Gettysburg Day 2

Our day two; not the Battle Day 2. 

Very relaxing day...the weather was really nice.  We went to Historic Gettysburg and walked around a bit.  It was not as "tee shirty" as I first thought.  A LOT of the old buildings have been turned into bookstores; small museum type stores.  I couldn't stay in them too long....dark and close. 

I did see a row of books in the window of a bookstore that intriqued me.  So we went inside.  There's a series of books about the "Ghosts of the Battlefield".  Very interesting...I glanced through a page or two and read about some of the sightings people have seen...one in particular in the Valley of Death between Little Round Top and Devil's Den....the very bloody battle that made the little stream run red.  I would not be surprised at a sighting of  the hazy column of mist.....but I would also imagine that the men who participated and/or died in the battle would never want to return...dead or alive. 
I started to buy the book; but after a second thought...decided that I didn't need any reminders of spirits walking around this battlefield. 

After the much needed purchase of a sweatshirt (no, I really needed a sweatshirt!), we went to the Diorama exhibition a couple of blocks down.  The Artillery Ridge Campground gave us complimentary tickets to it.  It was really good.  A miniature layout of the entire battleground landscaped as it was in 1863. The town of Gettysburg was smack in the middle of the battlefield.   Little miniature soldiers (really minature--about 1/2 inch tall) dressed in Union and Confederate uniforms.  Horses, cannons, wagons...the whole show.  We were given about 10 minutes to go around it and view it.  Then we sat on bleachers and watched as a documentary/narrative described the entire 3 days.  Lights went out in the room and as he described each battle, the area was spotlighted on the layout.  At the end of each day, the spotlights went out and the little town buildings lit up inside and there were little red campfires dotted around the countryside showing the encampments around the town.  The area of the battleground covered about 530 acres +/-.  In 2008, the Gettysburg National Military Park had 1320 monuments, 400 cannon, 148 historic buildings, 2 1/2 observation towers, and 41 miles of roads, avenues, and lanes (8 unpaved)--one of the largest collections of outdoor sculptures in the world.

Having been through the fighting..with the auto tour, it helped us understand a little bit more how it all played out.  There is still confusion with all the names of the regiments, men, etc.  but it was a bit of help.  We enjoyed it a lot.  We did learn one thing that we had wondered about:  The lady showed us on the diorama exactly where our campground is located....it is right behind Little Round Top and held Union soldiers.  We had wondered about it and felt that it was probably occupied.    We enjoyed the 30 minute show....it is all just so sad.

Leaving there, we ate a burger and bought a few more groceries.  Last night, at Dobbin House, there was SO much food and we wanted dessert, so, we quit eating dinner, got a take out box for the rest of our steaks and that will be dinner tonight along with baked potatoes and salad.   Dessert was good, too...Ronnie got pecan pie with Haagen Dazs ice cream...I had apple crisp with Haagen Dazs.  I know.....calories, calories...I think we'll have to do WW again when we get home. 

We got back to the RV around 3 and sat outside in the sunshine and 75 degrees and read a while.  There's no one beside us on our "front" side, so we had wide open spaces to view out over this side of the campground (and imagine all the Union soldiers camped out around here). 

Tomorrow we'll leave, after having thoroughly enjoyed this part of our journey.  So far, the top 3 stops that we consider our favorites:  NYC, Bar Harbor and Gettysburg. 

Next stop will be in Virginia at Ft. Chism RV Park near Max Meadows, VA.  Three night stop .

A note on Gettysburg and Pickett's Charge

Had an email  on why they marched across an open field face-to-face at Pickett's Charge....knowing that everyone on the front lines (which changed constantly) would die.....their fighting tactics were patterned after the French.....'nuf said.