[CVCC] Fwd: [FOC] Road Trip - W4PM

[HOWARD MOTLEY]

> July 15-17, 2019
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>     Judy and I had a wonderful time on our visit to Gettysburg, Lancaster, and  Strasburg, PA.  We only had a short time, just 2 days, but we managed to fill those two days with interesting things to do. 
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>     First off, if you have not been to the Gettysburg National Battlefield you need to go. Or if it had been a long time since your last visit you need to go again. I had not been since about 1991 and it was like a different place.  A new Visitor Center built in 2008 with a wonderful museum and the Cyclorama!  The Cyclorama  is a 377  x 42 ft. painting of the July 3rd battle called "Pickett's charge". It is mounted in the round and you stand in the middle.  It is presented with a light and sound show.  I've never seen anything like it. The details of the painting are outstanding.  With careful observation you can find most if not all of the main characters who took part in the battle from Maj. Gen Winfield S. Handcock, to Gen. Lee, to Maj. Gen. Meade, to Brig. Gen.  Armistead, etc.
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>     The battlefield has a driving tour around it covering about 20 miles passing by over 1,300 monuments to the various participants.  It is said to be the largest collection of outdoor statuary in the world!  In addition to individual statues there plaques to each unit who was there from both sides.  In addition each state who had soldiers there has a monument!
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>     Much work has been done and is still in progress to return the area to its July 1863 appearance so it looks much as it did when the 75,000 Confederate and 90,000 Union forces struggled there.
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>     The best way to see it all, at least at first, is to take a Battlefield Tour bus with one of their outstanding and extremely knowledgeable licensed battlefield guides.  It's amazing how well these folks know their stuff!  You can then take the drive yourself to go back to areas which interest you the most.  I went back to visit the Virginia Memorial as well as Little Round Top and the launch point for "Pickett's charge".   
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>     Downtown we found something called the "Diorama".  This is a HO scale model of the 6,000 acre site including downtown Gettysburg as it looked in July 1863.  It has over 20,000 hand painted soldiers, horses, cannon, and buildings and includes a 30 minute sound and light show of the 3 day battle.  All was well worth the very modest price to see.
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>     Lunch was  at the Farnsworth House downtown which is a B&B and restaurant in an 1833 vintage structure with multiple battle scars (bullet holes) in it's side.  The house was occupied by Confederate sharp shooters during the battle.  The servers in the restaurant are dressed in 1860's attire and the restaurant has a display of many of the props used in the 1993 movie "Gettysburg".  This place is well worth the visit!
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>     The visit to Gettysburg was very sobering when one thinks of this tragic time in our history and the thousands of lives lost not only at Gettysburg in those 3 days but the total in the 1861 to 1865 duration of this war - as many as 650,000 or 2% of the population at that time!
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>     The next day we headed for the Lancaster area.  The art gallery Judy wanted to see was closed even though it was listed as open on the internet!   No worries, the Amish area around Lancaster is beautiful and we found lots to do.  We even took a ride on a steam engine pulled train in Strasburg.  A place we found for lunch, the Red Caboose Motel and Casey Jones' Restaurant was great and well worth a visit. The restaurant was in a railroad dining car and the rooms in the motel are Cabooses!   A wonderful drive around the beautiful farms followed and then it was time to drive back home.  We avoided the interstate highways opting for the more scenic routes.  
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>     A great time - Where can we go next?
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>     73,
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>     Puck W4PM
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