Day Seven

Gettysburg. 
Grey and damp this morning, had rained overnight so was wet underfoot but the rain held off for the whole day, and it’s now fined up and the sun is shining again.  We have been really lucky with the weather so far, though were regretting not having more t-shirts in Washington as it was much warmer than we expected.  Mid 20’s most days, and we have packed thermals and layers expecting it to be colder.  I suspect it will be as we get further north, and we certainly needed the layers today as it was pretty cold, especially this morning.  We wandered up to the Soldiers National Cemetery which is just along from where we are staying.  Lots of old canons in place, apparently in the same position as they were when the fighting was taking place back in 1863.

The battle of Gettysburg in the American civil war is a pivotal event. In 1863, the Confederacy invaded Pennsylvania, intending to force the Union to some kind of peace, either a surrender or an armistice of sorts, so that the Confederacy could eventually gain recognition internationally, and had this succeeded, the form of America today could well have been radically different.

Gettysburg is probably best described as a town of living history. As one shops amongst buildings of the time (almost all inscribed with their significance or relevance during the battle) , one encounters people that are dressed in period costume, both men and women, who do this, and wander around for no better reason that they simply can. They have a passion for the time and place, and express this by ensuring that the events of 1863 are not forgotten.

We had a good stroll around the town today. There are a great mix of shops from contemporary art and design to, naturally, civil war antiques and memorabilia. I managed to find the one shop that sells plastic kits (!) but the icing on the cake was a place that sold genuine civil war antiques and collectables. And oh my, what collectables there were! A Union forage cap sold for a mere A$4500 USD whilst items that belonged to the generals and officers were available on application.

However, I couldn’t afford $4500 for as forage cap, so had to satisfy myself (and happily so) with a cap from a milliners called Dirty Billy’s J  This cap was made as per the original so was a real treat to find ( and thanks to Deb for pointing me at the shop!)

After a lot of mooching around we decided to head out for dinner and so picked O’Rorkes bar. It’s what you can only describe as a typical American pub and Deb and I settled in to watch the maniacal activity on both sides of the bar! We could almost have been in a movie as there was even a guy watching “the game” on the bar TV and yelling at the TV each time a play went against his team ( or clapping loudly at each success).   During the evening a chap walked in wearing full Union soldier regalia, even down to the dirt & grime on his face. We got to talking and it turns out he was an ex US marine , now a history teacher, that participated in civil war & revolutionary war re-enactments three weekends a month. All this and only 27 years old. The man was a pleasure to talk with and has a real passion to keep historical interest alive for that period of time.

We were also treated to some really great live music. One guy, a guitar, a pretty good sound system and a great voice, but boy it was excellent. He covered a whole range of songs (Crowded house to Pink Floyd to Neil Young and all points in between) and was a real pleasure to listen to. He had a jar next to his setup that people put tips into. I hope he did well.