Sunday June 27th Wilmington DE

After spending all day in Philadephia, we thought Sunday would be a day of rest. We have a map of the U.S. on the door of our motorhome which has a state sticker for every state Yvonne and I have visited. Well, we were missing Delaware, which as it turns out is only 28 miles away. So we jumped in the car and drove over to Wilmington DE and spent a few hours driving around. We also found out that there is no sales tax in DE so stopped by Costco and pickup up a few items. The drive was very restfull and the scenery was great. This part of the state was rolling hills with lots of trees.
The Weather here is hot and humid, mid 90's the past few days. The dry heat in Hemet sounds pretty good.

Philadephia Saturday June 26th

Our first visit to Philadelphia PA and Yvonne and I were really impressed. So much history here and one day is not enough to see it all. We took two tours, one a double decker bus which too us all around the city and a Duck Tour which took us around the city and into the Delaware River. We walked around Independence National Park. This is where Independence Hall and the Libery Bell are located. Visited the Besty Ross house, Christs Church and many other historic sites. The building in the picture is the first U.S. Post Office established by Ben Franklin and the other one is Independence Hall.

Friday June 25th

Left Gettysburg around 8:30 this morning and drove 72 miles to Kinzer PA, as hour outside of Philadephia. Will spend 4 nights here,. Since we arrived early (10:00 am) we decided to visit Valley Forge National Historical Site not too far away. As you probably know, Valley Forge was the winter camp for Gen. George Washington's troups during the winter of 1777 and 1778. There were 12,000 troups here and the log cabins were for the soldiers. The building was Washington's Headquarters. The Arch is the National Memorial Arch along the tour route. We are getting ready for all of the history we will encounter tomorrow in Philadelphia.

Thursday June 24th

Today was going to be a day to just hang out at the campground and relax. Well, we decided to visit the Snyder's Pretzel Factory in Nanover PA and take a tour of the factory. Of course we purchased some pretzels before we left. After Snyder's we stopped by the National Cemetery and a docent there gave us a great Living History Tour. Her focus was on Elizabeth Thorn who was the cartaker at the Evergreen Cemetery at the time of the battles of Gettysburg. We heard her story of the battle and her part in burying all of the dead after the battles. Our docent did a wonderful job in bring history to life. The pictures are the entrance to the Evergreen Cemetery as it would have appeared in 1863 and a statue of Elizabeth Thorn.

Gettysburg Battlefields Wed June 23rd

Today we took the audio driving tour of the Gettysburg Battlefields. This was a very humbling experience. Fifty one thousand soldiers on both sides were killed, injured or missing after three days of battle. Hard to imagine what it must of been like to be there in battle. There are monuments everywhere around the battlefield. The monument picture is the Enternal Life Peace Memorial which was dedicated 75 years after the battle by FDR. Over 1,800 civil war vets, average age 95, attended the dedication and the government paid for their travel and expenses. Over 200,000 were present for the event.

Gettysburg Battlefield Continued

Continued our tour of the battlefields. The statute is General Robert E. Lee, the large memorial is the Pennsylvania Memorial. Yvonne at the spot where Lincoln gave the famous "Gettysburg Address" on November 19, 1863.

Tues June 22nd National Military Park Visitor Center

Today we visited the National Military Park Visitor Center in Gettysburg. This is an amazing place and we spent about 4 hours there. Yvonne and I visited Gettysburg in June 2006, but this is a new visitor center which opened in 2008. Inside there are three things that are a must see. 1. The film "A New Birth of Freedom", 2. The Cyclorama Painting and 3. The Interpretive Museum. The picture of the painting does not do it justice and only shows a small portion. The painting was done after the Civil War and is displayed in a complete circle. You feel like you are right in the middle of the Battle of Gettysburg. The battle here was the deciding point of the Civil War. Tomorrow we will visit the battlefields.