Well, I made it back from Yankeeland in one piece, although I will no longer claim Florida drivers are the worst in the world. Northern Virginia easily has the dumbest drivers I have ever seen.

Anyway, I won't go into a full narrative of the vacation, but I'll throw up just a few of the nearly a hundred pics we got.


The lovely Mrs gorilla at General Lee's headquarters, now a museum on the edge of Gettysburg.



The Dobbin House Restaurant and Tavern, built in 1776 and still open. Easily the best place I have eaten all week.


Mrs gorilla looking out from Little Round Top, only a few feet from where Lt. Col. Chamberlain provided leadership that won him the Congressional Medal of Honor.


The Trostle Farm, nearly smack-dab in the middle of the battlefield, complete with cannonball hole from the battle.


Cannon looking out from Little Round Top onto the "no-man's-land" next to Devil's Den


Devil's Den, looking up to Little Round Top. Here, Texas and Georgia volunteers engaged in a sniper duel with regiments from Maine and several other states. There area in between was, as most of you would immediately recognize, a place inhabited only by the dead or soon-to-be dead. The small stream, Plum Run, cuts the field in half and was the only nearby source of water for either group. It is said that after the second day of battle, this stream ran pink with blood for hours.


A sniper hide in Devil's Den. Many will recognize the picture of this spot, where Matthew Brady posed a Texas or Georgia volunteers body in the crevice for dramatic effect. (original pic added below)



Cannon looking out onto the western portion of the battlefield, from the area where General Longstreet oversaw his corps.


Two mornings, I awoke extra early, in order to slip out onto the field by myself. I felt it the best way to pay homage to men who fought and died here. Alone, in the huge battlefield with my thoughts and the memory of so many men was a bit eerie, but very satisfying. Truly a breathtaking experience.




The Wheatfield, the scene of probably the bloodiest fighting of the battle. A horrifying ordeal by any standard. Two more pics of the Wheatfield below.






Mrs gorilla at the Cashtown Inn. Most of you will probably recognize it from shows on the History Channel. The command staff for the Confederate Army made a great deal of the plans prior to the battle from this very building.



Yes, that's my ugly face in there with Mrs gorilla on the tower overlooking the western portion of the battlefield.

That's all the pics I will post for now, I have many more, but these are the most interesting ones. Enjoy!

excellent pictures.... thanks for sharing    

So did you take the car tour with the cassette tape that you can buy???
Me and Mrs none did that on our honeymoon out there. Your pics brought back a lot of memories   Thanks

Great pics! Thanks for sharing.

Well, I made it back from Yankeeland in one piece, although I will no longer claim Florida drivers are the worst in the world. Northern Virginia easily has the dumbest drivers I have ever seen.

Be glad you did not go to Jersey  

Quoted: Well, I made it back from Yankeeland in one piece, although I will no longer claim Florida drivers are the worst in the world. Northern Virginia easily has the dumbest drivers I have ever seen. Be glad you did not go to Jersey

Been there. After 2 years, I still can't figure out why it's so difficult to let people do U-turns instead of that whole jughandle road thing.

Thanks for sharing the pics.  Makes me want to go back to Gettysburg.  I never even got to Cashtown.  BTW, want to see dumb drivers?  Go near Washington, D. C.  I was taking an off ramp to visit the National Firearms Museum in Fairfax and saw in my rear view mirror a minivan fishtailing behind me.  I thought he was going to hit but happily he did manage to brake in time.

Awesome pics, especially the foggy morning pics.  

I never got a chance to go out by myself but I would have loved to.  In the morn, early.....or dusk/at night.  I think that would be cool.

Outstanding!

Those pics were great thanks.

That is the only, I repeat only thing I dont like about living on the west coast. It just doesnt have the history the east does.

Thanks for sharing.
CH

I truly loved my trip Gettysburg, it was fascinating!

Great pics!!!!


Thanks

Thanks for sharing!  In 1972 and 73 I was a summer ranger (technician) there giving the battlefield talks at Little Round Top, Picketts Charge and so on.  Loved it!  Being able to browse the glass negatives raised the goosebumps every time.  

Thanks VG...(tearing up)...my Great-Great granddad gave his life there.....William Levi Jones, Florida's 5th Infantry, July 3, 1863.

How was the Devil's Den experience? I got the creeps there.

Quoted: How was the Devil's Den experience? I got the creeps there.

Particularly at Devil's Den and the Wheatfield, when I was by myself in the mornings, I got the willies.

