Life on the Mother Road: Four Score and Seven Years Ago

I have previously posted that Gettysburg, PA is one of my all-time favorite places on the planet. I love the town. To be in the presence of buildings and landscapes that have seen what they have seen is truly humbling. I love the rolling green hills and the mist in the morning. I love being able to walk around the town and people watch. Believe you me, there are lots of interesting types that make the trek to this small town in the summertime. For example, when Allie was three weeks old we went during the first week in July (which is when the battle took place in 1863.) In our hotel, we had Civil War re-enactors, Harley Davidson biker types (thanks to a bike rally going through town) and more Elvis impersonators than I've ever seen outside of Las Vegas.

I think what I like most about Gettysburg is the memories I have of time spent there as a family. First and foremost, the time I've spent with my Dad. He loves the Civil War, and although this has become something he shares more with my brothers than with me, I love to see him get excited when he talks about the war. He is giddy! I love the places we visit nearly every time we go; Ernie's Texas Hot Wiener Lunch, Friendly's and lately, the Gettysburg Wal-Mart. I love the Battlefield; Seminary Ridge, the Virginia Monument, Devil's Den, the Slaughter Pen, Little Round Top, Culp's Hill, the Peach Orchard and the High Water Mark. I have loved taking my husband and my children there; and my kids love it there. I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that being where something so significant and horrific happened can make my modern problems seem insignificant.

This year's trip to Gettysburg was a blast! It was the last leg of our trip and one of the best parts overall. My parents rented a house in Adams County and we stayed there with them and my brothers and their families. My sister-in-law Shanna's parents came along too, and it was nice to have an extra set of grandparents hanging around with us. I wish I had taken pictures of the house, but by that point in time, the camera was only coming out on special occasions. Suffice it to say, it was awesome. We're going back next year, so I'll take some pictures then.

One of the highlights of the trip this year was the fact that our friends, Heather and Ryan McEwan have recently relocated to Maryland courtesy of the US Army, so they brought their kids up and joined us. My dad made arrangements for an awesome, exclusive tour and so Matt took our girls and Ryan took his two oldest boys and they went and saw, and experienced everything that is and was Gettysburg. I'm going to try and get Matt to do a guest post about their tour so that you can hear more about that, but until then, I'm sure you'll wait with baited breath. Heather and I hung out with the littles. We headed to the Outlet Malls and had lunch. Jack ran away (actually hid in the clothes rack at Old Navy) and nearly scared me to death. That is saying something, because it is pretty hard to do anymore.

While we were there, my mom and I drove down to an antique mall in Emmitsburg, MD. The roads were under construction and the detours took us down roads where I was sure that I was starting to hear banjo music, but we arrived safe and sound and relatively unscathed. It's a good thing that I had an airplane ride to pack for, because I could have bought a lot of stuff at that antique mall.