Day 27: ...of the people, by the people, for the people

Drive of the day (map)


Probably the most famous part of Abraham Lincolns Gettysburg Address - the speach he gave shortly after the three day battle at Gettysburg. And a sentence that is used to define a democracy. On the 27th day of our trip we found ourselves in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.


After yet another eggs and bacon breakfast we left amish territory and headed for Gettysburg. Just a short one hour drive away from Lancaster. At first we got a little disappointed when we walked around the battlefield and saw that the museum and visitor center was closed - but we soon (or at least after 30 minutes) found out that it was the OLD visitor center that was closed... So we drove the short distance to the new center and was not disappointed.


The museum part of the center is ok - nothing special really, but they do have a great movie explaining the cause of the civil war, the war itself and the aftermath. The fact that it was narrated by Morgan Freeman didn't hurt either. After the movie we all saw our first cyclorama. A cyclorama is a panoramic painting on the inside of a cylindrical platform, designed to provide a viewer standing in the middle of the cylinder with a 360° view of the painting. The intended effect is to make a viewer, surrounded by the panoramic image, feel as if they were standing in the midst of a historic event or famous place. It was really cool. And the enhance the feeling of being there they use light, sound and even some props in front of the cyclorama. It was really worth the trip itself. What we thought was a modern painting was actually a painting from 1883 - and the artist had used 4 tons of oil paint....


After Gettysburg we didn't really have any plans so we drove to the smallish town of Frederick, Maryland. We checked in at yet another Days Inn, played some basketball, ate and did some shopping...