Gettysburg National Military Park has a lot in common with Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. Both have a lot of history and both are very hot. The heat wave continues, even as we head northward.
Again, we found a shady parking space in the RV parking lot and felt good about leaving Matilda there while we visited the Visitor Center. When we did the auto tour through the battlefields, we could take her with us.
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| Abe and me |
There is no admission charge to get into the park, but there is a charge for EVERYTHING in the Museum & Visitors Center. And there are long lines to get tickets for the movie, cyclorama and museum.
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| I hate lines |
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| Dorcas photographing NC emblems, belt buckles and buttons |
Even after you get your tickets there are long lines to get into the attractions. A friend of mine once said "The biggest problem with public parks is they let the public in."
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| More lines |
I played a bit with the panoramic function on my iPhone while viewing the Gettysburg Cyclorama The painting is the work of French artist Paul Dominique Philippoteaux. It depicts Pickett's Charge, the failed infantry assault that was the climax of the Battle of Gettysburg. The painting is 42' high and 377' in circumference.
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| A portion of the Cyclorama |
We finally left the the visitor facilities and headed out into the battlefields for an auto tour. There is a designated auto tour with marked stops that is 27+ miles long. Gettysburg is big. We took some short cuts. There are thousands of monuments throughout the park.
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| There were lots of cannons |
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| The Soldiers Cemetery |
Most (all?) states have a major memorial dedicated to the soldiers from their state who fought in the battle. States also established lesser monuments dedicated to individual regiments, divisions and so forth.
The North Carolina monument was sculpted by Gutzon Borglum, who also carved Mt. Rushmore and the monument at Stone Mt. GA.
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| The North Carolina Monument |
One could spend many days exploring the history and analyzing the maneuvers at Gettysburg. We spent most of one day and then headed north for a rendezous with our next Walmart.
2 comments:
Nice pictures an accounts of you visit to the Gettysburg Battlefield. Lived for 20 years in Carlisle and visited there many times. Enjoy and hope you have cooler weather soon.
I thought you were in a Walmart based on the pics of the lines of people. What a blood bath Gettysburg was.
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