Gettysburg Day 3

A very long day at the Civil War reenactment site, a few miles from the National Park.  Somehow it doesn't seem right that it takes almost an hour to drive seven miles;  there was a two-mile backup getting into the site, then poor WindDancer rocked and rolled across a pasture to the parking spot.  I jokingly said if I had milk in the RV it would have been butter by the time I parked.

This is a Living History area that not only hosts the battle reenactments but also presents talks by people in 1863 garb discussing topics applicable to the time.  Today I listened as General Robert E. Lee told us about his plans for battle and also chronicled the history of secession in the United States;  there had been several states threatening to secede from the union since the founding of the country, and most - if not all - of those had been Northern states.

Of course, there were the tents filled with souvenirs and food.  I purposely took very little money and no credit cards today.  I wanted to make a wish list for when I revisit the site in a few days.  I could spend my entire next check on the books offered!  Also, there were trees that "witnessed" the battle and Lincoln's Gettysburg Address that have since been harvested from the battlefield and their wood has been made into everything from paperweights to walking sticks.  These "Witness Tree" items are very tempting!

The battle reenactment was accompanied by a narration from a Civil War historian explaining what was happening on the battlefield.  That was very helpful, because all I saw was lines of soldiers and horses and smoke from cannon.  And the 15 rows of people in front of me.

Very glad I wore a broad-brimmed hat (photo not available), because despite the clouds it would have been easy to get a sunburn!