Days 34 to 36-Gettysburg to Massena to Sandwich

On the road by 6:45 AM,  we began another long travel day for us, most of which was spent on I-81 as it climbs across the Allegheny  Mountains in Pennsylvania coal country and into the flatter farmlands of New York state.  The 18 wheel truck traffic along this route is extremely heavy until you are north of Scranton, so it's not a relaxing drive despite the gorgeous scenery.

Our first top was around noon in downtown Syracuse for sandwiches.  This art deco building belongs to Niagara Mohawk, one of the big power utilities in New York.

Continuing northward along I-81 until it ends at the bridge across the St. Lawrence to Canada.

We took a short diversion, about ten miles east of the end of I-81, to the village of Clayton, a beautiful resort village right along the seaway.  Every summer Clayton hosts an antique boat show that has always been on my bucket list.

The main shipping channel on the Seaway passes right next to Clayton so a common sight is a that of a huge tanker or container ship that dwarfs the buildings of downtown Clayton.

Leaving Clayton we deviated inland to the village of Heuvelton.  There are a lot of Amish families that have settled in this region and Joni visited a general store in this small town that featured Amish baskets and quilts.

Leaving Clayton around 5:30 PM, we moved on to  Potsdam where we dined at Sergi's Pizza.  Their pizza rolls are to die for...and if you eat too many you probably will.

We arrived in Massena around 7 PM, 496 miles from our starting point in Pine Grove Furnace State Park.  

We spent the next two nights in Massena, visiting Joni's aunt, and for the first time touring the local museum where we came across some fascinating photos that highlight Massena's history.

André de Massena, one of Napoleon's favorite lieutenants, for whom the town is named.

Queen Elizabeth and Vice-President Nixon were in Massena for the dedication of the Seaway opening.

The English Department at Massena Central High School, where I began my teaching career in the fall of 1973.

As I finish writing this last blog entry, Joni and are packing up our van and getting ready for our last drive of this trip, to our home in Sandwich, 425 miles away.  We plan to stop for lunch in Littleton, NH, and hopefully we'll be back on the Cape before dark.  I know one of topics Joni and I will discuss on today's drive, is where will go for our next camping trip.  

 Footnote:  We crossed the bridge over the Cape Cod Canal at 6 PM, tired and hungry.   Over the past 36 days we have driven 7511 miles and visited 25 state.  Can't wait to hit the road again, but for the next month we're going to just enjoy living on Cape Cod.

Day 33-Gettysburg

A relaxing day for us, our goal for today was to revisit the Gettysburg National Military Park.  We’ve been here five or six times before, but I never get tired of it and with every visit I feel I understand the battle and the conflict between the North and the South a little better.

Our campsite at the Pine Grove Furnace State Park.  This park is located about 20 miles north of Gettysburg and on the midpoint of the Appalachian Trail.

The area immediately north of Gettysburg, between our campground and the town, is apple country.  There are fruit trees in every direction as far as the eye can see. It's hard to imagine how they can pick all these fruits; there must be a huge migrant farm population.

We started our day at the Gettysburg Baking Company, our favorite place for coffee, baked goods, and sandwiches.  Their pecan sticky buns, my favorite,  are wonderful, but you really need a knife and fork to eat them. Their morning rolls, Joni’s favorite, are also outstanding.  We also picked up some sweet rolls for tomorrow morning since we’ll be heading north and not passing through Gettysburg in the morning.

Blanche & Stella at the Gettysburg Baking Co.

This is the Wills House where Lincoln stayed the night before he delivered the Gettysburg Address.  He wrote most of his speech here that night.

The Gettysburg Hotel, located in Lincoln Square, the center of city and  across the street from  both the Wills House and the Gettysburg Baking Co.

While I worked on our blog, Joni took off for some shopping…more stocking stuffers for our children and grandchildren.  Shopping and blogging finished, we resumed our battlefield auto tour. When we were about half-way through the tour, we stopped in a shady spot for lunch. We felt it would be disrespectful to set up our chairs and table for a picnic, so we remained in our while we ate, and then resumed the auto tour.  

