Gettysburg

I have to admit, my favorite part of our entire trip was Gettysburg.  It was gorgeous beyond description & it was just really really a neat learning experience for our entire family.  We bought a 3 disc audio CD tour from the visitor's center, put it into our van, & drove around the town for 3 hours as we relived the important moments during the Battle of Gettysburg.

There are over 14,000 monuments scattered around Gettysburg.  Some of the monuments are shaped like cannons, some are stone pillars, some are actual statues.  Each monument has some sort of significance for the Battle of Gettysburg.  It was pouring on us for most of the day, so we were happy to be in our van for our tour, but we did get out & play in the rain to see some of these magnificent monuments.

The first part of the tour we learned about the Confederate side of the army.  This is the statue of Robert E Lee, the leader of the Confederate Army at the time.  This statue is where he stood during his last stand at Gettysburg before being overtaken by the Union.

The statue of Robert E Lee faces this large field where the final fight took place.  Across this field you can faintly see the statue of General Meade, the leader of the Union Army.  The two armies faced each other & fought the last bloody battle.  It was very sad to see it & know what happened there.

This was the top of Little Round Top hill where the Union soldiers fought good & hard making the Confederates retreat back for a time.  The called this valley the Valley of Death for that reason.

There were SO many monuments that I can't remember what each of them were, but this was a big one & I can't remember what it symbolized for the life of me.  But it was really cool!

On the opposite side of the valley was the Statue of General Meade.  He sat upon his horse & he faces the statue of Robert E Lee on that last battlefield.  It was really neat seeing the field from each of the General's point of views.

Cemetery Hill was gorgeous.  Because of the rain there was mist rising up & the green of the grass was brighter than ever.  All the monuments stood out so beautifully.  It was really beautiful.

The last stop on our 3 hours tour was at the cemetery where Abraham Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address.  There was silence in the Cemetery & though it was literally POURING rain at the time, we HAD to see this.  I wanted to stand in the same place as our great president did.

Of course, this was the place where I was dancing in the rain with my kids when I slipped & messed up my foot royally.  I wound up in the Emergency Room doing x-rays to determine the severity of my injury.  It wouldn't be a true Potter vacation without something going terribly wrong.  Luckily, my foot wasn't broken, but I did a number on my poor tendons.  I got my foot wrapped up & remained on crutches & in a wheelchair for the rest of my vacation.

Earlier in the day we had made an appointment with a fun old time photo studio there in Gettysburg.  They were SUPER excited to photograph our family of 8.  We got to get dressed up in classic Civil War Era clothing & then take a black & white picture with straight faces.  The kids LOVED dressing up.

I didn't think it would be possible for the Potter kids to not smile for a picture.  But the photographers got the perfect shot!  I was amazed.  This is probably the most perfect family picture we've ever had!!!

Gettysburg was a delight.  I'd go back there in a heartbeat.