Gettysburg

After sorting through a few morning chores, we completed the short drive to Gettysburg in the late afternoon (passing a few more Amish buggies on the way), arriving just in time for the last movie at the visitors centre! The video presentation was (not surprisingly) on the civil war... Did you know the turning point of the entire 4 year war was at Gettysburg! They told us the structure of both armies, and how they would fight. The next bit was up one flight of stairs it was a cyclorama. A cyclorama is a massive painting that looks so real its like looking out a window... this time it was of the civil war. Fighting, blood and dead people.

[ed... in the late 1800's cycloramas were all the rage. in the days before movies, wealthy entrepreneurs would commission artists to paint scenes on a massive circular canvas, typically around 40' high and up to 400' around. They would then be hung in a circular theatre, & a story told around the painting through the use of audio, with the appropriate section of the painting being illuminated as the story went on. A really famous French artist was commissioned to paint 4 identical cycloramas of the Gettysburg battle, based on actualy photos taken from the top of the hill, and direct survivor accounts. This is the only surviving of the 4 and it underwent a massive 5 year refurbishment together with a new building (circular of course), only reopening last year. The original work was completed only about 20 years after the war and apparently moved veterans to tears with its' authenticity. Really amazing to see from the top of the hill how the battle must have looked from a 360 degree view. And of course really clever audio & lighting made the show really come to life. They said there is actually a cyclorama of the crucifiction in Quebec which has been running continuously since the 1800's - pity, we probably would have made the effort to check it out if we had known.]

We had dinner at the carpark then decided that we would look for another place to stay. On the way there was an accident, me and mum went to help. A young couple in their early 20s hit a piece of ice on the road and flipped on their roof... luckily they were OK! Thanks Lord! The girl was in so much shock she was cold and shivering so we gave her one of our blankets! We ended staying in the visitors carpark over night

We woke up early today so dad could drop us off to do some much needed laundry, and then he could go and do his bus tour of the battle field in Gettysburg (the rest of us weren't that interested in yet more war stuff). We got dropped of at Dolly's coin laundry, ready to face the day. We didn't do much just walked around. Went to a post office, grabbed a Texas hotdog, went to shops all in 2 hours.

There are statues of Abraham Lincoln everywhere - we all loved having our photo taken with Abe! Of course he delivered the Gettysburg address here "four score and seven years ago... blah blah" and we saw the hotel where he stayed the night before and put the finishing touches to his speech. Did you know that Lincoln was assassinated just 6 days after the war was won!

Dad came back right as we had finished washing and drying and folding the clothes. He really enjoyed his tour and wanted to show us some of the interesting things on his trip. So we drove around the same route Dad had just been on and he showed us all the cool sites and more about the war we didnt know. He said the man talked for a whole 2 hours without stopping, he knew everything about it!

He said it was really cool so I will let him tell you more about it!

Ed again... I kid you not, the guide hardly paused for breath in 2 hours and knew every detail of the battle... and I mean everything! Down to which regiment from which area started at that tree line, misunderstood their orders, and charged across that piece of field... only to be stopped when they got to that rock by 1200 dudes from the other side who appeared from behind that little rock wall... and there were 1200 of them instead of 70 because of an incorrect intelligence report. And... all this because a couple on the tour (there were only 5 of us) came form that area. The entire battlefield is covered (and I really mean covered) with monuments to the various division that fought, cannons, fences, and various other relics. The amount of detail that is known about this particular battle is staggering... and for the most part, really quite interesting. It was good to be able to take the others back and pick the good bits out rather than subject them to the 2 hour monologue & pay a bunch of money. So now we can tell you all about Lee, Meade and a bunch of other personalities from the civil war, and really interesting to see Lee's house at Arlington when we get to Washington.

Love Deanna (and your friendly editor)