Oops
We missed some crucial moments from day 1 in our previous post. And just like we don’t like to miss a meal, we don’t want you to miss a moment. So here goes…
Saying hello to enormous Amish people
Our first stamportunity
Jim and the battlefield tour
Promptly at 9:30 am we met Jim, tour guide extraordinaire, teacher (with a short-lived foray into law enforcement), and history buff. Glenda loved his promptness and Susan was enthralled with his law enforcement experience. We then embarked on our 2-hour private tour (Skipper Jim turned the 2 hours into 3, which we loved).
Random Facts
1. Structure of Civil War Army people:
Army > Corps > Division > Brigade > Regiment > Company
2. The national park service owns about 6,000 acres of Gettysburg but the battlefield “theater” included about 30,000 acres.
3. About 15,000 people turned out for the sesquicentennial re-enactment of Pickett’s charge.
4. Most Gettysburgers remained in place during the 3-day siege and hunkered down in their basements.
5. A Gettysburg College professor recorded the weather during the battle which was hot and humid (July 1,2 and 3). Duh.
6. About 51,000 men were killed, wounded or captured as a result of the 3 day battle.
On to Shenandoah National Park
Plan: Glimpse a marker of the Mason-Dixon Line and then head to the visitor center at Front Royal, the north entrance to Shenandoah, get our bearings and take a hike….
OK, you try and find a marker of the Mason-Dixon Line. We hunted high and low (under very stressful driving conditions – just ask Susan) and ok, we didn’t find it! But, we did find this (see photo below) and we’re calling it our MDLM (Mason-Dixon Line Marker) because who in their right mind puts a random piece of public art where a historical marker should be? Please weigh in.
Plan interrupted!!!! 2nd major clog en route
Recalculating!!! Recalculating!!!! Divert to Harpers Ferry WV. Glenda missed a sight and needed a return trip!!
Harpers Ferry offered another stamportunity, history lesson on abolitionist John Brown, view of the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers, and an overall charming village.
The Final Leg
En route to our accommodations Skyland Resort…(can I put quotation marks around resort?) Here’s what we saw:
We arrive at the “Resort” in our resort wear freshly purchased at Bergdorfs –natch!
5 minutes later, headlamp still in place…
Looking for my resort wear. Where is it???
