Our Gettysburg Trip

Gettysburg 2012

By JT Pilaf

 The trip started out okay but turned into a hairy experience half-way in.   Pounding rain rain greeted us and the wipers couldn't even keep up.  

 Sandra suggested I pull over as others had decided to do, but I was so excited about getting to our destination that I just couldn't allow myself to stop.

 We arrived at Gifford Pinchot SP in Lewisberry, PA to the hot sun and friendly flutterbies.

 It was a beautiful day on Monday so we ate a hearty breakfast and headed to Gettysburg.

 We immediately got tickets to the movie, cyclorama and museum.   Zach loves taking his time absorbing everything.

 After spending some time at the visitor center we grabbed some lunch at the Lincoln Diner where Zach ordered us a "Booth" to sit down in.   He's been waiting for over a year to do that.  We then set out to look for Grampa's brick.

 Found it!  Yahoo!  On the west side of the David Wills House, the third slant in, all the way to the bottom about ten feet from the building.

 After searching for 2 hours and asking everyone in town, we thought it time for an ice cream.  What better place to go than the Cannonball Malt Shop where a the old school house building took a hit on day 1.  The teachers then sent the kids home.  Unckie, is that protocal when under attack?

 

 Gettysburg is incredible.  We really appreciated the park.

 Here's Emma at one of many NY monuments.

 Here's the very first memorial dedicated to Strong Vincent a year after his death in 1864 by his men.

 

 The kids enjoyed exploring.

 Here's a sharpshooter's wall in Devil's Den looking at Little Round Top.  A famous photograph was taken of a dead soldier in front of this wall after the troops hhad left.   The soldier was placed here on the ground for dramatic efffect... like that was needed after the three day battle.

 Sandra tried to sneak up on me in Devil's Den... actually she was freaked out by the fact that the confederates were fighting gunfire from the north and rattlesnakes at the same time.

 We really enjoyed the two days we spent exploring Gettysburg and really appreciated what the battle meant.  It makes you humble.

 I think a lil' bit more can be made out of this.

 In November of 1863, President Lincoln would make a two minute address to the 20,000-30,000 in attendence after following keynote speaker Edward Everett who had just finished his two hour speach.  After there was little response when he finished he thought his speech was a failure.

 The bodies are buried by state.  Some unknowns ended up in different states or on the wrong fighting side.

 I wonder what the soldiers were thinking when they saw this in the evening...