It was a fun stay with regular visits to see the alpacas and the pigmy goats. They also had horses, donkeys, sheep and a pig, but the goats were the cutest. They just get running and jumping and hop all over. Hilarious to watch.
Of course our main focus was the Gettysburg battlefield.
The battlefield is seen by taking a self guided driving tour which takes you through the various battles that happened. Did you know that the whole thing only lasted three days? Or that the initial battle, due to some bad Intel, was completely unplanned? Very interesting.
We spent three days there, doing the entire driving tour plus we hiked almost all of the trails. This gave us close up examination of some of the very buildings that were there at the time of the battles. Virtually every building in the area was converted to some type of medical care facility.
From Wikipedia: The two armies suffered between 46,000 and 51,000 casualties, nearly one third of all total troops engaged, 28% of the Army of the Potomac and 37% of the Army of Northern Virginia. Union casualties were 23,055 (3,155 killed, 14,531 wounded, 5,369 captured or missing), while Confederate casualties are more difficult to estimate. Many authors have referred to as many as 28,000 Confederate casualties.
We also visited the Gettysburg National Cemetery. The story here was equally incredible. 3512 from the war are interned here including 979 unknown. Many had been buried elsewhere and later moved to the cemetery. The cemetery, being high on a hill was also an artillery station.
Celebrity sighting: We were walking along the outside of the cemetery, past a public bathroom. Suddenly, a guy stepped onto the sidewalk. He was surrounded by an entourage of men in black suits. Cindy and I looked at one another, both feeling we knew him, but said nothing. The guy smiled, and then he said something to one of his handlers. Hearing his voice we were then absolutely sure... It was Rudy Giuliani. 🤭 He was in town doing some fund raising.
I learned a lot about the Gettysburg battle. It was a brutal battle. Perhaps the most awakening for me was just how many similarities there are between this civil war and our current political and social climate. This was a frightening example of what can happen when the division of our citizens is allowed to go to extremes. I have to admit that I fear we could be headed toward a similar fate if we can't find common ground and work to become "One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all". Another civil war would be a horrific end to the America we all love, regardless of your political or religious beliefs.
(Climbing down from my soapbox now)
While in the area we were also able to spend a day with my brother Larry and his partner Jim. We had a fantastic time catching up. We have communicated electronically but had not seen each other for almost 20 years. Wow!
Interestingly we were so busy talking and catching up that we neglected to get any pictures. Ugh ☹️ The above picture is from Larry's FB page.
They took us out for lunch at a local eatery in Friedensburg that had some unique burgers. Check this out... and I ate the whole thing... 3 half pound fresh beef patties! It's called the Friedensburger (of course).
I had. To get a shirt to celebrate my feat 😁
Thanks Larry and Jim for your hospitality, and a fantastic lunch 😁. Can't wait for the next visit, and we'll try to remember to get pics.
After Gettysburg we continued north to Watkins Glen NY. If you haven't seen it be sure to check out our 4.5 minute YouTube slide show about the Glen. It is a spectacular place!
You can view it here:
https://youtu.be/o8yfIxP8cl4
We are currently on the shore of Lake Ontario after a fantastic stay in the Finger Lakes area. That's saved for the next post.
In the meantime, thanks for reading and following along on our journey. We really do appreciate it.
______________________________________
Cindy and Terry
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