Being a Tourist in Gettysburg

Gee, I must be having civil war week or something. *strange*


Today I went with my family to the new visitor's center in Gettysburg. Wow! The whole town was teeming with people. I've never seen it quite so. This weekend is the infamous Gettysburg Reenactment. 10,000-15,000 reenactors invade the town to recreate history. On every sidewalk, at every turn, behind every monument, in every restaurant, men in uniform and ladies in hoop dresses mill about. It is quite a spectacle.

We went on a guided tour (provided by the Museum and Visitor Center) following the path of General Garnett's men during Pickett's charge. We were given a formation that we had to follow while marching through grass as tall as me and climbing over a couple fences too. It was insane. Union soldiers would've been firing at us as we were charging toward them, sometimes taking out up to 15 soldiers with one blow. What an experience! I pretty much hated it, and I wasn't fearing for my life, wearing a wool jacket, carrying a weapon, being blinded by smoke, deafened by cannon fire, wounded, tired, or following a confederate flag to my death. Hmmmm.

Then we walked through the historic downtown of Gettysburg and ate at a little local restaurant. We were looking at license plates on all the cars buzzing through the town and almost every state in the US was represented. This whole reenacting stuff is serious business. I had no idea.