Gettysburg - Biking the Battlefield

We took advantage of a windy but sunny Fall weekend by driving a couple of hours north to Gettysburg, PA. Since all the hotels in the area were booked, we crossed the Mason-Dixon Line and spent Friday night in Chambersburg. I was very surprised along the way to learn that US Highway 11 - the storied "Lee Highway" that I grew up next to in Tennessee, and that was once the primary North-South motorway before the introduction of the high-speed interstate systems - becomes "Molly Pitcher" highway once you cross the Pennsylvania Line...... Yankee bastards.

We arrived in Gettysburg Saturday morning. We brought along our bicycles thinking it might be a good way to tour the National Battlefield. Our first stop was the Visitor Center where we paid four dollars each to watch the 1960s era "Electric Map" show. The kitchy, low-tech blinking lights -- orange for confederate, blue for union -- are still an adequate orientation to the 3 days of gruesome warfare that signaled the beginning of the end of the Confederacy. Having received our battlefield introduction, we jumped on the bikes and coasted down through the prim and quaint little town of Gettysburg. Our destination was Lee's headquarters and Seminary Ridge. After we passed through town and headed up toward the rebel camps, it became immediately evident that there was a reason why this ground was considered so strategic. It's because it's very hilly, so not at all an easy trek on bicycles. We eventually made it up the ridge, stopping at Lee's Headquarters, now a Quality Inn, before making our way to the rebel camps. After stopping at some of the more interesting monuments, we peddled back down through town, across the campus of Gettysburg College, and up to Cemetery Ridge where the Union troops made their historic stand. It was much more crowded here and we dodged motorcades and tour buses as we made our way past Bloody Angle to the Stone Wall, the high-water mark of the Confederacy. After stopping for a while at the camp of some Yankee reenactors, (where I found a pewter button - unfortunately a modern reproduction) we peddled all the way around the field where Pickett made his heroic charge, and back to our starting point at the Visitor Center. Now somewhat sore and tired of cycling, we toured the rest of the battlefield in the truck, finishing at Little Round Top. Dianne noticed that some fellow tourists had brought along a Rebel Flag which she borrowed so I could proudly wave it on this high-ground so futilely fought for by my confederate ancestors.

After our battlefield tour, our interest turned toward more modern struggles, NCAA football, so we finished our day at a sports bar in Frederick, Maryland, where we topped-off our perfect fall day by watching both our teams, the Tennessee Vols and the Michigan Wolverines, win their respective games. -Shawn