Monday, April 14, 2008- Opening the New Visitors Center

We didn’t plan our vacation this way, but when Scott discovered that we were going to be in Gettysburg when the new visitors center was opening, it was obvious we were going to have to try to be there that day. We found out that the center opened its doors for the first time at 8:00 this morning, so we got up early enough to be there for the big moment. There were other people there for the opening, though surprisingly there was no ribbon cutting or any thing like that. The local news station was there and you could see Scott’s University of Buffalo jacket in one shot that ran on the 6:00 news.

Since we had been at the last showing of the Electric Map the night before, we tried to get into the very first showing of the film, “A New Birth of Freedom” with Morgan Freeman and Sam Waterson. Unfortunately, the line that Scott chose to get into for tickets was having computer problems, so we didn’t have tickets for the 8:15 show. We got to see the second showing at 8:30 anyway, and since its actually running in two theaters, we got to see the first showing in the second theater, if that’s worth anything. We didn’t actually like the film. Like the Visitors Center itself, the film tries to examine the entire Civil War, including its causes and the battle of Gettysburg seems to take a much smaller role in the overall picture of things as a result of that. Scott wonders how many Southern visitors will take umbrage at the focus on slavery as a cause of the war in the new presentation. Certainly, the details of Gettysburg, which were a focus of the old Electric Map, seem lost in the flood of images that they try to wash over you in this new movie. The litmus test might be: Which movie would you choose to take a school group to? We both agreed that the one in the new theater outside of town that we saw last year would be a better introduction to someone visiting for the first time. Anna remembered a lot about that one, but got virtually nothing from this one. (Point of trivia: Veterans of the 9th New York Cavalry and the 8th Illinois Cavalry had a long standing and sometimes bitter disagreement over whose member fired the first shot at Gettysburg. Both the Visitor’s Center film and the permanent exhibit mention the 8th Illinois soldier by name, ignoring any claim by the New Yorkers.)

The Visitors Center itself is quite large and “state of the art” meaning that there are many computerized exhibits and “hands on” things to touch. Scott thinks they may have pulled a “Pamplin Park.” We liked the old visitors center, in part, because it was so central to everything-- right across from the cemetery, right behind the High Water Mark, a short distance of Steinwehr Avenue. We stopped in a lot just because it was there. The new Visitors Center was deliberately placed back away from everything. While a person can appreciate the argument that they want to return that part of the battlefield to its original appearance by removing the old visitors center and the building that houses the Cyclorama painting, they have moved the new visitors center to a spot that seems very out of the way. It’s unlikely to get just regular foot traffic. You pretty much have to drive there. If you drive there from the vicinity of the old one, you actually end up in one of the parking lots in the rear of the large building and have to walk a long ways to get all the way around it. There is a certain “wow” factor to many of the objects in the displays, though.

After the Visitors Center, we drove around a little on the site of the First Day’s fight, north of town, although construction was cutting of some of the roads- most notably the bridge over the railroad cut. Julie did some roller bladeing here. After lunch at the Lincoln Diner, we went in search of the elusive 49th New York monument. It’s almost like the Shangri-La or El Dorado of the Gettysburg Battlefield. Many people believe it exists and some even claim to know someone who has seen it. It doesn’t appear on most maps though, and if you ask a ranger how to find it though, the answer is usually the same: “You can’t get there from here.” Scott knows the general vicinity of where it must be, but it is cut off from the main part of the battlefield by a marshy stream on one side, and private property on the other. Armed with a topographical map that shows all of the monuments, we once again set out to see if we could find our way to it. No luck. A guy who saw the four of us walking down the Baltimore Road stopped because he figured our van had broken down and we needed a ride. When we explained that we were from Buffalo, the same area that the members of the 49th New York was from, he understood what we were trying to do. He told us that we were close, and pointed out where it was, but repeated the same story that the guy who owned that property doesn’t seem to like people crossing over it. We lost our nerve and turned back.

The girls went shopping at the Outlet Mall, where they found a lot of bargains. Scott took the van and went to some more shops in town. When the family reunited, we went to the Dobbin House for dinner again. We went back to the hotel for a “short” nap. That turned into a much longer break in the day. Since Anastasia is out like a light (and she’s been complaining of a soar throat) we probably won’t be going anywhere else today.