Day 13-Leaving Gettysburg

 Thursday, May 15

After many days of rain and a terrible forecast for the next four days we've decided to head home.  We were disappointed, but our plans for these next days involved a lot of outdoor activities which would not be fun in the rain.  We made that decision last night.

After a rainy night and a rainy morning, we did not regret our decision to head home, so we left our campsite at Pine Grove Furnace State Park at 8 AM, and headed south, back to Gettysburg to our favorite bakery, The Gettysburg Baking Company, for coffee and breakfast pastries which we consumed on site.  We also bought some sandwiches for lunch.  We knew the dining choices along I-81 in Pennsylvania would be very limited.  We split one sandwich at lunchtime and the other when we got to our hotel room.  Wise decision.

This bakery is closed on Sundays and Mondays, so we always plan our stops in Gettysburg for days when it is open.

Pecan Sticky Bun

Morning Buns

Incredible pastries and sandwiches that still taste as good as they did the first time we ate there in 2016.

Joni wanted to do some shopping before we headed out of town, so I remained at the bakery and worked on our blog while she shopped.  Joni never shops for herself; she's always looking for stocking stuffers for the rest of our family.

While Joni shopped I could not resist a final Civil War sight seeing experience, so walking down the street and checked out the exterior of the Wills House which is where Abraham Lincoln stayed for two nights when he was attending the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery.  It is believed that he put the final touches on his memorable speech while staying here.

As we  left Gettysburg around 11 AM the sun came out, but that was just a tease, and the rain and fog returned within a few minutes.  Not wanting to drive all the way home, we made a reservation for the night in Danbury, CT, 323 miles from Gettysburg, but more than half way home.

This will be my last post for this trip; despite the rain we had a great time and are already planning our next journey.

Day 12

 Wednesday, May 14

We got two big surprises on Wednesday morning.  First of all it wasn't raining so we were able to make coffee on the campsite's picnic table, and two, our "check engine" warning light went off.  The light stayed off all day, so I think our problem is solved.

This was probably our most spacious, private, and well maintained campsite of this trip.

Leaving Shenandoah River State Park we headed for the town of Middleton, Virginia, which is the location of the Cedar Creek Civil War battle in 1864. Our first stop at most battlegrounds is usually the visitors' center, but we couldn't find this one.

We've been to a lot of National Park Service visitors' centers, but never one that was in a strip mall.  No wonder we couldn't find it.  However, the ranger's was a great source of information about the battle, and the 3d animated model of the battlefield was a great way to present troop positions and movements.  I wish more visitors' centers had a similar exhibit.

The total war policy certainly explains the animosity that many in the South still maintain.  

Leaving the visitors' center we then took the 19 mile auto tour which was accompanied by an online narration.  It's certainly a beautiful area today, but in October 1864, it was Hell.

By the time we finished the auto tour, it was lunch time.  We deviated from our seafood diet  and went for local barbecue!

Chipped pork sandwich with a view of the battlefield.

From Cedar Creek our next stop was Gettysburg, about 100 miles to the northeast.  We arrived at the Gettysburg visitors' center around 2 pm.  We've never seen it so crowded; there must have been thousands of high school students on field trips.  I was certainly glad to be not supervising them.  Joni and both wondered how interested the students could be in what they were seeing. I don't think we would have appreciated what we were seeing.

Anyway we watched the film and the sound and light cyclorama display of Picket's Charge and then went for an abbreviated audio driving tour.  Fortunately the 3 CD set that we bought in 2016 can still be played in our van.  Many newer vehicles no longer have CD players.  

Picket's Charge, just a small section of the 42' x 370' 360° painting which was first displayed to the public in Boston in 1884

Maine college professor Joshau Chamberain overlooking the battlefields below Little Round Top

During the defense of Little Round Top, the 20th Maine came under heavy attack from the Confederate 15th Alabama regiment, part of the division led by Maj. Gen. John Bell Hood, and after about 3–4 hours of fighting the 20th Maine completely ran out of ammunition. Chamberlain's brother Joshua recognized the dire circumstances and ordered his left wing to respond to the rebels by charging downhill with fixed bayonets, thus ending the Confederate attack on the hill. The 20th Maine and the 83rd Pennsylvania together captured over 400 soldiers from the attacking Confederate forces. Joshua was slightly wounded in the foot by a spent bullet. Thomas was unhurt, except for "several scratches". As a result of their valiant defense of the hill, the Chamberlain brothers, Joshua Chamberlain especially, and the 20th Maine gained a great reputation and they were the subject of many publications and stories.

Looking down from Little Round Top

Leaving the battlefield, we drove to our dinner destination in Gettysburg, the Dobbin House Tavern, which was built in 1776.

 Porridge of the Day:  Crab Soup

We both ordered prime rib; can't remember when we ate it last.  Maybe 2014 in North Yorkshire with my relatives.  It was delicious.

Leaving the Dobbin House, we headed for our campground in the Pine Grove Furnace State Park, a 30 minute drive to the north.  We've stayed there many times; it's one of our favorites!

Day 11-Shenandoah Valley

 Tuesday, May 13

We spent today exploring several towns in the Shenandoah River Valley.  

