On November 18, a group of us (Alston, Brady, Emily, and I, Sarah) took a trip to Gettysburg National Park. We wanted to visit and check out all it had to offer, and it seemed like a good weekend to do so because Gettysburg was actually celebrating the 144th Anniversary of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. So that afternoon we met at school, packed into Alston’s car, and headed west.
When we reached town, our first stop was the Visitors’ Center. As a first time visitor, I was very impressed. It was like a museum, all on the Civil War and the Battle of Gettysburg. As we walked around and saw all of the artifacts and got to see what life was like at the time of the war, we really became immersed in the Gettysburg experience. It was a good way to start our visit.
Next, we drove over to Devil’s Den, an expanse of huge boulders that, as Brady the history buff informed us, was defended by the Union during the battle and was also a spot for snipers. We walked around the boulders, in and out of the caves, as Alston and Brady kept pretending to fall so they could watch Emily and me scream. We took a lot of pictures here…as previously mentioned, the rocks were massive, so of course Alston needed to have a picture standing on top of the highest one. As he tried to climb up, a group of preschoolers on a field trip crowded around, waiting to watch him fall. It was pretty funny.
Our next stop was an extremely tall viewing tower. Emily and I just about died climbing all the steps to the top! But it was well worth it…the view was spectacular. We could see the fields for about a 10 miles in each direction. And again, Alston and Brady made jokes about falling from the top. By then Emily and I were getting really cold, so we got back into Alston’s car and drove over to Little Round Top.
This was also a site successfully defended by the Union army during the battle. And it, too, had a really nice view. We walked around and took a lot of pictures, and Alston and Brady climbed more rocks. There was also a really cool tower that we climbed up, and of course, made jokes about falling off of. As the temperature got lower, we decided to head home.
Before leaving town, we got dinner at a little pizza shop near Gettysburg College. Although only a couple of hours long, our experience at Gettysburg had been not just really fun, but also very memorable. By visiting a park that was only 30 minutes away from where we live, we were able to learn about and appreciate one of the most important battles of our nation’s history. We look forward to more trips similar to this!
-Sarah Cashdollar
Here are some pictures. Both are taken in the exact same spot at different times in history.
Before:
When we reached town, our first stop was the Visitors’ Center. As a first time visitor, I was very impressed. It was like a museum, all on the Civil War and the Battle of Gettysburg. As we walked around and saw all of the artifacts and got to see what life was like at the time of the war, we really became immersed in the Gettysburg experience. It was a good way to start our visit.
Next, we drove over to Devil’s Den, an expanse of huge boulders that, as Brady the history buff informed us, was defended by the Union during the battle and was also a spot for snipers. We walked around the boulders, in and out of the caves, as Alston and Brady kept pretending to fall so they could watch Emily and me scream. We took a lot of pictures here…as previously mentioned, the rocks were massive, so of course Alston needed to have a picture standing on top of the highest one. As he tried to climb up, a group of preschoolers on a field trip crowded around, waiting to watch him fall. It was pretty funny.
Our next stop was an extremely tall viewing tower. Emily and I just about died climbing all the steps to the top! But it was well worth it…the view was spectacular. We could see the fields for about a 10 miles in each direction. And again, Alston and Brady made jokes about falling from the top. By then Emily and I were getting really cold, so we got back into Alston’s car and drove over to Little Round Top.
This was also a site successfully defended by the Union army during the battle. And it, too, had a really nice view. We walked around and took a lot of pictures, and Alston and Brady climbed more rocks. There was also a really cool tower that we climbed up, and of course, made jokes about falling off of. As the temperature got lower, we decided to head home.
Before leaving town, we got dinner at a little pizza shop near Gettysburg College. Although only a couple of hours long, our experience at Gettysburg had been not just really fun, but also very memorable. By visiting a park that was only 30 minutes away from where we live, we were able to learn about and appreciate one of the most important battles of our nation’s history. We look forward to more trips similar to this!
-Sarah Cashdollar
Here are some pictures. Both are taken in the exact same spot at different times in history.
Before:
After:
