We headed to Gettysburg on Thursday, July 31st to go camping for Andrew's 14th birthday. Can you believe he is now 14??? I certainly can't. I have no clue when that happened. It seems like yesterday he was my bubbly, chubby little guy with no hair and no teeth!! Now he is definitely all teen - rolling of the eyes, sighing, arguing, etc. Still a good kid, but I was certainly not ready for the teen years. Anyway, he is really into learning about the Civil War. So, we decided to take him to Gettysburg and go camping. Nanny and Bompa, Morgan, Mom and Jeff and Jennifer joined us for part of the trip. We stayed at
Gettysburg Battlefield KOA. I would highly recommend it. It's a beautiful campground, kept very clean and is close to town. Here is our tent (from another trip - I didn't take any pictures of it this trip):
It rained like crazy two nights in a row. I laid in the tent praying that we wouldn't get wet. Thankfully, we only had a couple drips here and there. We need to set it up in the backyard and use the seam sealer on it. Our biggest concern is trying to figure out how to keep critters out of the screened-in area. We got back from swimming one day and there was a bird in it. We're not exactly sure how it got in. The entire tent was zipped shut. We think it was bopping around on the ground and walked under the bottom. First a skunk and now a bird. What next???
So, we decided to do some sight-seeing while we were there. Of course! Andrew really wanted to see the battlefields. I had never been to Gettysburg and it had been quite awhile since Steve had been. Dad told us to start with the Visitor's Center, so we did. It was nice and they have a ton of stuff, but both of the kids were bored. We didn't stay too long and headed for the battlefields. Andrew loved it! He has been reading about it for so long and now he could put the pieces together by seeing it.
I was really drawn to the fences. I don't know why, but I took a ton of pictures of the fences. I was also surprised by all of the monuments. There were monuments everywhere. To me, it really took away from the area and the history. But, it did help to understand where each troop was during the battle. This statue stands on top of the huge Pennsylvania Memorial. It's a beautiful memorial, but looks so out of place standing in the middle of a field.
We spent quite a bit of time touring the battlefields and driving on the Auto Tour. It was extremely hot and humid, but we had a good time. Andrew just took it all in. I think it was overwhelming for him. On Saturday, Jennifer and Morgan piled into the van with us and we did some more sight-seeing. We stopped at General Lee's Headquarters. It was interesting to see how close his headquarters were to the actual battle going on. He was in plain view of anyone who wanted to send a shot his way. After touring his headquarters, we headed to the
Jennie Wade House. That place was creepy. According to the story, Jennie was the only civilian killed during the Battle of Gettysburg. Seeing where the house was and where the troops were coming from and in what direction they were shooting, it's hard to believe. But, that is the story. Who am I to argue? I took some pictures inside the house, but I get a strange feeling every time I look at them, so I didn't even edit them to add to my
PictureTrail album.
After the Jennie Wade House, we headed to the
Farnsworth House for lunch. Apparently, the Farnsworth House is the most haunted house in the United States. I have no clue if it is or not. We sat in the garden and had an excellent lunch. After lunch, we headed to the Boyd's Bear store. This place was HUGE!!! Grace made a bear and we headed back to the campground. It was pouring when we got there and there were tornado warnings. Great! Steve and I started talking about looking into getting a camper at this point! It finally stopped raining and Dad and Bonnie arrived for dinner. We had a great dinner and even better conversation and company. After dinner, Mom, Jeff, Jennifer, Morgan and Andrew decided to take a ghost tour. Apparently they had some experiences while in one of the houses and in a field. Andrew thought it was pretty cool. While they were gone, we played Nanny and Bompa's favorite game - Sequence. Bompa, Dad and Steve were on one team with Nanny, Bonnie and I on the other. We let them win one game but kicked butt for the rest!! When everyone got back from the ghost tour, it was late and Andrew was going home with Dad and Bonnie. They brought him back Sunday morning (August 3rd - Andrew's birthday) on the Harley's. Of course, they had to stop at the Gettysburg Harley shop first to buy Andrew a T-shirt! This was Andrew's first ride on the Harley. He had a blast! When they arrived, it was time for everyone to go home. Andrew left with Jennifer and Morgan. They had band camp all week. Steve, Grace and I stayed until Tuesday. It was very quiet with everyone gone!
On Monday, I really wanted to find the George George house (my maiden name is George). This is the place General John Reynolds was taken after he was killed in the war. Rumor has it that we are relation to General Reynolds. There are actually a couple rumors saying different things. I have no idea which is true or how to find out. George George is probably no relation at all, but I still think it would have been awesome if both sides had "met" before my grandparents did. Anyway...