It rained hard all night and it was still coming down when we got up, so we were in no hurry to get going.  

I made coffee and we headed to the city of Winchester to visit the local Ford dealer since the "check engine light" came on last night.  The service manager said they were too busy to fit us in, but as long as that light isn't flashing it's safe to drive.  He recommended we go to the local Auto Zone store where they'll run a check engine light test for free.  We also needed new wiper blades, so that became our next stop.  

The guy at Auto Zone was great.  He immediately came out to the van, in the pouring rain, and ran the "check engine light" test which identified a minor problem which is easily fixed with an additive to pour into our gas tank.  He also installed new wiper blades as the rain continued to pour down.  I felt a whole lot better and am confident we can continue our travels without the van breaking down.  Hopefully I'm right!

Leaving Auto Zone we drove to the "Museum of the Shenandoah Valley" which focuses more on the natural history of this area and not its role in the Civil War.  We really enjoyed the exhibits which included a painting display from Jacob Lawrence, and multiple displays of what life was like in the 19th century in this area.  We loved it, and could easily revisit anytime.

                                          Museum of the Shenandoah Valley

Toussaint l'Ouverture

Bloody Sunday on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama

A tribute to Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad

Although he lived in Harlem at one point in his life, he painted this scene from memory.

A recreation of a typical kitchen in the Valley.  Rural residents became dependent on the Sears Catalog.  The stove in this picture was sold for $65 in the 1932 edition of the catalog.  The average income in the Valley that year was only $100/month, so that stove was quite a luxury.

These objects all came from a temporary storage room since the archives of the museum were being renovated.  The official name for this exhibit is "uncharted chaos."

An interesting explanation of how slavery functioned.

Leaving the museum we headed for lunch in downtown Winchester.

Lobster bisque

I'm not sure what this was, the waiter didn't want Joni to have nothing while I enjoyed the lobster bisque.

Pasta Primavera for Joni

Fettuccine Carbonara for Rick

On the way out of Winchester we stopped by the childhood home of Patsy Cline.

Leaving Winchester we continued to explore some of the small towns in northwest Virginia:  Middleburg & Upperville, both of which were beautiful land dominated by horse culture. 

A 3/4 scale statue of a weary horse with Civil War tack.  Commissioned by Paul Mellon

Returning to our campsite at Shenandoah River State Park we stopped for dessert/dinner, hot fudge frozen custard sundaes.  We capped this evening doing laundry and watching the rain continue to fall.

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Day 10-Shenandoah National Park

 Monday, May 12

Travel day; we drove 267 miles today crossing Virginia to the Blue Ridge Mountains.  We were on the road by 8:30 AM and two hours later we on Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park.  

The forecast for today wasn't good, cloudy skies and rain, so we weren't anticipating any good views along Skyline drive.  Clear views without haze are certainly a rarity for this park.  The sun never came out but our views were much better than expected, and we certainly appreciated the various hues of green in the vegetation.   The elevation along Skyline Drive is between 2000-3600 feet, so spring comes much later than sea level.  Our previous visits to this park have been in April when there are almost no leaves; just gray like late November in New Hampshire.

 A scarlet tanager

Deer are everywhere, so you need to pay close attention while driving

We exited Skyline Drive at the Luray exit and headed to New Market to visit a Civil War battlefield and museum.  The first museum, the New Market Battlefield Museum, is privately owned and in addition to lots of Civil War artifacts and photographs, and it includes items from the French Indian War to Vietnam.  The docent said this collection has taken decades to put together.  

Looks like the Parthenon

This museum also had a room dedicated to toy western guns.  Toy replicas of the pistols and rifles of Hopalong Cassidy, Gene Autrey, and the Lone Ranger were just a few of the hundreds on display.  

Joni couldn't resist taking a photo of me with the Lone Ranger and Tonto who I saw at a rodeo at Madison Square Garden when I was six or seven years old.  When I shared this personal history the docent did not seem impressed.

Leaving this museum we then drove just a short distance down the road to the Virginia Museum of the Civil War.  This museum only focused on the battle and included the Emmy winning film, Field of Lost Shoes.  The film focuses on the experience of several cadets from Virginia Military Institute who ended up fighting in this battle.  The title of the film comes from the fact that the battlefield was so muddy that it sucked the shoes right off the feet of many of the soldiers.

The Shenandoah River Valley was a critical north/south thoroughfare to Richmond.  The Union forces were commanded by  General Franz Sigel, not one of Grants favorites,  and the Confederates by John C. Breckinridge, the former US Vice President.  There were over 10,000 soldiers involved in this battle and 1,300 casualties between the two forces.  The Confederates were successful in driving the Union back over the Shenandoah River and halting, at least temporarily, their march to Richmond.

Robert E. Lee and Traveller...interestingly at Gettysburg the equestrian statues with the horses lifting one foot off the ground indicate the rider died in combat.

Leaving the battlefield just after 5 pm, we headed for Front Royal for dinner.  Nothing fancy for us tonight; just cheese burgers, fries, diet coke, and frozen custard, but it was good.

Our final drive for the day was a short one to the Shenandoah River State Park Campground where we arrived around 7 pm.