Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Today we headed a little over an hour north to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Home of the bloodiest battle of the Civil War where over 50,000 soldiers were killed, wounded or captured during a three day period. We visited the brand new visitor center, then took a self-guided driving tour in our cars. As you followed the nicely paved park roads through the battlefield and town, a CD played in our (air-conditioned) cars and told the story of the battle and had us stop and pull over at key sites and memorials along the way. It was a very pretty part of the country, with over 400 authentic cannons displayed and thousands of memorial markers from small stones to multi-story towers that you can enter like buildings. Also, President Eisenhower's farm is located next to the Battlefield and we got a good look at it from one of the observation towers we climbed on the battlefield. We even ran into a large group of Amish folks who were doing a little site seeing themselves. Here are some photos from the day.

First thing first, let's get a few smashed pennies for the collection!

Cole and Nathan do their own Civil War re-enactment!

Here is the front of the new Gettysburg visitor center and museum. It was very nice and had a great gift shop.

The cousins take the opportunity to get a photo with President Lincoln. No matter how many times I asked, I couldn't get Abe to look at the camera.

A nice photo-op on one of the many well-maintained authentic Civil War cannons.

It was easy to take yourself back in time and imagine what is must have been like during those three days in July of 1863...

One of my favorite memorials dedicated to the New York Army soldiers on "Little Round Top", a key position during the battle.

Cole and Jack pose just below the New York Memorial where the soldiers battled on Little Round Top. Check out the photo below this photo to see what the spot looked like the day after the battle ended in 1863. There is no doubt that this is the same exact spot that the battle was fought.

Even the lichen in the center of the rocks hasn't changed much in 237 years! It really brings history home when you know you are standing in the same exact spot where something famous took place.

Here is the largest memorial in the park, dedicated to the soldiers in the Pennsylvania Army. I suppose it was the largest because we were IN Pennsylvania. The black panels around the base name every soldier from the Pennsylvania Army that participated in the battle.

That's the Horch's black SUV ahead of us, on the road back home. We were all getting hungry, but I sure am glad that he didn't pull off to eat at Opossumtown for dinner. I don't think that would have been a wise choice, do you?