Note in one of the Wheatfield pics, the white spot on the pic. Mrs gorilla believes in ghosts and such, and was quite taken aback by it. I, on the other hand, have yet to see proof, so I remain dubious. It is definitely something though. Zooming in shows that it appears to be in front of the blades of grass, and up off the ground. I dunno.


Eric, you are correct. I never expected the North to be so hot. Conditions while we were there ranged from a cool 71 one morning up to 101 during the hottest part of one day. Imagine having to fight in that sort of weather for three straight days.

Quoted: Thanks VG...(tearing up)...my Great-Great granddad gave his life there.....William Levi Jones, Florida's 5th Infantry, July 3, 1863.

Then this is for him jj.

I thought Gettysburg was one of the most vivid American history experiences I have had.  My g-g-grandfather went up the hill (53rd Virginia, Armistead's Brigade, Pickett's Division) and was wounded in front of the Union lines, captured, and later escaped from a prison on an island in Lake Erie and got back to Richmond.

Standing in that field, I had the odd notion that I almost died out there, which in a sense I guess is true.  An incredible historic site.  Thanks for the pictures and reviving that memory for me.

Thanks for posting up the pics.

I was talking wih my dad this weekend about how we should take a couple of weeks and go tour Gettysburg, and some of the other Civil War sights.

Quoted: Quoted: Thanks VG...(tearing up)...my Great-Great granddad gave his life there.....William Levi Jones, Florida's 5th Infantry, July 3, 1863. Then this is for him jj. i17.photobucket.com/albums/b53/vanilla_gorilla911/vacation05069.jpg

Thanks VG, I am sure a visit would be quite moving. I need to haul my Pop's up there before he gets to old............

Note in one of the Wheatfield pics, the white spot on the pic. Mrs gorilla believes in ghosts and such, and was quite taken aback by it. I, on the other hand, have yet to see proof, so I remain dubious. It is definitely something though. Zooming in shows that it appears to be in front of the blades of grass, and up off the ground. I dunno.


There is one in the pic posted above too.

I have read accounts of the same thing on other forums about folks taking photos and have the white spots or images of people in them that were not there when it was taken. Very Spooky.

I would love to go there someday. I have toured the seige works at Vicksburg and was shocked at how close the lines were to each other.

When did you go? We were just there on the 1,2, and 3.

Here's a link to my pics at another site:

p102.ezboard.com/flastrefugeofthesanefrm2.showMessage?topicID=6292.topic

BTW, what was the weather like when you went? It was oppressively hot when we were there. It made me realise how horrible it must have been fighting there in the heavy wool uniforms that they wore. I was wearing a sharpshooters kepi for the first couple days and ended up buying a slouch hat to keep the sun off. Those kepis don't block much sun and the leather liner just gathers larger drops of sweat to fall into your eyes.

Quoted: Note in one of the Wheatfield pics, the white spot on the pic. Mrs gorilla believes in ghosts and such, and was quite taken aback by it. I, on the other hand, have yet to see proof, so I remain dubious. It is definitely something though. Zooming in shows that it appears to be in front of the blades of grass, and up off the ground. I dunno. There is one in the pic posted above too. I have read accounts of the same thing on other forums about folks taking photos and have the white spots or images of people in them that were not there when it was taken. Very Spooky. I would love to go there someday. I have toured the seige works at Vicksburg and was shocked at how close the lines were to each other.

Almost the antithesis of Vicksburg, the lines were further apart and they closed in to attack and then moved back.  Especially Picketts charge.  Standing at the beginning Reb lines or the goal line Yank lines on the hill.    (Of course one was a siege and the other a battle of grand maneuvers, but the contrast is striking)

One time I was there I was on Little Round Top and listening in on a lecture being given to the students from the Army War College over at Carlisle Barracks.  And you could hear cannon fire.  Was probably actually atmospherics and thunder, because a thunderstorm rolled through a little later(dispersing the lecture), but it sounded more distinct  and separate booms, not rolling like thunder usually is.  

Did you hit up the Appalachian Brewing Company's restuarant?

Quoted: Did you hit up the Appalachian Brewing Company's restuarant?

Didn't get a chance. I forgot about it and kept going back to the Dobbin House because we had such a wonderful time there.

BTW, what was the weather like when you went? It was oppressively hot when we were there. It made me realise how horrible it must have been fighting there in the heavy wool uniforms that they wore. I was wearing a sharpshooters kepi for the first couple days and ended up buying a slouch hat to keep the sun off. Those kepis don't block much sun and the leather liner just gathers larger drops of sweat to fall into your eyes.

I'm used to Florida heat and humidity and it was still Godawful hot up there.