On the Road: Gettysburg

You could easily spend an entire day there.

But we just had an hour or two.

And it was snowing. And 30 degrees.

But the national park and museum were literally only minutes from the highway and we’ve been studying the Civil War in history this year along with our Prairie Primer so it just seemed irresponsible to not stop for a glimpse.

We entered the wide hall area at the museum where you have to decide whether you want to buy tickets, arrange a bus tour, donate blood, watch a movie, take a guided auto tour, purchase museum tickets, adopt a dog. Okay, two of those weren’t real choices in that lobby. But entering that giant space and facing immediate multiple choice questions involving money is always as overwhelming to me as giving blood or adopting pets.

So the seven of us, clad in head gear from Riley’s Nepal experience, trekked it up to the information booth where the kindest employee changed our day completely. We told him we were passing through and knew we didn’t have the time for the grand experience but couldn’t bear to miss a touch of Gettysburg after studying it that year.

I had brought an illustrated version of Abraham Lincoln’s famous speech with us and I wanted the kids to hear it read at the actual battlefield.

I think our friend Kind Parks Employee liked that for some reason. He traced a great route for us on the map and pointed out the few roads that were closed due to the snow. He gave the kids each a pack of trading cards with historical facts on them and gave our family a guide book with interesting stories about the battle for the road.

We were only planning to visit the battlefield itself but K.P.E. strongly encouraged us to take advantage of the museum while we there and personally escorted us to the entrance.

We were so glad.

The displays were phenomenal. Interesting. Incredible artifacts. Engaging to both kids and grown ups. Bergen pointed out Robert E. Lee’s actual desk that he had carried for him from battlefield to battlefield. A desk! (You know I wanted to both touch and own that treasure.)

Lincoln’s life mask was there on display. Original papers signed by Lincoln on the day he delivered the Gettysburg Address were encased in glass, away from touchy hands.

I think I was most impressed for some reason by being able to see the very stretcher that carried Stonewall Jackson off the field from his fatal wound – not actually at the Gettysburg battle but still at the museum. It was ragged and dirty and it didn’t look entirely functional, but it was the genuine article. To think of that being saved and stored all those years ….

Bergen was disappointed to recall that our own South Carolina was the first state to secede the union. Seems he’s naturally on the side of the states remaining united.

The high number of casualties on both sides was tragic. The devastation from that one surprise battle was horrific. Many photos and stories in the museum were gruesome and heartbreaking to read and see.

After slowly wading through the sordid history of our own nation, we ended up in the gift shop. Somehow it seemed inappropriate to sit with the heaviness of battles fought and lives decimated and then to hold Abe Lincoln bobble heads in your hands. We corralled the kids and made a quick bee line for the exit and explained our logic to our ever-learning little ones. They seemed to get the indecency of it as well.

Kevin read The Gettysburg Address to the kids in the car because it was too cold to stand at the battlefield itself and read.

He also read Thunder at Gettysburg to them as well. It’s a shortish, kid-appropriate true story about a fourteen year old girl named Tillie Pierce who accidentally finds herself at a farmhouse turned hospital smack dab in the center of the battle.

We had seen Tillie’s portrait on the wall in the museum which lent the reading an even more powerful meaning.

We definitely could have lingered longer indoors and wandered through fields for hours.

We didn’t have that luxury on this visit, but I’m so glad we took the time to see what we did. And we are so grateful for kind employees and seized opportunities.