Tell me about Gettysburg

[JCJRSmith]

Got the visitors guide in the mail yesterday and it looks like an awesome place to go. Definitely different from anything else I was looking at vacationwise. So who's been there? I'm looking for best time to go and whatever values you know about. I really have to go through the book tonight and hit some of these websites. Dh was thinking it'd be about 6hr drive from here. Sound right?


TIA

We live about 30 miles north of Gettysburg and we moved here from Chesapeake, VA. Yes, it will be about a 6 hour drive from where you are. Try to time your drive so you miss the Washington DC rush hour. Take 495 around the west side of DC to 270 to pick up route 15 in Frederick, Md.

There are plenty of tour companies but I would suggest you go to the Visitors Center run by the National Park Service. There you can attend free lectures by the park rangers, and hook up with some guided tours of the battlefield. Or, you can get the self-guided tour books and cd's from the gift shop there. If you like to camp, our favorite campground there is Drummer Boy - big, clean and lots to do. We were there last year over the July 4th weekend and there were lots of re-enactments going on, as it was the 145th anniversary of the battle. At the visitors center they had a lot of different authors there signing their books and giving talks as well.

 

[GeorgiaH]

We did a Segway tour of the Gettysburg Battlefield with a certified National Park Service guide who gives a narrative along the way. It was a lot of fun!!

 

[pl71]

ETA: I see that doing KOA would enable us to bring our dog if we wanted to. Have any of you brought pets?

KOA's are great about pets. You need to ask when you make the reservation, some places have a few pet free cabins and only a limited number of cabins that allow pets. If you're staying in a tent or your own camper pets are always allowed. You'll want to make a reservation early.

I haven't stayed at the Gettysburg KOA, but did a cross country move where we only stayed in KOA cabins...5 different sites. I was moving with 2 parrots, 3 cats, and 2 large dogs and KOA cabins were the only places I could find to sleep at that were totally fine with all my pets.

You do need to bring your own bed linens. I think that's why they allow pets, there really isn't much they can damage in the cabins.

 

[Octoberbride03]

Do the 1 room cabins have bathrooms? or would we have to go to a bath house? Not sure how much of a sticking point this would be since we've never done it. I have to admit, the price for getting 1 is a song and likely to save more $100 from what I'm seeing so far.

I'm also playing with getting a room at the Country Inn and Suites so I can gain Gold Points and possibly use some of those on a room for night b4 the Magic in 2011.

I really think its going to come down to those 2 places. Its just a matter of what kind of savings we're after. Now or Later.

If we brought the dog could we bring him around the battlefield or anything like that?

 

[JCJRSmith]

Do the 1 room cabins have bathrooms? or would we have to go to a bath house? Not sure how much of a sticking point this would be since we've never done it. I have to admit, the price for getting 1 is a song and likely to save more $100 from what I'm seeing so far.

I'm also playing with getting a room at the Country Inn and Suites so I can gain Gold Points and possibly use some of those on a room for night b4 the Magic in 2011.

I really think its going to come down to those 2 places. Its just a matter of what kind of savings we're after. Now or Later.

If we brought the dog could we bring him around the battlefield or anything like that?

Bath house, but my experiences with KOA's have always been that the bath house were well kept.

 

[tinkerdorabelle]

We brought our dog, but she's only 5 lbs. Gettysburg is really a must do IMO. It's a mind blowing experience with the history. Do the tour where you buy the CD. Also highly recommend Lancaster and Hershey such a beautiful area. There are a lot of good deals to be had if you look into it.

 

[DVC-Don]

We did a 3 day stay at Gettysburg back in 2004. Get the TravelBrains tour kit, it was great. I'd love to go back again. I've also done Manansas the same way.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

I first went to Gettysburg as an 8th grader. I don't know if it was because I was exhausted on the last full day of a weeklong school trip, if it was the fact the place was buried under two feet of snow, or if it really was the awful guide we had, but it just didn't grip me.

Fast forward 2 years and I watched the movie Gettysburg. I loved it. I then read the book (The Killer Angels) it's based on. Made me into a Civil War buff. I couldn't wait to go back. It would take me a while before I did. I dragged DH along shortly after we were married and spent a day crawling all over the Devil's Den and taking pictures of seemingly random rocks and trees, insisting to him that they "meant something" to anyone who knew.

