As a continuation of our trip to Gettysburg from January 30th, we spent a great deal of time in the visitors center after touring the town.
One of our ideas was to take a tour with a licensed guide from the park. We haven't done this before but have heard part of their talks from prior visits. Usually a two hour tour, ours stretched a little further because we had asked for specifics of Sheryll's relatives and I think he liked Sheryll's new Venza. We spent a little more time at the places her relatives regiments fought than I think a normal outing would have encompassed. At $55, not including tip, it was a good plan and I would recommend it if you are planning a visit. Although we are very familiar with the three day battle and the progression of the fight, you do learn smaller items we haven't heard of before, especially who some of the major drunks were leading the troops and some smaller items about some of the monuments. And speaking of the monuments, we have started a project on photographing some of the smaller details of the monuments. It is incredible some of the elements the craftsmen put in them. The 17th Pa Cavalry (one of Sherylls' relatives regiments) is to scale of an equipped trooper sitting on the horse with a recognizable face. You can see the fear in the eyes of horses in others and some the rifles, if not made of granite, could be loaded and fired. I think this idea has a lot of possibilities and one I plan to take further.
We also dropped by the visitors center. Many times as a matter of fact. After all, it's 20-30 degrees out and bathroom facilities are few and far between. This is a new facility that replaced the old building that was actually located where parts of the battle took place so the idea was to go bigger to house all the artifacts and get it away from the battlefield itself. They moved it about a half mile down the road, but frankly, I was disappointed. I loved the old building. It had an extensive collection of arms, clothing, munitions and it had the Electric map. There was not a clearer way to see the battle progress than by sitting in the auditorium and watching the battle unfold with tiny lights coming on and going off as troops moved about. Unfortunately, the Parks Service did not see fit to include this as an exhibit. This used to impress the Boy Scouts when we took them on campouts here and that is not easy to do. I also don't feel all the artifacts are displayed either. Sheryll seems to think that not everyone cares about all the different rifles and guns and such, so she wasn't as put off by this as I was. It was a wasted opportunity, in my opinion. The movie they show on Gettysburg was confusing to Sheryll and a disappointment to me. Only about a third of it dealt with the battle and the rest was on the Civil War. I didn't go to learn about the rest of the Civil War. As you tour the exhibits, you need to progress through quite a few of them to get to the battle itself. Once at this point, the information flows and to someone not familiar with the grounds, you can get an understanding of the 3 days. The place seems too PC to me. As much as Martin Luther King, Jr. deserves a place in history, I'm not sure if this is the venue for it. Otherwise, it is a beautiful facility. They really do need to bring in some form of the electric map. Granted the other was old, filled with asbestos and maybe needed freshening up, it very much needed to be there. I was never at the old facility when there wasn't a full house to see it. Even the new facility at Bull Run (Manassas to those of Southern Heritage) has a form of the electric map.
One outstanding feature of the visitors center is the Cyclorama. This is incredible! Cleaned up, touched up, with the sky added back to it, this is a 360 view of the last battle at Gettysburg, commonly referred as Pickett's Charge. Poor George Pickett! Although only part of a group also led by Confederate Generals Trimble and Pettigrew, poor Pickett lives on in infamy. This feature of the visitors allows me to forgive all the other shortcomings because this worth the trip. Before you is the entire battle that draws you in to every scene. This version was originally painted in 1884 and has finally been restored to its full size (which I believe is 42' high and 377' if stretched to its full length). Added are wagon pieces, cannon parts, legs and arms cast in front of the painting to add realism. Ok, no arms and legs but there was some in July of 1863. Make this part of your trip, it is time well spent.
Besides all other accoutrements the visitors center offers, the cafeteria is actually pretty good with large portions, even in the sandwiches. I felt it wasn't unreasonably priced either. At the opposite end is the large bookstore. Full of literature covering many officers, units and so on, it offers all the latest from the prominent Gettysburg authors. Maybe someday one of mine!
Add this to your itinerary, it is full of photographic possibilities and remember.....
