Gettysburg

Friday proved to be one of the best weather days we have had with cool temperatures and mostly sunshine. Gene and I joined George and Kay Dennis and their son Kyle on a trip to Gettysburg which was about an hour and a half away. Gene and George had been there in prior years.
First stop was the visitors center, built in 2008 to replace a previous one, where we watched a video about the battle. Then went to the Cyclorama presentation. We all agreed that the Atlanta one is better. In this one, you stand on a platform and have to walk around to see the various parts of the painting, whereas in Atlanta the seats revolve so that one sees it all without moving.
We picked up a driving map and started hitting the high spots of battle sites, including Soldier's Cemetery where many of the Union dead are buried and where Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address. I do not know where the Confederates were buried. It was sobering to see the open field the confederates crossed under scathing fire and all the graves lined up obviously shoulder to shoulder with many reading "unknown." One thing I never thought about was the impact on the small village of having to deal with the bodies of thousands of soldiers in the middle of summer.
Around two PM we stopped into a brewpub for a lunch of very good sandwiches and burgers and realized that if we did not head for home, we would get into the very heavy traffic that is prevalent in the area each afternoon. The drive was very scenic of farms and old farmhouses, picturesque villages with historic homes and beautiful vistas.
During the ride, a phone call informed George that the plane needed to be rolled back about 8 feet to provide clearance for other planes, so on the way to the hotel, we went by and did that with the help of a guy in a Ford F150 and a big rope.
That evening it was Thai food, but no one was very hungry because Peggy and Jake had eaten lunch about the same time that we did.