Blogs from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, United States, North America - page 5

We are currently sitting in my cousin's condo in Quebec City after spending a few days at the family "camp" on Lake Memphremagog in Southern Quebec. But let's go back to last week and Gettysburg where I left off before we entered internetless land. As we approached Gettysburg last week, the houses and landscape became more and more historic. We passed open fields and wooded areas with homes and farms dating from much earlier times. The national park surrounding the town of Gettysburg was dotted with monuments and statues honoring the thousands killed during this major battle of the civil war. The main part of town has changed little over the last 150 years and the "Civil War Building" bronze plaques are visible on many of the brick structures in town along with bullet-ridden walls that ... read more

After traveling about 500 miles (and a one night stop over in New York) we arrived in Gettysburg, PA. What a drive! It's just mountains, fields, barns and cows for most of the way. I never knew how rural New York state is! WHOA! We spent the day at the Gettysburg National Park Visitors Center. This is a brand new, state-of-the-art building. The building is very impressive and enormous! Jim and I kept seeing people dressed in period outfits because the reinactment is going on this weekend. We saw a quick movie about the Battle of Gettysburg (for those not history-minded, it was a turning point in the Civil War), saw the museum, and toured the battle grounds on a self-tour. The movie was about 15-20 minutes and it basically was a refresher course on the ... read more

Obfuscator writes: We left the place of which we shall not speak, as quickly as their decrepit laundry would allow. Our destination was the greener pastures of Harrisburg and nearby Gettysburg. We drove for a while to get there, as the route we had chosen between the great cesspool and Harrisburg was chosen not for speed, but for not being a major highway. Harrisburg was much as I remembered it - decaying, shabby, and grey. The National Civil War Museum sits atop a hill near the center of the city. Having arrived on the Saturday before Veteran's Day, we were pleasantly surprised to find that in honor of the holiday, the museum had waived all admission fees. This museum normally costs about $8 a head, but it's worth that cost. It lacks the depth that Onaxthiel ... read more

Harper's Ferry is a National Park with the most historical significance of our trip so far...it's not all about the natural rock formations or the wildlife, but about the events that occured there. Harper's Ferry saw the beginning of great industry in the US, it was the home of the first successful railway, it was where John Brown made his famous attack on slavery, where the largest surrender off Federal troops in the Civial War took place, andwas the home of one of the earliest integrated formal schools for former slaves. All this, and it's a stop along the Appalachian Trail. Whoah! Now it's simply a couple of streets consisting of quite a few one-room museums devoted to all of these different events, as well as food shops, art galleries, and souvineer shops. The armory ... read more

It was sad but so interesting. The tour was a little over 2 hours and I'm pretty sure there was a screw loose in the tour guides head... he was nice at least. It was pretty interesting to be right there where it all happened! I had family who faught there, so... it was just cool overall haha.... read more