Busy Day at Gettyburg

July 1 – Bill set the alarm for 6:30 and it was a bit chilly out and rainy as we drove to Gettysburg.  Not the best start to my day, 6:30 wake up call and a 90 minute drive though hills and narrow roads in the rain.  As we approached our exit there was a sign that the visitor center parking was full and it wasn’t 9:00 yet.   We were routed to the parking lot of the outlet mall where they had a section for Gettysburg Military National Park guest and free shuttles to the park.  Our timing was good as there was a shuttle there as we arrived.

 

Our tour bus

This week is the celebration of the 150^th year since the Civil War battle were here.  http://www.nps.gov/gett/index.htm  It actually was 3 days of fighting: July 1, 2, 3.  We arrived at the VC at 9 and went to Will Call and picked up our tickets for our 10:00 2 hr. bus tour, followed by the movie at 12:30 and then the Cyclorama.  There were a lot of people but nothing like when we got back at noon.  You could barely move and the bookstore was the worst.  The new VC is awesome though.  It is round with the movie and cyclorama in the middle up stairs and the museum is built around it in a circle.  The bookstore, offices, restrooms and meeting rooms are to the outside.

 

One of the Re-enactors

The tour was with a licensed guide who explained the 3 day battle from beginning to end.  We were to made several stops and be able to take photos but there were so many cars on the park roads parked everywhere that we didn’t get to make the stops planned.  I did my best to snap a few photos as we drove by and slowed down.  We did make 2 stops and everyone enjoyed getting off the bus and stretching and taking some pictures.  The guide was very informative and brought diagrams to make it easier to know where we were in relation to the battle lines.

 

After the movie and Cyclorama we ate at the cafeteria there, which was expensive as would be expected.  The variety was good but the food was just OK.  We sat with a nice couple who’d been at the candlelight ceremony last night and were going to the dress ball tonight.  I would have loved to do that but first we didn’t know about it and Bill would never do the clothing and the dancing.

 

Signal Corps

There was a ranger program that Bill wanted to attend so I visited the special event booths and read my book while I waited.  After that we went through the museum, which was a little confusing as to what way to go and turn but it was very interesting.  By then it was about 4 so we ventured out to the shuttle stop with tons of other people and tried to find out which one was the right one.  After standing along the sidewalk waiting with no place to sit, we finally got on a shuttle that was going to 4-5 other stops and then would make a special stop at the mall for those who had been patient waiting.  Sitting on the shuttle was a far cry better than standing in the sun along the sidewalk.

 

The drive home was much nicer and faster than this morning.  We went through Catoctin National Park both ways and want to go back there on another day off.  Since I was really tired I knew I wasn’t interested in cooking dinner so told Bill we could stop at the Cracker Barrel by our exit or eat at the one place in Sharpsburg and he opted for Cracker Barrel.  It’s never been close to being one of my favorites.  Everything is always overcooked and there are rarely any fresh veggies, they’re all from a can.  But, we had a meal and Bill was happy and I didn’t have to cook.

 

We did walk the campground and there wasn’t much trash at all as we didn’t have many campers over the weekend.  I did some crocheting while we watched TV and later we both read for a while.