OT: Gettysburg visit

[Fishy]

I'm going there. Who's been there?

What do I do when I get there?

 

[jleves]

If it's anything like Little Big Horn, it will be depressing. I love history, but battlefields are far from our greatest achievements.

 

[8893]

Went there as a little kid on a family vacation and still remember the Jennie Wade house with the bullet holes in it.

The only other thing I remember is the battlefield.

 

[dbmill]

We visited Gettysburg towards the end of September about 10 years ago. In addition to the touring the battlefield during the day, we found that the evening walking ghost tours (there are a few different ones starting from different parts of the town) were very popular and entertaining, and provided some interesting historical anecdotes to the battle.

 

[storrsroars]

I'm going there. Who's been there?

What do I do when I get there?

I haven't been, but am planning to next month. My wife has been several times. She says the one absolute must-do is to have a guide in the car with you. Then all the individual sites and monuments will begin to make sense.

 

[joober jones]

Not that it matters much, but they have a Shoney's. Well at least they had one when I was there 15 years ago.

 

[Dove]

We did a bus tour. I wish we did the guy in the car tour.

If you have time, read a book about the battle before before the trip.

Can you fit a trip up to Harrisburg to see the National Civil War Museum?

 

[JColes]

Been there about 15 times as a teacher on school field trips, and went to college about 30 minutes from Gettysburg.
First stop has to be the visitor center. It is less than ten years old and very well done. Be sure to see the 20-30 minute movie narrated by Morgan Freeman. The cyclorama in there is impressive as well. You could hire a tour guide there if you really wanted the in depth experience. All of them are experts on explaining all the details of the battle. Must visits if you're driving through on your own are Seminary Ridge, the Virginia monument, Little Round top offers a great view of the battlefield, Devils Den is a group of huge boulders. that are fun climb around on. The Pennsylvania monument is really impressive, and the angle, or Copse of Trees represents the high water mark of the Confederacy during Pickett's charge on July 3, 1863. You can definitely grab a free map at the visitors center that can show you where all these places are.

When you're ready for something great to eat, head to the Spring Hill Tavern in The Dobbins House Restaurant. Be sure to go to the underground tavern, not the restaurant. Delicious food served in a colonial style setting by barmaids dressed in colonial attire. Plenty to eat and drink. There's plenty of good souvenir shopping in in downtown Gettysburg as well.

Enjoy!

 

[superjohn]

Check out the Gettysburg battlefield and don't listen to Dove, you don't want to do a guy in your car.

 

[jibsey]

OK, took the family there 20 years ago in a combination trip to Amish country. Everyone started to talk to me again a year later. Seriously I happen to love the place. My kids liked amusement parks and this thank goodness is anything but, they ended up liking it. Watch the movies Gettysburg before you go and read up on the battle because you will get a lot more out of it. Just talking about it makes me want to go again.

 

[Dove]

Check out the Gettysburg battlefield and don't listen to Dove, you don't want to do a guy in your car.

Most of the time you're not in the car ya mo mo. You're walking the battlefields.

 

[zymurg]

I've been twice; take the guide in the car. Yes to reading some before you go. The film "Gettysburg" is definitely worth watching.

What else you do depends upon the amount of time you have. There is a very good book on Lincoln's speech; the name of the author escapes me. I used to have if, but It was one of the many possessions I shed when I moved. I used to play the board game battle with a very good friend. He was more serious about it than I was, he is a civil war re-enactor now. is this a family trip or a solo pilgrimage?

The advantage Gettysburg has over the other battle sites I've visited is that you can get a good sense of how the battle evolved over the 3 days. If I were to go again; I would try to take a chronological tour,

 

[Phorcys]

I'm going there. Who's been there?

What do I do when I get there?

Gettysburg—the historical site—basically consists of rolling hills and empty fields…and a few rusted canons sitting on little hilltops.

Their visitors’ centers are welcoming, knowledgeable, and their bathrooms are generally clean.

