I think we were up and moving by 5am that morning and out on the road not later than 7am. We had my trusty GPS and a set of printed directions, just in case the GPS ended up being not so trusty.
Of course our spooky vacation had to become a rainy one. Alas, we bucked up and decided that it was fate and would only add to the spookiness. The drive is pretty straight, but if it had not been raining it would have been beautiful b/c the closer we got to PA the closer we got to actual Fall b/c the leaves were changing.
I think we finally got into Gettysburg a little before 12 and went to our hotel to check in and find a place to eat for lunch. Carma got us a great place. Nothing real fancy, but comfortable, clean and just down the street from all the attractions. The price was about $110 with tax. In the summer months, this hotel went for $238, so I say we got a good deal and went at a good time of the year.
We found a place called the Appalachian Brewing Co. in the hotel brochure in the room and decided that it looked yummy. So we put the address in the trusty GPS and headed that way. It was only 5 mins up the road from the hotel. When we got there we had to sit in the car for about 10 mins b/c they didn’t open until 12pm. It was well worth the wait. Since they just opened it wasn’t crowded at all and our waitress was very attentive and polite. Matt and Carma tried some of their on-premises brewed beer and I had a fresh brewed Root Beer. I think we all agreed they were all very tasty. We had some yummy pretzel bread. Oh was it sooooo good. Then we each ordered. I had crab cakes with a chipotle sauce in it I believe with flavored mashed potatoes and green beans. All I know is that it was so GOOD! I can’t remember what Matt and Carma had, but I do remember lots of “mmmm’s” coming from their directions. I would def. check this place out and def. try and hit it when it opens so you don’t feel self conscious about all the noises you will be making when eating this food.
Picture of the Appalachian Brewing Co. Restaurant and Bar
I had to take a picture of this. Their ladies room was named the Necessary Room.
After a very nice lunch, we headed over to the Civil War Museum. You have some choices here and I’ll try hard to remember what all of them are. I might have to copy and paste some from their website. BTW, the website is www.gettysburgfoundation.org. This museum is almost brand new and is very, very nice and well organized. Here are the current, and I pretty sure what we paid, prices.
“Be transported 35 feet above the ground floor for the massive “Battle of Gettysburg” Cyclorama—an immersive experience that places you in the middle of the action during Pickett's Charge, the climactic struggle during the Battle of Gettysburg. Recently reopened after undergoing the largest conservation effort on the continent, the Cyclorama has been returned to its original splendor. When first viewed in 1884, battle veterans wept at its sight. Now you can experience what they experienced. Allow 1-2 hours for the immersive experience.”
WALK-UP PRICE
Adult (ages 19+) $10.50
Seniors (ages 65+) & Military $9.50
AAA Discount $9.50
Youth (ages 6-18) $6.50
Children ( 5 and under) FREE
www.gettysburgfoundation.org
This is the tour that we did inside the museum. I can’t begin to tell you how WONDERFUL it was. The theatre was is brand new (I think 2008) and Morgan Freeman narrates the film before you head up the stairs to the Cyclorama. The Cyclorama is breathtaking and almost emotional in its beauty. They light it up in the back ground and add sound effects and such as they tell the story of the battle. The Cyclorama is mostly all oil painting formed in a giant circle around you (there is a platform in the middle), but pieces alongside the outer edges of the painting are real props that melt into the painting. I almost didn’t notice it at first and it boggles the mind for a min. while your brain is trying to distinguish between the 3D and the 2D. I don’t know if young children will get the magnitude of it all, but as a 26 year old adult, the feeling was over whelming.
Once we went back down from the Cyclorama, we just went across to the museum part. It has the typical museum fair. Uniforms, letters, instruments, guns, etc. They have a few “sets” of what the camps and tents actually looked like and a few interactive pieces like: a gun and sack that a solider would have to carry and it tells you to pick it up with one hand. I think it weighs like 50lbs. I must warn you, if you have small children, keep them close by. This place is a little bit of a maze. It actually became a running joke between us as we went weaving through and just when we thought we were at the end…….another corner or section appeared around the bend. The way they put this together is very well organized and very beautiful. It’s almost like Art and History together. I don’t have any pictures from inside the museum b/c it just didn’t seem like the place. I’m not sure if they were allowed, can’t remember.
