Spontaneous Roadtrip: Gettysburg Edition
- readerskitchen
- May 3, 2015
- 2 min read
“Say yes and you'll figure it out afterwards.” ― Tina Fey
I was feeling a bit restless yesterday. I wanted to go on an adventure, but I also didn't want to go through the trouble of find a partner-in-crime for my adventure. I got into my car to go for a run at the park and before I knew it I was headed north.
Gettysburg, PA is only an hour away from where I live in Maryland. As a history nerd and lover of long walks, it seemed like the perfect place to spend a solitary day outdoors in some 80 degree weather. I'd also had the first part of the Gettysburg Address stuck in my head for a week now, so it must have been fate.
When I arrived, I parked my car and headed to the Gettysburg Military Park visitor center. This is a state-of-the-art beautiful building that was built in 2008. It has a information desk, ticket counter, museum, cafeteria, and cinema viewing room. After perusing the prices I decided that I'd opt for the self-guided tour my first time around. I grabbed a map and headed out the back door onto the paths.
One glance at the map showed me that this is one heck of a site. Without a car it would take quite a while to walk the trail so I planned to walk until i couldn't walk anymore, sit and have a snack, then head back. I started with the Soldier's Cemetary, headed up to the Memorial park (an expansive piece of battlefield that has some sort of monument to each unit that fought there) and around the the Pennsylvania memorial. The views were stunning. I always find it a bit surreal to be standing in a place where momentous history occurred and was preserved. You can almost imagine it all happening around you because so much of the area is undisturbed. I'm familiar with Manassas Battlefields, but they're so close to the bustle of cities that it's hard to imagine your in the 19th century whe you're there.
I walked for about 2 hours before heading back to my car and back to Maryland. For good measure, I stopped at a produce stand on the way home to snack on some incredible strawberries and pat myself on the back for my spontaneity.
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