Pennsylvania Road Trip … part two!

After our wonderful visit to a Coal Mine in Lansford, PA, we headed west again a week later for another interesting and fun driving trip to Gettysburg. We began with a lunch stop in Hershey at one of our all-time favorite restaurants; Primanti Brothers. A Pittsburgh original, Primantis serves up huge sandwiches that are piled high with meat or vegetarian choices topped with coleslaw and French fries that are right on the sandwich.Delicious! Another hour of driving and we arrived in Gettysburg.

A little bit of a history which I didn’t really remember/know until I visited.. more than 165,000 soldiers from both sides fought in the Battle of Gettysburg which lasted 3 days from July 1st to July 3rd 1863. There were over 50,000 casualties during those 3 days making it the bloodiest battle of the war. It also signaled a turning point for the Union Army. On November 19th of that year Abraham Lincoln gave his famous address during the dedication ceremony for the Gettysburg National Cemetery.

The National Park Service administers the Visitors Center, the National Cemetery and 6000 acres of Battlefields. Opened in 2008,the Museum and Visitor Center offers visitors an outstanding museum experience. It showcases an extensive collection of artifacts and archival materials and provides visitors with a unique perspective of the Civil War through the words of its participants. Utilizing a variety of exhibits, interactive displays and movies, the museum is fantastic. Admission to the museum, the movie and a 377-foot mural in the round is $18.75 for adults and $13.75 for children, under 5 free.

The National Park service also organizes a multitude of walks, hikes and talks that are all free.

To plan your visit go to www.nps.gov. There is a wealth of information there.

We also took a Gettysburg Battlefield bus tour that was $38 a person for a 2 hours ride through the battlefields. Our guide was very knowledgeable, and it was an easy way to see the sites. You can also hire a licensed guide at the information desk at the visitor’s center to come in your car with you which is $75 for two hours. It was a historic and fascinating trip that will stay with me for a very long time.