Today we did the guided tour with our tour guide Howie "what's his name." In my head I kept trying to remember the guy's last name and kept coming up with Howdy Doody -- I have no respect. Thankfully, I did not share this insult with Howie. Here he is with Beau.
Anyway, this extremely knowledgeable guy drove our car for 2 hours and gave us an incredibly detailed tour of the three days that were the bloody battle of Gettysburg. Tremendous experience. I was enthralled. Buddy was, too.
We drove all over the stunning acres of preserved battlefields and saw for ourselves the immensity of the decisive battle, which involved a total of more than 160,000 men. I was amazed by the fact that back then (1863), grooved-bore cannons could deliver football-like mortars two miles away -- which, when you see the distance yourself, is simply astounding! And the thought of more than 200 cannons (100 plus on either side) blazing away as Pickett's and other Confederate leaders' men charged uphill toward Cemetery Ridge over open field to fight a long line of Union soldiers, gave me chills.
Pickett to his men: "Up men! And to your posts! And let no man forget today, that you are from Old Virginia!"
A poem on one of the battlefields:
After the tour, we visited the National Cemetery and Beau had to find the markers for the Connecticut soldiers.
I stood next to the monument with Lincoln's bust for this one:
Later, we lunched at the Farnsworth House (sans Buddy, who was tired out from the tour), a well known inn and restaurant that still bears the scars of bullets from the weapons of the soldiers who fought in Gettysburg (the Confederates chased the Union soldiers into the town, wreaking havoc among the townspeople's homes -- many of which also still have cannonballs in their walls).
Below, some of the uniforms worn by the actors (Martin Sheen, Jeff Daniels, Sam Elliott) who were in Ted Turner's Gettysburg movie and spent time at Farnsworth House -- which, by the way, is one of the country's most haunted inns (featured on the Travel Channel).
Below, a photo of us at the Farnsworth -- I really like this shot of Beau, but hate the unflattering shot of me (no need to confirm this with personal messages, by the way!), but what the heck, vanity is out the window:
We also visited the Gettysburg Military Museum, which was a very hokey series of historical dioramas with sad old dusty mannequins. The "dramatic" finale diorama included a rousing animatronic Lincoln rising from the floor -- amid scenes of various Gettysburg battle encounters -- to deliver the famous Gettysburg Address. Oh my...
The visit helped me feel better about missing out on Doc Weitzel's Traveling Curiosity Show, one of the weird things I had been counting on seeing while we were in Gettysburg.
Alas, it was shut down
Beau Fought the Tree... and the Tree Won
Finally, from the other day, photos of the damage caused by Beau's slight misjudgment of where the rig was while backing up. We now carry tree bark in the rub rail, passenger side. He dented the awning cannister, but fortunately, no real damage to the awning itself.
He is devastated by this first battle scar. Hopefully, not the first of many!
Tanks, Panky
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