We got home yesterday from our vacation to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
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We were there over the Independence Day weekend and got to experience the 145th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg.
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There were about 13,000 reenactors there for the celebration. We had tickets for the reenactment on Saturday. It was awesome! The field was permeated with Union and Confederate brigades, horses and canons. There was an added realistic element of fear when one of the horses got spooked and ran full speed across the field without its rider. These soldiers really are serious and also make sacrifices to do this - they stopped the reenactment a couple of times for medical emergencies - it's very easy to get dehydrated and suffer heat exhaustion in a head-to-toe wool uniform. It really makes you appreciate the high price that some have paid for our freedom. My videos did not turn out as well as I had hoped because I was not able to zoom in enough but there are some good videos on YouTube if you search under "Gettysburg 145th reenactment".
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They also had a "living history" area where the reenactors really live like they did in the 1860s. I loved talking with the reenactors - you really get to learn a lot. I learned about the Sanitary Commission, the Christian Commission and how they first started embalming the dead soldiers, just to name a few things. We also attended a Tent Revival church service on Saturday evening.
Monday and Tuesday Mike went golfing with my dad and my brother. You can see the back of our house at the edge of the golf course in this picture. We stayed at a rental home owned by Dale Gallon, a local artist who does civil war paintings. Mom, Kerby and I went into town, walked through the shops and toured the Shriver House while they were golfing.
Other highlights from the week include:
-Getting our pictures taken in period clothing with Mom, Dad, Kerby and Jason (Mike looks so cute as a soldier boy)
-Touring the museum at the new Visitor's Center (excellent!)
-Taking the auto tour and stopping at Devil's Den and Little Round Top and watching the kids climb on the rocks and the canons
-Adventure golf, billiards, Charades, the dice game, Uno, and watching Josiah and "Poppa" have pretend battles with Josiah's soldier men
-Driving around Adams County and visiting a winery and some orchards (I got some cherries and made a yummy pie yesterday)
-And, of course, just spending time with my family and having fun with the kids...
This is all of us together in the house:
1 comment:
Great picture of you and Mike and also of the guys golfing. I'll have to get copies of those :)
Sounds like the rest of your week was fun. did you get a copy of that old time photo??? I bet you guys enjoyed the extended time with mom and dad too!
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