Trip of a Lifetime: Day Three

Day Three: Pennsylvania.

We took off from a town called Fredrick, Maryland. Coincidentally where Francis Scott Key is buried. We saw it off the side of the road and decided to take a detour to drive around inside the cemetery/memorial. There was so many graves and so close together, it was definitely different. 

We then took off until we got to the town of Gettysburg. Pennsylvania is probably the most beautiful state to drive through, no joke. When they say "rolling hills" in songs about America they are definitely talking about Pennsylvania. The road twist and climb and fall but not in a way that makes you car sick, it's just a gorgeous ride. 

We stopped at a gift shop in downtown Gettysburg and found costumes...

...Mom said no. 

But we did make a great purchase. We bought the Auto Tour CD. I recommend this to anyone who doesn't want to pay for the tour bus. You just stick the cd in your car and it just guides you all around Gettysburg with facts, telling you about the things you are seeing, and even tells you where to go. Even if you don't understand where to go from the lady on the cd, there are signs about where to turn all over the city. Brilliant!

You get out there and it feels as if the area hasn't been touched since the historic event. The fences are the same and there are stones piled up as if it is a wall to hide behind. Really neat place to visit.

Something I learned fast about Gettysburg....its a statue town. There is statues EVERYWHERE. 

At first you just start snapping and then you realize most of them are of people that you've never heard about. For example, the picture below you can see 4 statues...that's just one part of ONE road.

But I'm not complaining. It's cool to see how sacred the people keep this place. There are even canon's on the side of the road everywhere...some are even still able to work.

No, I didn't try.

Because I have just a ton of pictures of statues I decided to just cut this one short and show what it's like. But probably my favorite part of the whole tour was getting to stand on the top of Little Top. 

For all you history buffs, you know this is one of the hills that was crucial but absolutely bloody part of this battle. Again, it seems as if the battle happened yesterday because the area is kept up so well..besides the cars and people with cameras everywhere. Just imagine they are soldiers in the next picture.

Each state made a statue in honor of soldiers that fought in the battle of Gettysburg from their state. New York, North Carolina, Virginia, Mississippi, etc. Every single one of them made a memorial in honor of the men from their state. 

Below is the largest, obviously from Pennsylvania. It contains the names of all who were lost in the battle along bronze plaques all along the bottom so you can search for your ancestors. 

And then this was one of my favorite statues, General Meade.

It doesn't look big in this picture but when standing next to it I was only up to the middle of the plaque on the side. It was so grand and awesome. 

I think the best part of this day was just feeling the hushness about people, knowing that the ground they are walking on is sacred. It's where the river turned red from so many casualties, it is probably one of the most crucial battles of the war for the North, and it feels as if it hasn't been touched. It kind of gives you chills thinking about what happened there and knowing where you are. 

Anyways.

If you get the chance to go there I would suggest grabbing some food at Pike's. I just chose something off the menu super quick because we had to get going and it was the best thing I had eaten. I got a lemon pepper chicken sandwich. So rich and soooo big. I love the dining out here because it's big portions and you can really find some good home cooking. Where as in Utah everything is cheap because of the consumer type and therefore the outcome is cheap food. 

I will definitely miss the food out here but not the prices of grocery shopping.

One of the highlights of my trip was getting to drive through the all famous city...

Scranton, PA.

If you haven't seen Office, I'm sorry.

It was so cool!!! I wanted to roll down my window and ask someone where Dwight was but decided that they would probably pull a gun on me because they've heard that line so much.

Leaving Gettysburg, we are on our way to Cooperstown, New York. Home of the baseball Hall of Fame. It was our destination of the trip because of my brothers baseball tournament up here.

Again, Pennsylvania was such a gorgeous drive! Until you hit the New York border and then suddenly it is straight out of a horror movie. You know the ones where teenage girls are practicing witchcraft in the woods and then they are randomly standing in the middle of the road when you turn a corner....I was really scared. For absolute reals.

But it's all good now, I'll tell you more about the place we are staying and the tournament when I finally get caught up (today is really day 5 in real time) on posts.

Goodnight from Cooperstown, NY!!

D