Gettysburg National Park

Gettysburg National Park took us a full day to see and appreciate.  It takes a lot of concentration, driving, walking, and for us,.....155 pictures.

If you go, you should go when the weather is agreeable.  I would not want to go there in the heat or the very cold.  Unless you are a Civil War buff, we would suggest two hours at least in the visitors center.  The Cyclorama exhibit should not be missed.  The history and restoration of the Cyclorama was very interesting itself.   After the visitors center we did the Auto Tour.  You can buy or rent audio tapes to listen to while driving.  Here's the National Park site for Gettysburg.   http://www.nps.gov/gett/

Alex and I were going to try and go through some of the pictures and explain each one in regards to the battle, however for your sake, we are going to post the best pictures and leave it at that.  Our hope is that if you haven't been there, the pictures will make you want to.   If you have been there, or you're a Civil War buff, then you will recognize some of the monuments and areas.  Keep an eye out for pictures of Little Round Top with Big Round Top next/behind it.  For those that don't know, Little Round Top is where the battle was decided and you will see pictures of those two hills.  Of course Little Round Top is the smaller.

Alex had gone to Gettysburg with his class when he was at Command and Staff School in Quantico back in the 80's.  They marched around and were given a close up tour and instruction of the battlefield.  I appreciated his explanation of the battle.  It was very sad and moving at times.  

As usual, click the link, select slide show, hit F-11 to enlarge.
http://picasaweb.google.com/ChrisTorrance/Gettysburg?authkey=Gv1sRgCM7x5YTOl72UqwE#

Jacobsburg State Park, PA

OK, so we will start to catch up after our computer problems.

Way back on September 23rd we went for a hike to Jacobsburg State Park in Pennsylvania.
http://www.stateparks.com/jacobsburg.html


The park has a lot going on.   It's an environmental education center, hiking trail and home of the Henry Rifle. http://www.henryrepeating.com/history.cfm

The Henry family lived here for many generations and some of the homes and buildings are part of the park and hike.  It's a beautiful area.  Nice day.  I'm very happy with these pictures.  It was an overcast day but the pictures turned out better than I thought they would.  Click the link below, select slideshow and F-11 to enlarge the screen.  Hope you like them.

http://picasaweb.google.com/ChrisTorrance/JacobsburgFarmHike?authkey=Gv1sRgCK2w24blzbqALw#

Computers UGH

Alrighty.  Back online after a trying few weeks with computer problems.  I'll spare you the gory details.  It wasn't pretty.  We will work to catch up.  Coming up..... Gettysburg, Raleigh and crazy Marine Corps friends.  Later, Chris and Alex

Orchard Beach and Kennebunkport, Maine

We went to Orchard Beach on the recommendation of our campground host.  It's a popular family summer beach.  Lots of hotels, motels and bed and breakfasts. Streets full of coastal bungalows that can be rented for a week or more.  The beach has a perfect crescent shape and is 7 miles long.  Apparently, sandy beaches are rare in rocky Maine.  This one is ideal and the little town is charming.  The first set of pictures are of Orchard Beach.  Click the link below, select slide show and F-11 to enlarge. 

http://picasaweb.google.com/ChrisTorrance/OrchardBeachMaine?authkey=Gv1sRgCKeg34nfyNm9mwE#

Another day we headed to Kennebunkport.  We ended up right in front of the Bush compound.  Wow, nice piece of real estate.  It must be something to sit on the ocean front porch of this place.  We then drove into the village of Kennebunkport.  They have a small, sandy/rocky beachfront.  It's lovely and the houses were just what you'd expect.  The picture to the left is of   Kennebunkport.  On the link below, the first 2 pictures are of the Bush place.

http://picasaweb.google.com/ChrisTorrance/KennebunkportMaine?authkey=Gv1sRgCIyQgYX7zfOC-gE#

We would recommend visiting both of these places.  They each have their own charm and both places are perfect for a picnic on the beach.