 

[mauconnfan]

Punch the manager of the Spring Hill Tavern in the throat.

 

[Bryan Lord]

Went there two years in a row and it was fun as a kid sorta but one year in a row was enough. Ghost tours were cool and we broke off and did some on our own too. Everyone there was very friendly and welcoming. Nice change of pace from the usual summer tourist traps.

 

[selles]

There is a very good book on Lincoln's speech; the name of the author escapes me. I used to have if, but It was one of the many possessions I shed when I moved.

Garry Wills? He wrote a great book about how the Gettysburg Address changed the meaning of the Declaration of Independence.

Gettysburg is one of those trips where you get out of it what you put in. If you learn some of the details and vignettes about what happened there (the suggestion to watch the movie is good) then it's fascinating. If you don't, it's a lot of fields and some rocks.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I found Gettysburg to be one of the more amazing places I've visited. The scope of it is astonishing. We took the "kid friendly" bus tour, which was very, very good (even if the buses are not). The driver did a great job of telling the story from the beginning, mentioning key people, and showing how and why the battle unfolded. Then it went on to the battle itself, decisions made, and so on, all while you are at the places where that history occurred. Fascinating, even to my 4th grade daughter. I can't imagine that the auto-audio tour comes close.

Then we explored key locations ourselves in our car, which is quite easy to do. Devil's Den and the snipers was really interesting along with the assault on Little Round Top. The visitors center is really nice, but doesn't capture the sense of the place for you.

 

[WillB4]

Visited years ago, I hope the displays have not changed. First visit the diorama, a scale model of the battlefield that shows day by day (and night) skirmishes and encounters. Then going outside to the overlook you see the battle lines you just saw in the diorama, in the field. Went with my wife and two girls (Hershey was the reason getting there) and I wanted to see Gettysburg. My wife questioned the visit,"what's there/what are we going to do there", in the end I could not get her away.

 

[CL82]

Gettysburg is one of those trips where you get out of it what you put in. If you learn some of the details and vignettes about what happened there (the suggestion to watch the movie is good) then it's fascinating. If you don't, it's a lot of fields and some rocks.

First read this: The Killer Angels
The story of Chamberlain and the 20th Maine at Gettysburg is one of my favorite Civil War narratives.

That said when you go to Little Round Top this is what you'll see.

Not exactly awe inspiring.

Rereading Lincoln's Gettysburg Address is worthwhile as well.

Do your homework and get a chronological tour and it is very interesting. If you just show up and hope for the best...not so much.

 

[mauconnfan]

What's the Address?

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Read up on and then walk Pickett's charge. Start at the ranger tower behind the tree line. I think they have audio/car tours?

 

[Phorcys]

1195 Baltimore Pike (Rt. 97), Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, USA

 

[Phorcys]

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

 

[Fishy]

I've been twice; take the guide in the car. Yes to reading some before you go. The film "Gettysburg" is definitely worth watching.

What else you do depends upon the amount of time you have. There is a very good book on Lincoln's speech; the name of the author escapes me. I used to have if, but It was one of the many possessions I shed when I moved. I used to play the board game battle with a very good friend. He was more serious about it than I was, he is a civil war re-enactor now. is this a family trip or a solo pilgrimage?

It's a family trip. I was aiming for Orlando over the long weekend to see the Central Florida game, but my wife has been trying for a while to carve out time to take the little one to Gettysburg - so it goes.

I've read "The Gettysburg Campaign" by Coddington and Shelby Foote's three volumes, but I'll go back and re-read probably Foote's perspective.

We'll hire the "guide in a car" deal and then figure out a ghost tour. We're there for 2 1/2 days, so we'll explore on our own one day - we'd at least visit the Angle on our own.

 

[RichZ]

Everything said so far is great. I haven't been in years, but if I went now, I would make it a point to set aside a day to take the 2-1/2 hour ride to the Flight 93 Memorial.

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