The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here...- Abraham Lincoln, The Gettysburg Address
Remember Lincoln's. You can probably forget these. The world will never forget what Abraham Lincoln said at the dedication of the National Cemetery in Gettysburg on November 19, 1863. The funny thing is he wasn't even the main speaker that day. Anyone remember who was?
Abe and I talked about it some and decided it didn't really matter.
What really mattered is that 7 score and 9 years ago Pennsylvania was invaded by Robert E Lee's Army Northern Virginia. Lee's Army fought General George Meade's Army of the Potomac on this nation's 87th birthday. Abraham Lincoln showed up 5 months later in November 1863. PoMiFoS was just behind about 150 years later.
Baconlb and I arrived on the Saturday night before Labor Day and set off to explore the battlefield. She loves paranormal television shows including, but not limited to
The Haunted Collector,
School Spirits,
Paranormal Witness, and
Dead Files. The tourist industry in Gettysburg sells itself as a haven for the paranormal and so we explored the battlefield in the dark doing minimal ghost hunting. I do not have any grainy or night vision video of us shouting what was that or searching around in the complete darkness. I also don't have a faux hawk or a ton of time to hit the gym.
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| That's a flaslight and a slow shutter speed. |
There weren't any at the summit of Little Round Top either.
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Oooh, spooky soldier
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I had my Canon Rebel T1i , Baconlb, and a couple of flashlights. Not surprisingly we did not run into any ghosts on top of Culp's Hill
It was far less interesting than what shows up on Syfy or Discovery or whatever channels churn them out these days. We did not run into any ghosts or apparitions though we did encounter a black cat on top of Little Round Top. It's caterwauling was upsetting but since it was not accompanied by any ghostly apparitions we did not waste our time chasing after it. Clearly, that was not quite the stuff that makes riveting television. It's barely the stuff of a half-assed blog. The highlight of ghost hunting was the way Baconlb impersonates The Haunted Collector John Zaffis way better than actually listening to him. You might be shocked like I am that no one has posted a video of themselves impersonating his Yankee accent.
Thanks for nothing,Youtube!
We eventually did the Carlisle Street tour with Ghosts of Gettysburg through town. It's definitely worth a try if you're into learning about some of the history. That was nothing like Ghost Adventures but if you like history, give
Ghosts of Gettysburg a shot.
The next day started bright (well, overcast) and early with a return trip to Little Round Top. In our hurry to beat the sun over the horizon I ignored multiple Do Not Enter signs. We learned that the National Park Service does in fact partol the roads in and around the battlefield since we were pulled over when we ignored one Do Not Enter sign too many. Fortunately, due to the early hour and my 'acting' confused the National Parks Officer let us go simply with correct directions. Unfortunately he did not issue us a recipe for clearer skies so the view from Little Round Top was foggy.
While we did not get a fantastic view of the sunrise ala the Grand Canyon, but t we did get a chance to enjoy the more popular sights in the area before breakfast and everyone else waking up and getting in the way of our pictures.
I had insisted on hitting the Triangular Field early in case whatever supernatural forces were located there sucked my camera battery dry. That's a widely reported effect of visiting the Triangular Field and our very own Baconlb reported it had happened to her. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you feel about my photography, my battery stayed strong throughout the trip.
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| My camera still works even after entering the gate to the Triangular Field. |
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| Is that a ghost on Little Round Top? |
Eventually we restarted our tour of the battlefield with an audio tour narrated by
Wayne Motts. If you are looking for a battlefield tour you can't go wrong with his Battlefield tour on CD. I initially picked a different one and our cashier scoffed at my choice and immediately asked us if we wanted to be zeroes or heroes when we toured the battlefield. I responded with the latter and with a sly grin she sold me on Wayne Motts' battlefield field guide. It's listed as 3 hour tour (cue Gilligan's Island theme) but that's just if you sit in your car and don't get out to explore the monuments and battlefield. I forced Baconlb to get out of the car and explore the monuments and other landmarks that abound in the battlefield.
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John Reynolds fearlessly led his men at the opening shots of the battle and is commemorated at Auto Tour Stop 1.
Eternal Peace and Light Memorial
Cannons are more fun than peace memorials! |
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| My favorite monument. The 90th Pennsylvania Regimental Monument. |
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| Posing awkwardly at the Pennsylvania Monument abbreviated PA, not Penna. |
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| Baconlb showing the correct way to read a weathered monument. |
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| Recreating Pickett's Charge minus all that bloodshed. |
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| Pickett's Chrage with all the bloodshed, depcited at the Cyclorama. |
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The Tennessee Monument: It's not that they didn't finish it. The base has the shape of Tennessee on it. I was initially confused.
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After the battlefield we toured the museum and watched movie and hit the Gettysburg Cyclorama. The movie was narrated by Morgan Freeman aka God and gave me all kinds of chills discussing how amazing our country is. PoMiFoS is a proud American blog and I can't help but get a little misty eyed being told about how our country has faced and overcome adversity. We still strive for freedom everyday. Clearly, freedom of speech is a guaranteed right in this country. How else does a shoddy blog like this one continue to exist? Based on grammar alone, the government should probably consider shutting it down.
Luckily for me and my readers, 150 years ago Honest Abe freed the slaves and saved the Union..
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