This weekend, we headed up north into Pennsylvania, to see Gettysburg. The surrounding National Park is the site of the Battle of Gettysburg in the American civil war, from 1863. The town itself, pictured below, has a nice center around an old square, and a museum focussed on the Gettysburg Address, given months later at the town by Abraham Lincoln. Its a very famous (and short) speech, and its words are inscribed on the Lincoln Memorial in DC.
After seeing the town, we headed to the site of the museum, and the National Cemetery (the site of which is where Lincoln made his address at its founding). The museum at the National Park is very good, with well presented information on the civil wars history and the battle itself.The site of the battle is huge; we walked around a small part of it, where one of the last parts of the battle took place. It had a rather surreal feel, mainly due to the assorted tributes, plinths and statues detailing the site of each of the different regiments in the battle. Each monument had its own theme and style, adding to a disconcerting effect as you look at them lined up.
Here is Sarah by one of the monuments:
Adding to the surreal nature of the visit, they have an abandoned visitor center right by one of the main strips of battlefield, which is slowly doing whatever 50's era concrete buildings do when left alone.
Today, back home - we're enjoying the weather slowly warming up. I was able to sit outside and have a snack on our porch for the first time this afternoon. Hopefully, the weather will not dash us with snow like it did last time it warmed up.