Summer vacation 2014... Phase 3

A view of one portion of the cyclorama...

A letter signed by Abraham Lincoln...

Eisenhower home of Ike and Mamie...

this archway into the cemetery stood during the war at Gettysburg...

the view of Little Roundtop...

the final stop of our vacation was Gettysburg...

it was absolutely incredible, the scope and magnitude of the battlefield...

beautiful monuments and markers were everywhere, one more incredible than the next...

our first day there we went to the visitor's center and watched the movie, saw the cylorama (an incredible 360 degree view of the battle with lights and sound), and went through the museum...

the artifacts were breathtaking; to see Abraham Lincoln's handwriting and signature, clothing, guns, and other pieces of history was amazing...

we took a 2-hour tour of the battlefield and surrounding area on a double decker bus, with an open top; we were the first seats on top and it offered a spectacular view; we wore headphones and listened to the guide tell us the history of the battle...

we were able to see original homes with bullet holes in them and one with a cannon ball still embedded in it; the home where the only civilian, Jenny Wade, was killed by a sharp shooter's bullet while baking bread for the Union soldiers in her sister's home; and so many monuments...

the cemetery was beautiful with all of the monuments dedicated to those lost; we were on the site where Abraham Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address; saw hundreds of markers for "unknown" soldiers buried there...

it is hard to grasp everything that happened there in 3 days ...

also swimming at the hotel and a wonderful authentic dinner of shepards pie at the GaryOwen Pub...

our vacation was different this year; we would usually have spent this entire week at the family house in Cape May with Tim's whole family, but this year was not to be... we hope that we can continue this tradition in the years to come, but for this year, we tried some different destinations and had a relaxing time together...