Sunday, October 9- Gettysburg

     At the hotel breakfast, there were a number of uniformed and be-kilted fire fighters, which made us think, "Oh no! There's going to be a parade in town today1"  We checked some event calendars but didn't see any online listings for it, so we're not sure where they were headed.  

     We headed out to the Lutheran Seminary where Scott wanted to be dropped off to walk the First Day's battlefield, on the west and north sides of town.  He had his GoPro strapped to his head to maybe get some video that he can watch while walking on the treadmill.  Meanwhile, Julie and Abby went out to Starbucks for treats, and planned to meet Scott in about an hour at the Peace Light Memorial.  Scott's walk took him by many of the familiar spots- where General Reynolds was killed, the statue of the civilian John Burns, the equestrian statue of Reynolds and the standing statue of Buford.  He stopped near them for a restroom break, and the GoPro battery was still working.  He crossed the bridge at the railroad cut, and shortly after turning on Buford Avenue, Julie and Abby passed him in the car.  They waited for him at the 9th New York Cavalry monument, which was before the Peace Light Memorial.  When he checked his battery there, it was dead, so the rest of the recorded walk will have to wait for another time in the future.  [It turned out that it died just as he was approaching the car there.]

      We returned to the hotel.  Yesterday, we decided we should try make this the "path of least resistance" weekend.  If it's too hard, let's find something else to do.  With that in mind, we chose to go to the Outlet Mall next, since it was right next to our hotel.  The stores opened at 10:00 and we were there about 20 minutes early, but it was nice to be able to wait calmly.  The first store we went into was Old Navy where we picked out several fall outfits for Abby, since she needed some and there is no tax on clothes here.  Abby was fun to watch in Go! Calendars, Toys and Games.  We told her she could pick out one toy.  She did a good job of keeping it to one, but she kept replacing the one that she had just chose with the new thing that caught her eye.  In the end, we left with Baby Shark bath toys and she had them in the pool later in the day.  We also got her a ball, just because we had said that one would be nice when she was playing in the pool   We stopped in several other stores, of course, working our way up one side and down the other.  Julie really liked "Christmas Tree Hill" and got a bag there. 

     The real damage happened when she got to the Vera Bradley Outlet.   They had a Harry Potter set on sale that was purple and featured creatures from the stories like Hedwig the Owl,  Buckbeak the Hippogriff, and many others.  She got a reusable cup in that design, and Scott talked her into the matching lunch box too.  After she left the store, Scott went back and got the purse and backback from the set.  The clerk asked him if he was buying them secretly, and he said "Not really.  There's not a good way to keep them secret.  But we have to get them when we see them."  The clerk asked if she was a Harry Potter fan.  Scott said, "Yes, and a Vera Bradley fan," so when you put them together it's a double whammy.  We can write about them here in the blog because Julie knows about them, but she will be obligated to act surprised when she opens them at Christmas.  As we shopped, we kept our eyes open for other birthday and Christmas presents for other people, and we did manage to find a few things.  We won't mention them here though because they are actually still surprises.

     It was past lunch time and we ended up deciding to go back to the National Park Visitor Center, partly because Scott was thinking about getting a book that he saw yesterday there- Don Troiani's Gettysburg.  (Troiani is one of the artists that makes amazing paintings of military scenes.)  The cafe there was not busy at all, so it was a calm place to go for lunch. 

     Abby was getting anxious to go back in the pool, so all three of us spent some time in it before her nap.  She was having a grand time "racing" Daddy to get to the new ball first (with Mommy's help), and she screamed and giggled with  excitement each time.   She can kick very hard.  After the pool, it was getting close to 3:00, and she and mommy laid down in the room for a nap.

     While Abby was napping, Scott went out to do more Gettysburg.  He drove into town to stop at the Gettysburg Heritage Center, partly because he likes the bookshop/giftshop there, and partly because he knew there was a big parking lot in the back.  He got two DVDs there from the Battlewalks series that he likes, and the book Ghosts of Gettysburg VI (since we already have I through V).   After that little bit of shopping on Steinwehr Avenue, he went back out to the First Day's battlefield to continue the walk that he had started before.  He started by revisiting a few of the monuments he had walked past this morning in order to get a few better pictures and video shots of them  At one point, he was sure he recognized the voice of a nearby Battlefield Guide from one of the podcasts he listens to, but he didn't say anything to him. Then. he parked just before the 9th NY Cavalry Monument and headed to the Peace Light Memorial.  From there, he circled back and went down the rest of the 1st Corps monuments, doubled back again, and finished at the top of the observation tower.  By then it was about 5:00 and he made his way back to the hotel to find the girls.

     We needed dinner and first tried the Dobbin House and then the Four Score and Seven Beers brewery, but neither one was going to work this weekend.  The path of least resistance suggested that we head slightly out of town to the Appalachian Brewery Company.  Scott enjoyed the beer more than yesterday, especially the "Jolly Scot" Scotch ale.   Julie and Abby were disappointed with the food again, though, and didn't touch much of what they order.  Julie said she's generally been disappointed with the food this weekend, except maybe for Tommy's Pizza.  That's probably because we didn't get to visit our usual favorites like the Dobbin House. 

     After dinner, it was past 7:00 and already dark.  The signs on the battlefield now say that it is closed from sunset to sunrise.  We know that they used to be open until 10:00 and we have many fond memories of driving through the battlefield after dark, often with ghost tour tapes playing.  We decided to take a chance on a drive through the Culps Hill area, partly because it is the closest portion of the battlefield to our hotel.  We didn't see anybody else there-- not a ranger, a visitor, or even a ghost-- but there were deer in several different places and their eyes glowed when the headlights hit them. 

    We called it a day after that and returned to the hotel.  Usually when we come to Gettysburg we feel rejuvenated and excited to be here again.  This time, everything has seemed a little off.  Part of that is because we've got a two-year old with us again that we have to plan around, but it was more than just that because we've had toddlers here before.  We all tired and ready to go back home again.