Gettysburg- Monday, March 21, 2016

We weren't sure what we were going to do over Easter break this year.  We're saving for China this summer, so we didn't want to fly anywhere.  Then, just this past weekend, Anna had a chance to get a dishwashing job at Mandy's Cafe, just a short walk from our house.  As late as this morning, we didn't know what her schedule was going to look like, but when we found out that she wasn't going to be wanted again until Thursday, we said, "Let's go to Gettysburg!"  We packed up the car with the dogs, made a few stops on our way out of town, and left West Seneca just a little after noon.

We stopped only a few times on the way down, including once at the Elk County Court House in Pennsylvania, and pulled into Gettysburg just a little after 7:00, just as the sun was going down.  We had called ahead to Tommy's Pizza, so as soon as we got checked into the hotel, we were able to pick up dinner and ate with the dogs in the room.

After dinner, the dogs needed some exercise and we wanted to explore.  It was dark, but we've driven through the battlefield in the dark before.  It might be our favorite time to do so.  We went out to Little Round Top, and had just gotten the dogs out (and Emma situated in the back) when a park ranger pulled up and told us the park was closed.  We've never been kicked out of the park before!   It was only about 8:00!

We drove into town and parked near the Farnsworth House.  We saw a new monument to Civil War musicians.  There was a ceremony at it last fall when we were here on Scott's birthday, but the parade was forming up at the time, and there was so much commotion that Scott didn't even notice the monument then.  We walked the dogs up and down the street and saw a couple of lantern tours under way.  Anna looked at the 150 or so pockmarks left in the Farnsworth House wall from the bullets that struck it in the battle.   Then we went back to the hotel.  We'll have an active day tomorrow.

Post script: The battlefield doesn't close at "dusk."   Until April, it closes at 7:00 PM, which we were definitely past, and in the summer it closes at 10:00 PM, which explains why we're usually not kicked out.