GETTYSBURG, PA Day 2.  Joined the Bleys at 9:00 am for worship at the First Baptist Church of Gettysburg.  This was the traditional worship service.  The 10:30 am service is contemporary, and is what the Bleys usually attend, but they needed to leave early to join their son in Lancaster.  A very friendly and informal service.

After some lunch Betty and I drove to the Gettysburg National Military Park.  We got the value package of movie, cyclorama, museum, and bus tour.  Immediately following the movie one exits to the cyclorama, a huge 360 degree painting of the battle that has narration, with portions lighted over time to depict events, flashes of canon fire, etc as the story is told.  It is 377 feet in circumference and 42 feet high.  The painting was completed in less than one year by French painter Paul Phillippoteaux in 1884. 

One Scene of Cyclorama Painting

The museum is a huge maze-like series of rooms that one can meander through and get lost.  Along the way are several rooms with educational movies, exhibits, artifacts, etc.

Bronze Canon

The Tragedy of War

A Tree Killed By Shrapnel Exchanged in Conflict

Two Different Worlds in Conflict:
Landed Gentry Agricultural South vs Bustling Industrial North

The bus tour lasted two hours, with a highly knowledgeable energetic guide talking rapidly about every detail of the three-day battle.  Very ironic that the battle covered the first three days of July 1863, followed by the Fourth of July. 

The weather once again was rainy and overcast, making photography difficult, so I took few photos.  The following snapshot is of the monument contributed by North Carolina.  It is unique because it was created by American sculptor Gutzon Borglum, who also created Mount Rushmore.

North Carolina Monument

 As you exit the visitors center, there is a park bench with a statue of President Lincoln sitting on it.  The implication is to have your picture taken with him.  We complied.

Steven and Betty With Honest Abe

As you can see from this photo, it has become difficult to hide the fact that we have put on quite a few pounds on this trip.  What an exercise it will be to get them off once we return home!