This past week I had the opportunity to visit Gettysburg National Military Park in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
I had been there once before ten years ago, right after I got out of the Army. It was close by to where we were living and it was one of the few major Civil War battlefields that I had not already visited.
This time around, it was my oldest who decided that she just had to visit Gettysburg. Far be it from me to deny a child who would like to experience a little history, we packed up and drove the two hours down to Gettysburg.
Much as it was back in 1863, Gettysburg is a hub of transportation. A significant number of major roads meet here and there is a lot more semi truck traffic that you would expect for what is still a fairly small town. The town is a mixture of old and new construction as it has tried to grow while still maintaining its connection to the past. Of course, it also has its fair share of tourist traps and shops selling chintzy merchandise.
Not far outside of town lies the battlefield or at least the part that has been designated and preserved. Some 180,000 soldier fought across the area for three days and very little of the area surrounding Gettysburg, including the town itself was free of the fighting.
There is something about going to the actual location of an event that is much better than reading about it in a book or even visiting a museum (though there is a very good museum on the park grounds that I do recommend visiting). As we visited various parts of the battlefield you are able to see the actual terrain they fought on and visualize the lines of battle.
Being able to see the battlefields and see the all of the tombstones in the cemetery I could see that the scale of what had happened here truly hit home. She had a lot of questions and no matter how difficult or unpleasant any of them were I tried to answer them all a completely and as honestly as I could.
We spent a few days exploring the area and could have easily spent more to completely cover everything but the regular world calls and we had to pack back up and head home, hopefully having learned something about history along the way.
It’s certainly not what you might call a “normal” type of family vacation but learning about history even the difficult parts of it are always a worthwhile endeavor.