Always go to the light,
Steve
One of our ideas was to take a tour with a licensed guide from the park. We haven't done this before but have heard part of their talks from prior visits. Usually a two hour tour, ours stretched a little further because we had asked for specifics of Sheryll's relatives and I think he liked Sheryll's new Venza. We spent a little more time at the places her relatives regiments fought than I think a normal outing would have encompassed. At $55, not including tip, it was a good plan and I would recommend it if you are planning a visit. Although we are very familiar with the three day battle and the progression of the fight, you do learn smaller items we haven't heard of before, especially who some of the major drunks were leading the troops and some smaller items about some of the monuments. And speaking of the monuments, we have started a project on photographing some of the smaller details of the monuments. It is incredible some of the elements the craftsmen put in them. The 17th Pa Cavalry (one of Sherylls' relatives regiments) is to scale of an equipped trooper sitting on the horse with a recognizable face. You can see the fear in the eyes of horses in others and some the rifles, if not made of granite, could be loaded and fired. I think this idea has a lot of possibilities and one I plan to take further.
We also dropped by the visitors center. Many times as a matter of fact. After all, it's 20-30 degrees out and bathroom facilities are few and far between. This is a new facility that replaced the old building that was actually located where parts of the battle took place so the idea was to go bigger to house all the artifacts and get it away from the battlefield itself. They moved it about a half mile down the road, but frankly, I was disappointed. I loved the old building. It had an extensive collection of arms, clothing, munitions and it had the Electric map. There was not a clearer way to see the battle progress than by sitting in the auditorium and watching the battle unfold with tiny lights coming on and going off as troops moved about. Unfortunately, the Parks Service did not see fit to include this as an exhibit. This used to impress the Boy Scouts when we took them on campouts here and that is not easy to do. I also don't feel all the artifacts are displayed either. Sheryll seems to think that not everyone cares about all the different rifles and guns and such, so she wasn't as put off by this as I was. It was a wasted opportunity, in my opinion. The movie they show on Gettysburg was confusing to Sheryll and a disappointment to me. Only about a third of it dealt with the battle and the rest was on the Civil War. I didn't go to learn about the rest of the Civil War. As you tour the exhibits, you need to progress through quite a few of them to get to the battle itself. Once at this point, the information flows and to someone not familiar with the grounds, you can get an understanding of the 3 days. The place seems too PC to me. As much as Martin Luther King, Jr. deserves a place in history, I'm not sure if this is the venue for it. Otherwise, it is a beautiful facility. They really do need to bring in some form of the electric map. Granted the other was old, filled with asbestos and maybe needed freshening up, it very much needed to be there. I was never at the old facility when there wasn't a full house to see it. Even the new facility at Bull Run (Manassas to those of Southern Heritage) has a form of the electric map.
One outstanding feature of the visitors center is the Cyclorama. This is incredible! Cleaned up, touched up, with the sky added back to it, this is a 360 view of the last battle at Gettysburg, commonly referred as Pickett's Charge. Poor George Pickett! Although only part of a group also led by Confederate Generals Trimble and Pettigrew, poor Pickett lives on in infamy. This feature of the visitors allows me to forgive all the other shortcomings because this worth the trip. Before you is the entire battle that draws you in to every scene. This version was originally painted in 1884 and has finally been restored to its full size (which I believe is 42' high and 377' if stretched to its full length). Added are wagon pieces, cannon parts, legs and arms cast in front of the painting to add realism. Ok, no arms and legs but there was some in July of 1863. Make this part of your trip, it is time well spent.
Besides all other accoutrements the visitors center offers, the cafeteria is actually pretty good with large portions, even in the sandwiches. I felt it wasn't unreasonably priced either. At the opposite end is the large bookstore. Full of literature covering many officers, units and so on, it offers all the latest from the prominent Gettysburg authors. Maybe someday one of mine!
Add this to your itinerary, it is full of photographic possibilities and remember.....
Always go to the light,
Steve
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