – and back. There must be a new interchange right by Harrisburg as both coming and going we ended up going the wrong way and had to back track. Gypsy’s fault not mine. Though I should add if I’d told The Driver to follow the road signs instead we would have been fine. But I have started to trust Gypsy too much.
Arrived at Gettysburg and visited the visitor center downtown. Got a map and of course some “stuff.” Then out to the National Military Park. Again stopped at the Visitor Center there. As we headed towards the buildings of the center we walked through fields of flowers. Such a beautiful sight in such a horrible place. The entire Gettysburg campaign (from June 3 to July 14) was responsible for over 52,000 casualties – all Americans. Once in we walked around looking at things then got tickets to view the film “We are Met on a Great Battlefield.” The story of what led up to the war and reenactments of the days of the war. How sad. Then to see the Cyclorama – a sound and light show of a spectacular 377 foot in the round painting of Pickett’s Charge. I can’t even imagine how the real battle must have sounded.
One thing brought up that I’d never thought about was what was left after the armies left. The wounded from those three days in Gettysburg exceeded the total population of the entire county. Also thousands of animals were killed. Hospitals had to be set up, the dead had to be buried and in some cases reburied. Most of the buildings of the town had been damaged in some way. Fences had to be rebuilt. And for years plowing the fields remained a hazardous task due to live artillery shells lying around.
There is an auto tour that one can take of the entire battlefield. We had bought a map at our first stop. But we were both bummed out by what we’d seen and heard in the film and neither of us were too enthused about driving over the ground. Thinking about it now though I wish we had. But we’ll be here several more days so maybe we’ll go back for the drive.
Today started out dark and dreary and then poured. Now the sun is trying to come out.
As you can see I’ve started a new blog – one that I’ll use for traveling here in the US and I’ll keep the other for travel out side of the US. Right now I’m just learning how to manage it. It will probably be a work in progress for a while.
Arrived at Gettysburg and visited the visitor center downtown. Got a map and of course some “stuff.” Then out to the National Military Park. Again stopped at the Visitor Center there. As we headed towards the buildings of the center we walked through fields of flowers. Such a beautiful sight in such a horrible place. The entire Gettysburg campaign (from June 3 to July 14) was responsible for over 52,000 casualties – all Americans. Once in we walked around looking at things then got tickets to view the film “We are Met on a Great Battlefield.” The story of what led up to the war and reenactments of the days of the war. How sad. Then to see the Cyclorama – a sound and light show of a spectacular 377 foot in the round painting of Pickett’s Charge. I can’t even imagine how the real battle must have sounded.
One thing brought up that I’d never thought about was what was left after the armies left. The wounded from those three days in Gettysburg exceeded the total population of the entire county. Also thousands of animals were killed. Hospitals had to be set up, the dead had to be buried and in some cases reburied. Most of the buildings of the town had been damaged in some way. Fences had to be rebuilt. And for years plowing the fields remained a hazardous task due to live artillery shells lying around.
There is an auto tour that one can take of the entire battlefield. We had bought a map at our first stop. But we were both bummed out by what we’d seen and heard in the film and neither of us were too enthused about driving over the ground. Thinking about it now though I wish we had. But we’ll be here several more days so maybe we’ll go back for the drive.
Today started out dark and dreary and then poured. Now the sun is trying to come out.
As you can see I’ve started a new blog – one that I’ll use for traveling here in the US and I’ll keep the other for travel out side of the US. Right now I’m just learning how to manage it. It will probably be a work in progress for a while.
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