Gettysburg, PA

Last weekend, after leaving Hershey we stopped by the battlefield at Gettysburg on the way back home. We’d been there a few years ago, but they had built a brand new visitor’s center since then and it was pretty impressive. If you’ve followed this blog for any time then you know that we’ve visited pretty much every Civil War battlefield in the area, which has been a few. Gettysburg, being the most important battle in the war, is by far the best one to visit. Here you can see the High Water Mark of the Confederacy, a stone marker that displays where the war turned around, and the farthest point the rebellion made toward success and a new nation. Lee is still a hero in the south, sometimes referred to as Washington without the reward, but it was here that his army that had always fought outnumbered and against the odds, ran out of luck. It’s been almost 150 years, but it’s still powerful to stand here and see where so many people marched across these fields under fire, knowing they were going to die. If you ever get the chance, even if you don't have any interest in the Civil War, there are plenty of interesting stories and things to see here.


Maybe someday they'll want to visit this place again, or all of the other places we've taken them when they're too young to remember it. But when they're old enough to appreciate it, we won't be able to afford it.

Paul got this Bee hat thing at the Pennsylvania welcome center. I'm still not sure what the bee has to do with Pennsylvania, but here he is looking over the monument at Devil's Den, a bunch of large boulders where some heavy fighting took place.

A short distance from here General Pickett launched his infamous assault on the Union line across this field. When you see how far it is, you have to wonder whether you'd be able to do it. Almost a mile of open ground, under heavy artillary fire and bullets raining down.

This marker denotes where Lee rode out to meet his returning troops after the failed assault.

We had to inform this Southern boy that this is where the Confederacy ultimately lost the war. He didn't take it well. He still gets upset about his state's rights and the dirty Yankees interfering with his way of life.

Adam Michael, being a Northerner, was satisfied with the outcome. The Union was preserved!

We stopped to reflect with Honest Abe about the famous speech he gave here. I could have easily spent an entire day riding around and reading all of the signs, but a quick drive around the battlefield was all we had time for today. It was a beautiful evening though, perfect weather and all. And there's definitely some beautiful country up there, open fields and farm land. I'm sure we'll be back sometime, maybe when the boys really are old enough to be excited about it. If that's something they get excited about someday... but hey, I would be!