After talking to the guy who now runs a business in the George George house, we decided to head to the National Cemetary. This is where President Lincoln gave his famous Gettysburg Address. Then, we went back to the Visitor's Center, but didn't spend much time there. We spent the rest of the day driving through another part of the Auto Tour we had missed before. This is where we saw the spot where General Reynolds was shot and killed. Andrew had wanted to see this spot, too, but we couldn't find it. We will have to take another trip at some point and make sure we get there for him to see it. It was a good trip. There is so much to see and do. We needed more than the 6 days we had. Maybe next time.
It rained like crazy two nights in a row. I laid in the tent praying that we wouldn't get wet. Thankfully, we only had a couple drips here and there. We need to set it up in the backyard and use the seam sealer on it. Our biggest concern is trying to figure out how to keep critters out of the screened-in area. We got back from swimming one day and there was a bird in it. We're not exactly sure how it got in. The entire tent was zipped shut. We think it was bopping around on the ground and walked under the bottom. First a skunk and now a bird. What next???
So, we decided to do some sight-seeing while we were there. Of course! Andrew really wanted to see the battlefields. I had never been to Gettysburg and it had been quite awhile since Steve had been. Dad told us to start with the Visitor's Center, so we did. It was nice and they have a ton of stuff, but both of the kids were bored. We didn't stay too long and headed for the battlefields. Andrew loved it! He has been reading about it for so long and now he could put the pieces together by seeing it.
I was really drawn to the fences. I don't know why, but I took a ton of pictures of the fences. I was also surprised by all of the monuments. There were monuments everywhere. To me, it really took away from the area and the history. But, it did help to understand where each troop was during the battle. This statue stands on top of the huge Pennsylvania Memorial. It's a beautiful memorial, but looks so out of place standing in the middle of a field.
We spent quite a bit of time touring the battlefields and driving on the Auto Tour. It was extremely hot and humid, but we had a good time. Andrew just took it all in. I think it was overwhelming for him. On Saturday, Jennifer and Morgan piled into the van with us and we did some more sight-seeing. We stopped at General Lee's Headquarters. It was interesting to see how close his headquarters were to the actual battle going on. He was in plain view of anyone who wanted to send a shot his way. After touring his headquarters, we headed to the Jennie Wade House. That place was creepy. According to the story, Jennie was the only civilian killed during the Battle of Gettysburg. Seeing where the house was and where the troops were coming from and in what direction they were shooting, it's hard to believe. But, that is the story. Who am I to argue? I took some pictures inside the house, but I get a strange feeling every time I look at them, so I didn't even edit them to add to my PictureTrail album.
After the Jennie Wade House, we headed to the Farnsworth House for lunch. Apparently, the Farnsworth House is the most haunted house in the United States. I have no clue if it is or not. We sat in the garden and had an excellent lunch. After lunch, we headed to the Boyd's Bear store. This place was HUGE!!! Grace made a bear and we headed back to the campground. It was pouring when we got there and there were tornado warnings. Great! Steve and I started talking about looking into getting a camper at this point! It finally stopped raining and Dad and Bonnie arrived for dinner. We had a great dinner and even better conversation and company. After dinner, Mom, Jeff, Jennifer, Morgan and Andrew decided to take a ghost tour. Apparently they had some experiences while in one of the houses and in a field. Andrew thought it was pretty cool. While they were gone, we played Nanny and Bompa's favorite game - Sequence. Bompa, Dad and Steve were on one team with Nanny, Bonnie and I on the other. We let them win one game but kicked butt for the rest!! When everyone got back from the ghost tour, it was late and Andrew was going home with Dad and Bonnie. They brought him back Sunday morning (August 3rd - Andrew's birthday) on the Harley's. Of course, they had to stop at the Gettysburg Harley shop first to buy Andrew a T-shirt! This was Andrew's first ride on the Harley. He had a blast! When they arrived, it was time for everyone to go home. Andrew left with Jennifer and Morgan. They had band camp all week. Steve, Grace and I stayed until Tuesday. It was very quiet with everyone gone!
On Monday, I really wanted to find the George George house (my maiden name is George). This is the place General John Reynolds was taken after he was killed in the war. Rumor has it that we are relation to General Reynolds. There are actually a couple rumors saying different things. I have no idea which is true or how to find out. George George is probably no relation at all, but I still think it would have been awesome if both sides had "met" before my grandparents did. Anyway...
After talking to the guy who now runs a business in the George George house, we decided to head to the National Cemetary. This is where President Lincoln gave his famous Gettysburg Address. Then, we went back to the Visitor's Center, but didn't spend much time there. We spent the rest of the day driving through another part of the Auto Tour we had missed before. This is where we saw the spot where General Reynolds was shot and killed. Andrew had wanted to see this spot, too, but we couldn't find it. We will have to take another trip at some point and make sure we get there for him to see it. It was a good trip. There is so much to see and do. We needed more than the 6 days we had. Maybe next time.
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