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Post subject: On the road again...
 Posted: Aug 03, 2007 - 04:26 PM
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Joined: Apr 30, 2003
Posts: 6012
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...or – more to the point – I just got back.
Here’s a few pics that I took during a visit to Gettysburg Pennsylvania this week. All of these pictures were taken with a Canon PowerShot A70 digital camera.
The centre-town hotel that I stayed at was built in 1797 and can claim Dwight Eisenhower, Ulysses Grant, Henry Ford and Carl Sandurg among its previous guests. When Lincoln came to Gettysburg to deliver the Gettysburg Address, he stayed at the Wills House just across the street; the circled window on the right is the room where he slept and is believed to be where he finished working on the address the night before he gave it (the circled window on the left is the room where I stayed):
Just around the corner from the hotel was the restored Gettysburg train station where Lincoln arrived when he came to give the address:
The Lutheran Seminary on the northwest outskirts of town. It was from the cupola on the roof that Union General John Buford observed Confederate troops to his west during the first morning of the Battle of Gettysburg:
‘Little Round Top’ southeast of town. This was the extreme left flank of Union troops on the second day of the three day battle. It was from the trees on the high ground in the distance that the 20th Maine Infantry Regiment led by Colonel Lawrence Chamberlain repulsed several assaults by Confederate troops, climaxing in a downhill bayonet charge when his soldiers ran out of ammunition:
The high-water mark on ‘Cemetery Ridge’ (a 'high-water mark' because it was the furthest point in the Confederate advance). It was here that a Union division led by Major General John Gibbon occupied the centre position in the Union line that was the focus of a massed Confederate assault on the third and last day of the battle. Known as ‘Picketts Charge’, it was the small grove of trees in the left of the photo that Confederate Lieutenant General James Longstreet used to orientate the approach of Confederate troops as they crossed almost a mile of open ground under deadly artillery and rifle fire. 'Picketts Charge' was the last major action during the battle and was a bloodbath with over 1,500 Union casualties and over 6,000 casualties (over 50%) on the Confederate side ...all in less than one hour:
One of many pieces of field artillery that serve as memorials and markers throughout the battlefield (this one is on ‘Cemetery Ridge’):
A sampling of the thousands of memorials erected throughout the battlefield by various organizations during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s . Most of these denote positions occupied by different Union units at various times during the battle or specific events (very few of them memorialize Confederate troops):
During the trip back to Toronto, I spent a night in Philadelphia and took the better part of an afternoon to tour the ‘USS New Jersey’ that’s on permanent display across the Delaware River in Camden, New Jersey. Built during WWII, this was the largest class of US battleship with a displacement of 45,000 tons and a length of 887 feet ...to this day, only aircraft carriers are bigger. Last decommissioned in 1991 (it’s now a museum ship), the ‘New Jersey’ served in WWII, Korea, the ‘Bay of Pigs’, Vietnam, Lebanon and the first Gulf War. In fact, the first cruise missle launched on the first day of the first Gulf War came from the ‘New Jersey’ (you might remember the footage appearing on television):
The weather was great all week.
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ChuckD |
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Post subject:
Posted: Aug 03, 2007 - 05:24 PM
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Joined: Oct 24, 2002
Posts: 6435
Location: Southwestern Connecticut, U.S.A Heroes: Bjorn Of Borg, and Bill, of course.
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Great pictures, Terry.
You seem enthralled with our great country.
Why not move on down and get it over with? |
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Post subject:
Posted: Aug 03, 2007 - 05:27 PM
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Joined: Apr 30, 2003
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| ChuckD wrote: |
"...You seem enthralled with our great country. Why not move on down and get it over with?..."
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It's a nice place to visit, but it's always nicer to get back home...
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ChuckD |
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Post subject:
Posted: Aug 03, 2007 - 05:31 PM
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Joined: Oct 24, 2002
Posts: 6435
Location: Southwestern Connecticut, U.S.A Heroes: Bjorn Of Borg, and Bill, of course.
Status: Offline
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| teclaydon wrote: | | ChuckD wrote: |
"...You seem enthralled with our great country. Why not move on down and get it over with?..."
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It's a nice place to visit, but it's always nicer to get back home...
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 I understand the feeling. I've been to Montreal. |
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Post subject:
Posted: Aug 03, 2007 - 05:41 PM
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Joined: Apr 30, 2003
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| ChuckD wrote: | | teclaydon wrote: | | ChuckD wrote: |
"...You seem enthralled with our great country. Why not move on down and get it over with?..."
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It's a nice place to visit, but it's always nicer to get back home...
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I understand the feeling. I've been to Montreal. |
Montreal has that affect on me as well ...especially if I'm driving. |
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Post subject:
Posted: Aug 03, 2007 - 05:44 PM
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Joined: Oct 24, 2002
Posts: 8167
Location: CA
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| Any "spiritual" activity ? |
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Post subject:
Posted: Aug 03, 2007 - 06:23 PM
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| littlestar wrote: |
"...Any "spiritual" activity ?..."
