After leaving Ronks we travelled onto Gettysburg. This town was on our itinerary as we wanted to learn about the history of America to attempt to understand the country in light of it’s past. We also have some members of our family who LOVE war history. We visited the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Centre. This gave us a great overview of the history of the civil war (I really didn’t know much about it before visiting), as well as focusing on the Battle of Gettysburg. In a nutshell, the war was fought from 1861 to 1865 between the Confederates (eleven slave states from the South) and the Union (states from the North remaining loyal to the U.S. constitution), over the issue of the expansion of slavery. Ultimately the Union won and slavery was abolished, but not before approximately 750,000 soldiers died in battle. The Battle of Gettysburg is often described as the turning point in the war.
The highlight of the experience was a tour we took of the town of Gettysburg and the battlefields with a local guide (who drove our car around for us). The guide’s great grandfather had fought in the war and he had conducted extensive research over many years, meaning he had a lot of interesting information to impart. My favourite parts of the tour were the retelling of anecdotes from civilians living in Gettysburg at the time, as well as viewing the cannonballs still lodged in the walls of some of the houses in Gettysburg. There are many monuments in the park erected on behalf of each of the regiments who fought and it was interesting to learn of the stories behind them and their significance. The whole military park has been returned to a state as close as possible as it was during the period of the civil war. This had been done on a scale quite mindblowing to us (ie powerlines have been buried and houses and farms preserved). I guess this is what a government with a larger population to tax is able to achieve. Never having had a conflict of this nature on Australian soil, it was also mindblowing to us to imagine what it would be like to be so fractured as a nation and then to be able to put it all back together and move on.
The sign above serves as a reminder that they still really like their guns in America and much to the chagrin of our guide, Pennsylvania is one of the states where it is legal to go armed in public. The boys were thrilled to be able to move onto our next destination in possession of a bullet from the civil war (how they came to be in possession of it is a tale for another time)!
After all this talk of war, it was definitely time for the girls to take their leave and pay a visit to the American Girl doll store in our next destination, Washington DC. This place is the stuff little girls’ dreams are made of and very enjoyable for big girls too! I can see why adults collect the dolls too.
If you are not familiar with American Girl stores, let me enlighten you! The store sells the dolls and their accessories (which are all themed with amazing attention to detail), as well as the experiences of visiting the dolls’ hair and beauty salon and dining in the cafe with your doll. A visit had been on the girls wish list for many years after hearing about a cousin’s trip.
Once in the cafe the dolls get their very own mini teacup and saucer (which you can take home with you) as well as to sit at the table with the “grownups” on their very own highchair. The whole experience really did live up to our expectations!
My personal favourite! The doll holders in the toilet where you place your dolls while you go to the toilet and wash your hands.
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