After we snuck out the side exit of the museum we headed towards the gift shop to buy a few things. I wanted to buy my mom something for her classroom and me a little something to remember the place by. I got a shot glass, lol. I know, but I get one from most everywhere I travel. I think the best thing I bought were these mini postcards. They were like $1-2 for 12 beautiful, photo quality, and mini postcards. I used them to accent the scrapbook I made afterwards and it was perfect. It was even more perfect since it was still raining and the weather for taking pictures on the battlefields wasn’t the best.
Matt noticed that there was a cd for sale that actually took you through the battlefields by numbered sections on the road. It was $20 and came with a booklet. We decided that since it was raining our best bet was to do this driving tour, which other than the cd, cost nothing. This is an extensive tour and the cd has lots of information, so make sure you have the time to do this. At least 3-4 hours if not more. Also, listen to the cd first to find where you need to start. We started driving the path before the cd was ready to take us there and had to pull over to restart it. The markers can get confusing at times, so make sure you are patient. Here are a few of the pictures we took of the battlefield sections. Note: Most of the areas are just big fields and there are grave markers, stones, and statues all the way.
I think we might have caught one ghost in these pictures, albeit rain and fog isn’t the best conditions for ghost hunting, see if you can find the picture with the probable ghost. *Hint: it’s in one of the open field pictures*
We kind of had to cut the tour of the battlefields short b/c we had to get back to our hotel and get ready for dinner and our ghost tour. You had to be at the ghost tour place early to get your tickets, as the actual building closes early, but the tour goes on. It was still raining and we figured it would be a chilly night and a wet one. So we doubled up and put our wool socks and took some hand warmers with us. Boy, were we right about all of that and maybe some more.
It was a cold and rainy night….lol…really, it was. We decided to use the brochure for another place to eat, but it had to be quick b/c we had to get back to our ghost tour. We found a place called the Dobbin House. It’s a tavern and lodging place. We didn’t think about it being too busy b/c it was a Thursday night and it was nasty outside. Boy, were we wrong. The Dobbin House is a little confusing as to where the entrance is. Also, there is parking in the back b/c there is none in the front, usually. There is a gift shop to one side and then some steps down to the other side and a door. You can go in either way. The gift shop entrance will probably be less confusing. Go in the gift shop door and to your left is a fireplace and beside that is a doorway. Go through there and down the kind of scary, narrow stairs, you have arrived.
When they say Tavern, they mean it. It was an actual Tavern and lodging in Gettysburg and they have an Underground Railroad passage there too. But the eatery is in the “cellar” of the establishment and is darkened and made with stone and wood beams. It is actually a pretty tight area for a restaurant. The ambience is wonderful! The servers dress in “Wench” clothing or bar maid outfits, so you feel like you could be Jack Sparrow stopping off for a cup of whiskey before heading off for another adventure. But instead I had the herb chicken breast baked potato and coleslaw I believe. And we had fresh made hot apple cider, yum. The meal was lovely and not overpriced and we got a hot apple cider to go to keep us warm in the rain.
Here is the picture of the front of the menu at the Dobbin House.
After dinner, we headed over to the Ghost tour, which is Ghost of Gettysburg by Mark Nesbitt (http://www.ghostsofgettysburg.com/) and between Carma and I we think we took the Baltimore Street tour:
“Your walking tour begins in the courtyard of the haunted Ghosts of Gettysburg Walking Tours® Headquarters-where disembodied voices have been recorded and a child has been spotted…a century after his death.
Visit the County Courthouse that witnessed the battle and was filled to over-flowing with wounded soldiers…and now holds visitors from another world.
See the church where so many amputations occurred they had to drill holes in the floor to let the blood run out and where a spectral undertaker continues to walk to the nearby cemetery…removed decades ago.