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Funny you should ask...
While I was at the Pennsylvania Memorial on Cemetery Ridge (not far from the site of 'Picketts Charge'), I experienced 'a moment'.
The memorial is the largest among those on the Gettysburg battlefields and was built between 1910 and 1913. Enclosed within one of its supporting columns is a narrow spiral staircase that leads to an observation area on its roof (if you weren't looking for it, you could easily miss it). After checking out the rest of the memorial, I approached the staircase's small entrance that was open to the public ...but when I got to within about a foot of it, I stopped and had an overwhelming feeling that I shouldn't go in (and I didn't).
Very strange.
Also, although I'm sure that there are perfectly rational reasons for it, there are signs posted throughout the entire battlefield that inform visitors that the grounds can only be toured between dawn and dusk. Keep in mind that this isn't a 'park' with boundaries defined by gates and fences ...it's almost 6,000 acres of open country ...but you aren't supposed to 'go' there after dark...
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Post subject:
Posted: Aug 03, 2007 - 06:28 PM
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Joined: Nov 17, 2002
Posts: 7598
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
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| Great Pictures Terry! |
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Post subject:
Posted: Aug 03, 2007 - 06:33 PM
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Joined: Oct 24, 2002
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Location: CA
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The spot you just described is noted for activity....Many people become "sick", have the feeling they are being observed and some have been pushed down the stairs. When you go up them...it gets worse.
"See" anything near the battlefields? |
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Post subject:
Posted: Aug 03, 2007 - 07:00 PM
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| littlestar wrote: |
"...The spot you just described is noted for activity....Many people become "sick", have the feeling they are being observed and some have been pushed down the stairs. When you go up them...it gets worse..."
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...really?!?
That's creepy.
Although I did a bit of research about the battle before the trip to have a better appreciation for what I was going to be seeing, I knew absolutely nothing about the Pennsylvania Memorial before I got there. In fact, I didn't even realize that it had an observation level until I was almost ready to leave the memorial. It was only when I came across the small open doorway leading to it that that I knew the spiral staircase existed (...all that to say, what I 'felt' had nothing to do with being influenced by the stories and experiences of others).
| littlestar wrote: |
"..."See" anything near the battlefields?..."
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Not at all.
Even though I wasn't 'looking' for anything 'unworldly', I was consciously aware of the significance of specific portions of the ground in terms of what took place there during the battle ...much of which is well documented, so you often know exactly where certain things happened (and where people died).
In fact, after taking a two hour bus-borne guided battlefield tour with a group of tourists early in the afternoon, I went back later in the day and retraced the same route on my own so that I could take my time and really 'absorb'. This was when I took most of my pictures and visited the Pennsylvania Memorial ...which the guided tour hadn't stopped at. |
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Post subject:
Posted: Aug 03, 2007 - 10:22 PM
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Joined: Oct 24, 2002
Posts: 8167
Location: CA
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I think it's enlightening that you had an "experience"...I'd say you are a little "sensitive" yourself...and you did just the right amount of skeptical preface about information too
Some people have seen what they thought were re-enactment scenes on the fields and had no clue, until mentioning it to staff....that there were no actors present
There is so much residual energy still present at these scenes of battle...it hasn't dissipated over all this time...to me, that is amazing. |
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Post subject:
Posted: Aug 04, 2007 - 06:29 AM
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Joined: Apr 30, 2003
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| littlestar wrote: |
"...I think it's enlightening that you had an "experience"...I'd say you are a little "sensitive" yourself..."
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Aw, shucks...
[chair creaks]
...what the hell was THAT??!!?
 
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Post subject:
Posted: Aug 04, 2007 - 03:06 PM
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Joined: Sep 18, 2004
Posts: 5199
Location: standing here shaking my head in disbelief....
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Terry, Littlestar asked the question I would have. That is supposed to be a very "active" area.
Nice pics. I'd love to get over there myself someday.
Oh, and that creepy feeling you get like someone is behind you, don't worry. I mean, there is someone behind you, but it won't help to worry about it.......... |
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When you try to make others look small, you only show how truly tiny your own spirit is.
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Post subject:
Posted: Aug 04, 2007 - 03:11 PM
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Joined: Dec 09, 2002
Posts: 13810
Location: second star to the right
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| So you enjoyed my neck of the woods, eh? |
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Post subject:
Posted: Aug 04, 2007 - 05:20 PM
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Joined: Apr 30, 2003
Posts: 6012
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| Tina wrote: |
"...So you enjoyed my neck of the woods, eh?..."
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...was that you running around the battlefield with a paintball gun?!?
Man, the park rangers were really PO'd. For a minute there, it looked as though they were actually going to catch you. They managed to get most of the paint washed off the tour bus, but that elderly lady from Tacoma is never going to be the same... |
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