Point being, Gettysburg is great, if you already have some small idea of what you're looking at. Otherwise, it's a bunch of fields and pretty hills dotted with memorials. Do some research beforehand. A guide can help as well.

 

[Geoff_M]

Gettysburg is great if you're a history buff, but has a somewhat more limited appeal if family member's aren't. We spent a whole day there during Spring Break 2006 and I very much enjoyed it... but the rest of the clan would have been happier with a 1/2 day. Since then they've closed the old Visitor's Center and with it, the beloved Electric Map. I don't think that anything quite gave you the flavor of the Battle as did that map. I also endorse the self-tour CDs.

One other planning note: The 2010 National Scout Jamboree takes place starting July 26th this year. 45,000+ plus Scouts, leaders, and staff members will travel to Virginia for this event and will "tour" along the way. Gettysburg is a common stop. If you're planning on visiting Gettysburg from July 21st to the 25th this summer, expect to share the park with a small army of Boy Scouts! Even more so for Washington DC... the quadrennial plague of khaki and tan locusts will descend on The Mall with a vengeance during that period!

 

[elmo2wdw]

We live 8 miles from Gettysburg. I highly recommend eating at The Dobbin House!! We often take walks there and it is very nice. I think the fall is a great time to visit because there a lot of other local activites like the Apple Harvest Festival.

 

[Octoberbride03]

Bringing this back up to the top again. Dh and I have decided to go as a fall vacation and stay in a 1 room cabin at KOA. So just how many days do we need to do justice to the trip? I was thinking 3-4 but really not sure. More or less

Thanks

 

[Tracy Savage]

Be sure to look for ghosts and if it's still there stop in Abes Antiques. The owner will freak you out!

 

[Golf4food]

Anyone close enough to visit should absolutely go to Gettysburg at least once, Civil War fans or not. People today complain about losing 1,000 soldiers in multiple years in Iraq or Afganistan, and certainly a single loss is tragic, but for perspective consider that in three days at Gettysburg there were closer to 50,000 killed, wounded, or missing. Not too far away to the SW is Sharpsburg, MD where the battle of Anteitam was fought and 17,000 were killed, wounded, or missing in a single day. The Civil War was the seminal event in American History. It made America. Prior that we were separate states. The Civil War is what made America into a single country. The late historian Brian Pohanka said, "Prior to the Civil War people said the United State are. After the Civil War people said the United States is." Gettysburg was the largest battle, many would argue the most important battle. As Lincoln said, it is truly Hallowed Ground. I can't wait for a chance to go back again (alas, a bit of a drive from Florida...)

 

[Squidgyness]

Anyone close enough to visit should absolutely go to Gettysburg at least once, Civil War fans or not. People today complain about losing 1,000 soldiers in multiple years in Iraq or Afganistan, and certainly a single loss is tragic, but for perspective consider that in three days at Gettysburg there were closer to 50,000 killed, wounded, or missing. Not too far away to the SW is Sharpsburg, MD where the battle of Anteitam was fought and 17,000 were killed, wounded, or missing in a single day. The Civil War was the seminal event in American History. It made America. Prior that we were separate states. The Civil War is what made America into a single country. The late historian Brian Pohanka said, "Prior to the Civil War people said the United State are. After the Civil War people said the United States is." Gettysburg was the largest battle, many would argue the most important battle. As Lincoln said, it is truly Hallowed Ground. I can't wait for a chance to go back again (alas, a bit of a drive from Florida...)

How about the Somme? closer to 60000 killed or wounded in ONE day.

I agree though, Gettysburg is the closest you can get to the formation of Modern America via battle, and is one of the most important sites of the civil war.

Though I will make the obligatory remark that you should come and see some of the historical sites we have across the pond .

If you ever get the chance, you should go to the WWI Battlefields in Western Europe. it might not have the same cultural references that Gettysburg does, but standing in 1/dozens of cemeteries with the one cemetary containing tens of thousands of graves is a humbling experience.

Plus, you can see France, not that we mention France in the UK .

*Tourism advert ends.*

 

[BayouMickey]

It has a looooong address