Baltimore Street Tours begin at The Ghosts of Gettysburg Candlelight Walking Tour® Headquarters, 271 Baltimore Street. Please arrive at least 15 minutes before your scheduled tour. The tour lasts about 1 hour and fifteen minutes and covers about three-quarters of a mile.
Price: $9.50 plus tax; Children 7 and under free” (http://www.ghostsofgettysburg.com/)
It was just drizzling at that point and we waited under the porch for our tour guide. Let me say that I had jeans on, a under shirt, a sweat shirt, rain coat, earmuffs and hot hands packet……it was a little miserable. The walk isn’t bad. I’m going to tell you this, so that if you have older people or perhaps disabled people with you. I had a compressed nerve in my back at the time of this trip. Something I was being treated for, but really something that had to just work it’s way loose. The walk was mainly on streets and sidewalks with only one minor slope and not even a mile I would say. If you have someone who has trouble standing for long periods, I would suggest having a wheel chair for them.
Anyway, back to the tour. We started off into the night and our tour guide was very animated. The tour guides kind of do this as a side hobby, so make sure you tip them, if you think they did a good job. We were the only ones in our group to tip. I don’t know if it was b/c of the rain and people just wanted to get back to somewhere warm or it could have been that they left cash in the car like we did. We just happened to be parked near the tour guide’s car and ran back and got some cash to tip her. Think about it. She was out in this terrible weather too.
I’m not going to tell you the stories they told b/c that would ruin the tour and possibly hurt their business. We didn’t get any ghost pictures, mainly b/c the drizzle became a steady drizzle and if you watch any ghost hunting shows then you know that it’s almost impossible to catch a “real” specter picture with rain. We did catch something at the end of the tour, but like I said, with the fog and rain, we couldn’t really prove it, but I will show you the pictures we got and you can decide for yourself. Note: I didn’t have a DSLR at this point and time, so a lot of the pictures didn’t come out b/c I didn’t have a strong enough flash to get pictures clearly at night.
She told us a story about a woman who liked flowers, so she always brings one for her and gives it to the person who has the closes birthday….that was me. So we took a picture to see if they lady showed herself. There is an orb like thing by me, but again……raining.
We thought the yellow orb like thing was suspicious, but mom said it was probably the reflection from the car tail light.
Had to show how wet we were. Look at my glasses, lol. My pants were soaked up to the knee.
Here is the photo before the suspect ghost photo.
Here is the suspect photo. This is of a period hospital that has tales that they did so many amputations that they had to drill holes in the floors to drain all the blood.
Here is the photo after the suspect photo.
From here we booked it back to the car and headed back to the hotel b/c we were cold and wet. All we wanted to do was get into warm clothes and under covers. Now I know it seems like I complained about the rain, but actually we were laughing and making jokes about it for the rest of the trip, so it didn’t ruin anything. We still had fun; although it was hard to listen to our tour guide talk b/c we were so cold. Note: I’m a nice southern girl. My mom taught me to be polite and kind to others. I had lots of layers on and hot hands in my pockets. There was this older lady with just a fleece on and nothing on her head. Our tour guide offered her umbrella to the lady who refused at the beginning of the tour. About 30 mins. in I saw her putting her hands in her sleeves and she looked like she was shivering. So I took my hot hands out of my pockets and reached it to her. She looked at me funny. I said, “Its hot hand, it will keep your hands warm.” To which she replied, “Oh, I’m not cold, I’m just trying to keep my hands warm.” Ummm, okay…did I miss something? Oh well, Carma then offered her hot hands to the girls behind us b/c they were holding an umbrella and couldn’t put their hands in their pockets. They said, thank you. Sigh, I guess I’m too nice for my own good, lol. I just had to tell that story b/c we laughed about it the next day.
We got up fairly early the next day and ate at a restaurant next door to the hotel called Perkins. We don’t have these in VA, but apparently they are like an IHOP. I had my first taste of eggs benedict and enjoyed it. Then we set off for an hour drive to Hershey, PA to the Factory and outlet stores.
Next up: Chocolate :)
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