Thursday, October 7

We arrived early at the Gettysburg visitors center in order to see the well done movie, cyclorama, and Civil War Museum. From there we set out in our car for a self guided tour of the actual battlegrounds. The day was sunny but windy. A few things which struck me:

-the whole battle was a chance meeting at Gettysburg of the Army of Northern Virginia under the command of General Robert E. Lee and the Union Army of the Potomac under the command of Major General George G. Meade

--the gruesome sequence of the three day battle on July 1-3, 1863 resulted in 51,000 combined casualties of war (dead, wounded or missing)

--the beautifully restored 360 degree “cyclorama” painting of Pickett’s Charge done by Paul Philippoteaux in 1884, complete with sound and light show, was a walk back in history by itself; the artist interviewed actual participants and included them in the painting

--Pickett’s Charge cost Lee 5,000 soldiers in one hour!

--the 24 mile car tour travels from behind confederate lines to behind union lines and is strewn with hundreds of statues and plaques commemorating different companies, regiments, brigades, etc. both north and south

--the North Carolina Memorial, a very large statue, was created by Gutzon Borglum who is famous for creating Mount Rushmore as well as carving the scene on Stone Mountain in Atlanta (which we saw last time we were there); the signboard near the statue reads, “North Carolina sacrificed more sons for the Confederacy than any other state…at Gettysburg more than 6100 were killed, wounded, or missing”

--two observation towers (one had 118 steps) allow views of the entire area

an area known as The Valley of Death

--here also, of course, is the site of Lincoln’s memorable Gettysburg address delivered in November of 1863 as “a few appropriate remarks” after the 2 hour oration of the main speaker at the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg

--we walked solemnly through endless small markers in the cemetery chiseled with either “Unknown” or simply a number

We could have lingered but we still had 8 hours of driving ahead in order to get to Boston, and we had promised to arrive by noon on Friday. We sadly cruised right on by signs for Hershey, PA, “the sweetest place on earth”. There were trucks everywhere. In fact, the highway had signs stating, “Be Alert--Heavy Truck Traffic”.

We entered New Jersey and paid our money to take the NJ Turnpike towards New York City. The drive through NYC and across the lower level of the George Washington Bridge ($8 fee just for that) was accomplished somewhat miraculously at about 7 PM. The views down the Hudson River of a twinkling Manhattan were short and for my eyes only--traffic was too heavy for Mark to even glance.

Once through NYC we started looking for a place to crash for the night. No campgrounds or RV parks seemed even remotely possible in this heavily populated area. We finally pulled into a hotel near Bridgeport, Connecticut. Boston would be just a three hour drive away in the morning.

19. New Jersey--Liberty and prosperity/Garden State

20. New York--Ever upward/Empire State

21. Connecticut--He who transplanted still sustains/Constitution State, Nutmeg State, Provisions State, Land of Steady Habits (wow--there’s a list for you!)