A friend and I recently traveled to Gettysburg for a nice day trip. It was my first visit to this historic battlefield and I had a great time. I was a bit surprised at how little time it took us to get there. For some reason, in my head, Gettysburg was a 2 + hour trip away, but in actuality it only took us about 1.5 hours to arrive. Of course, since I wasn’t the one doing the driving, I have no idea how fast we were going!
The first ting we did after arriving at the visitor’s center was to get our tickets to go through the museum, watch the informational movie, and then see the Cyclorama. It was all very impressive and I must say the movie was very well done. It was informative without being too stiff (if that even makes any sense). I was particularly impressed with the Cyclorama — a 27ft tall painting that depicts a 360 degree view of the battle field having a circumference of 359 ft! The detail was amazing and I can’t even imagine the time it must have taken the artist to complete it.
After exploring the visitor center and the museum, we hopped on a tour us for a guided tour around the battlefield. I was able to snap a few pictures while we were moving down the road — one of those pictures is to the right here. We didn’t get to stop much while on the bus tour, but the narrative was informative — though some may disagree with me here! Since it was my first time at the battlefield, however, it was nice to be able to hear what the guide had to say about the sights. We got out once at Little Round Top, but were only allowed to stay about 15 minutes.
Since the bus tour did not allow us to truly explore the area at our own pace, once it was finished, we got back in our vehicle and proceeded to drive around the battlefield again. We took our time and stopped at the various sights and monuments along the way. It was fun to walk around and explore. There were even several groups or reenactors spotted in the area. The group shown in the picture to the left was particularly impressive. They almost made you feel like you had been transported back in time and had come up on a group of soldiers preparing for the coming battle.
I would have a hard time choosing my favorite experience of the day. The scope of the battlefield and what took place there over the course of 3 or 4 days many years ago is a bit overwhelming. There is something about walking around that area that is really sobering and impressive. If you’re interested in the rest of the pictures that I took that day, they can all be found in my gallery at http://gallery.creationsings.net/Photography/Travels/Gettysburg-June-2011.
One thing this trip made me realize: There are many places within a short distance of where I live that I should take the time to see. I think I need to start making a list so that on free weekends I can get out and go sight seeing and not have to think too hard about where to go.