6-17-09
Today we continued our Civil War chapter of our tour with the day spent at Gettysburg National Military Park. We took a two hour tour of the battlefield on our bus with a professional tour guide, ate lunch in the town of Gettysburg, toured the brand new visitor’s center and museum, performed an informal concert in the lobby of the museum, enjoyed a presentation by a Lincoln reenactor and ate dinner and sang at Pickett’s Buffet. We took in a lot of history today and it tied in nicely with our Lincoln Legacy theme.
The day started with the pick up of the boys from their home stay families at the church at 8:00 am. The day started much earlier for many of the boys who had to get up very early to get to the church on time. After another round of high praise from the host families (as expected) we headed out of Hagerstown to Gettysburg.
The trip to Gettysburg took about an hour. We watched a DVD about Antietam to get us in the Civil War frame of mind and prepare us for our day in Gettysburg.
The battlefield tour guide met us about 45 minutes after we arrived and took us on a two hour tour of the Gettysburg battlefield. The tour took us from one end of the battlefield to the other with very insightful descriptions of monuments, terrain, and the tempo of the battle. With the rain falling lightly, we viewed the battlefield of Gettysburg from the vantage point of General Robert E. Lee as he sat on his horse on Seminary Ridge and across the valley we viewed the battlefield form General Meade’s perch on Cemetery Ridge. The two Generals stood less than one mile apart as their armies of tens of thousands of men battled between them on the third day of the battle of Gettysburg. During the three days of the battle, there were 50,000 American casualties.
One note of interest, an officer from the 8th Illinois Cavalry Regiment is credited for firing the first shot that started the battle at Gettysburg.
After the tour we bussed into town for lunch at our choice of fast food joints. Yum.
We spent the rest of the afternoon touring the museum, watching films, and spending money at the gift shop. If your boy does not bring you a souvenir from the trip, it is not because they were short on opportunity. One amazing exhibit was the Cyclorama of the battlefield. The Gettysburg National Military Park Cyclorama Center was the home of the "Battle of Gettysburg" Cyclorama, a 360 degree circular oil-on-canvas painting that depicts "Pickett's Charge," the climactic Confederate attack on the Union center on July 3, 1863. Completed and exhibited in 1884, it is one of the last surviving cycloramas in the United States. The Gettysburg Cyclorama is 359 feet long, 27 feet high and weighs an estimated 3 tons.
The boys put on an informal concert in the lobby of the museum to an enthusiastic crowd. In the audience was a Union Soldier in period dress and I noticed he was singing along with the Civil War songs we were singing. I spoke to him after the show and he said he was a life long choir singer. You never know who you will run into.
From the Gettysburg National Military Park, our Civil War journey continued with a private live speech by Abraham Lincoln (played by a period reenactment actor) at the Pickett’s Charge Buffett and Civil War Theater in the town of Gettysburg. The talk lasted about 30 minutes. It turns out the actor is from Illinois and was a choral director. Again, you never know who you might run into. We sang some songs for Mr. Lincoln. It was very cool to watch the 14th President as we sang the words he spoke in the Gettysburg Address and his 2nd Inaugural Address in the song “Lincoln’s Words.” Talk about bringing history to life. Wow!
We ate dinner at the buffet down stairs and sang a few songs while sitting at our tables in-between bites of cake. We stopped when we started getting requests. We did sing Happy Birthday to someone named Tammy. We made her night.
It was then off to the Crown Plaza in McLean, VA where the boys are splashing away in the pool and enjoying some down time.
Tomorrow we are off to the Capital Building and our start to the DC chapter of our tour. See you then.
Today we continued our Civil War chapter of our tour with the day spent at Gettysburg National Military Park. We took a two hour tour of the battlefield on our bus with a professional tour guide, ate lunch in the town of Gettysburg, toured the brand new visitor’s center and museum, performed an informal concert in the lobby of the museum, enjoyed a presentation by a Lincoln reenactor and ate dinner and sang at Pickett’s Buffet. We took in a lot of history today and it tied in nicely with our Lincoln Legacy theme.
The day started with the pick up of the boys from their home stay families at the church at 8:00 am. The day started much earlier for many of the boys who had to get up very early to get to the church on time. After another round of high praise from the host families (as expected) we headed out of Hagerstown to Gettysburg.
The trip to Gettysburg took about an hour. We watched a DVD about Antietam to get us in the Civil War frame of mind and prepare us for our day in Gettysburg.
The battlefield tour guide met us about 45 minutes after we arrived and took us on a two hour tour of the Gettysburg battlefield. The tour took us from one end of the battlefield to the other with very insightful descriptions of monuments, terrain, and the tempo of the battle. With the rain falling lightly, we viewed the battlefield of Gettysburg from the vantage point of General Robert E. Lee as he sat on his horse on Seminary Ridge and across the valley we viewed the battlefield form General Meade’s perch on Cemetery Ridge. The two Generals stood less than one mile apart as their armies of tens of thousands of men battled between them on the third day of the battle of Gettysburg. During the three days of the battle, there were 50,000 American casualties.
One note of interest, an officer from the 8th Illinois Cavalry Regiment is credited for firing the first shot that started the battle at Gettysburg.
After the tour we bussed into town for lunch at our choice of fast food joints. Yum.
We spent the rest of the afternoon touring the museum, watching films, and spending money at the gift shop. If your boy does not bring you a souvenir from the trip, it is not because they were short on opportunity. One amazing exhibit was the Cyclorama of the battlefield. The Gettysburg National Military Park Cyclorama Center was the home of the "Battle of Gettysburg" Cyclorama, a 360 degree circular oil-on-canvas painting that depicts "Pickett's Charge," the climactic Confederate attack on the Union center on July 3, 1863. Completed and exhibited in 1884, it is one of the last surviving cycloramas in the United States. The Gettysburg Cyclorama is 359 feet long, 27 feet high and weighs an estimated 3 tons.
The boys put on an informal concert in the lobby of the museum to an enthusiastic crowd. In the audience was a Union Soldier in period dress and I noticed he was singing along with the Civil War songs we were singing. I spoke to him after the show and he said he was a life long choir singer. You never know who you will run into.
From the Gettysburg National Military Park, our Civil War journey continued with a private live speech by Abraham Lincoln (played by a period reenactment actor) at the Pickett’s Charge Buffett and Civil War Theater in the town of Gettysburg. The talk lasted about 30 minutes. It turns out the actor is from Illinois and was a choral director. Again, you never know who you might run into. We sang some songs for Mr. Lincoln. It was very cool to watch the 14th President as we sang the words he spoke in the Gettysburg Address and his 2nd Inaugural Address in the song “Lincoln’s Words.” Talk about bringing history to life. Wow!
We ate dinner at the buffet down stairs and sang a few songs while sitting at our tables in-between bites of cake. We stopped when we started getting requests. We did sing Happy Birthday to someone named Tammy. We made her night.
It was then off to the Crown Plaza in McLean, VA where the boys are splashing away in the pool and enjoying some down time.
Tomorrow we are off to the Capital Building and our start to the DC chapter of our tour. See you then.
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