Prior to the Gettysburg battle the South was winning the war.  Public sentiment in the North was turning against the war, and many were ready for a peaceful settlement that would allow the South to keep slavery.  Robert E. Lee felt that if he took the battle into Pennsylvania he could force the North to give up, but the end result of this battle was that the Lee's Army of Northern Virginia had to retreat back into Maryland.

As this map shows, the Southern forces attacked from the north 

The battlefield park is filled with memorials to both the Northern and Southern armies.  One of the first statues enountered on the auto tour is that of John Reynolds, the highest ranking officer on either side who was killed.  Equestrian statues that display a horse with one foot off the ground indicate that the soldier was killed in battle.

The Virginia Memorial is located along Seminary Ridge where Lee's forces were camped. On the third day of the battle Pickett's Charge started from this point attacking the Union troops who were located at the far end of this field.

This is the view that the Union troops had as the waited for Pickett's men. The stone wall, that stretches across the middle of this photo, provided great protection for the Union troops.  

"At 1:00 pm on July 3, approximately 150 Confederate cannon opened fire on Cemetery Ridge and Cemetery Hill. Federal artillery responded. This thunderous bombardment, a prelude to the Confederate assault known as Pickett's Charge, lasted nearly two hours and was heard miles away. At 3:00 pm, Confederate General Robert E. Lee watched his battle line, nearly 12,000 Confederate infantrymen, step out across these open fields toward Union troops on Cemetery Ridge. Federal artillery and musketry pelted the advancing Southerners with lead and iron, killing and mangling hundreds, but they pressed forward into the storm of battle. A few hundred Confederates reached Cemetery Ridge, clashing in hand-to-hand combat. Within an hour it was over. Nearly half of the 12,000 had fallen. Pickett's Charge had failed".

Little Round Top:   "Late in the afternoon of July 2, 1863, Union Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain dashed headlong into history, leading his 20th Maine Regiment in perhaps the most famous counterattack of the Civil War. The regiment’s sudden, desperate bayonet charge blunted the Confederate assault on Little Round Top and has been credited with saving Major General George Gordon Meade’s Army of the Potomac, winning the Battle of Gettysburg and setting the South on a long, irreversible path to defeat."

We always enjoy watching the many school groups that were probably visiting the park for the first time.  It's fun to observe what kids are interested in the park and what kids are just interested in their peers.

Around 3 PM, we returned to the Visitor Center and went through the museum until it’s 5 PM closing time.  Since it was a little early for dinner, we drove out to President Eisenhower’s farm which is to the west of the town.

 

For dinner we returned to Food 101.  

 

Seared ahi tuna, grilled ciabatta, caper relish, shallot, carrot, mixed greens, tomato vinaigrette.

Caesar Salad:  Romaine, tuscan kale, asiago crisps, garlic croutons.

 

Day 32-Heading North to Gettysburg

 A travel day, so we were up by 6 AM, on the road by 6:45 AM, and heading toward Gettysburg, 360 miles  to the northeast.

Our first stop was in Lewisburg, WV, for coffee and muffins, which turned into coffee and breakfast sandwiches at the Wild Bean coffeehouse.  Our sandwiches were delicious, and the coffeehouse was definitely a cool, funky spot that hosts live music at night.  Lewisburg is a beautiful old city with gorgeous buildings in the downtown area dating back to the 18^th century and equally gorgeous residences from post-Civil War times.

Our last stop in West Virginia was at the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs.  Known as America's Resort,  the Greenbrier has hosted presidents and other celebrities for over two centuries.  Slamming' Sammy Snead was the golf pro here, and since his time, the Greenbriar Classic has been become a regular stop on the PGA Seniors tour.  During WW II, the Greenbrier was used as a hospital, and during the Cold War, the Greenbriar was outfitted with a special bomb proof alternative to the Capitol in Washington, DC. Joni's parents stayed in one of the 700+ rooms, so we wanted to see the resort.

 

Main St. in Covington, WV.  Film location for TV series Dopesick, which focused on the opioid crisis.

Continuing along I-64, we stopped for lunch in Harrisonburg, Va., home to James Madison University, where we dined at Grilled Cheese Mania.  I don’t think I’ve ever had a grilled cheese anywhere but home, but these were very good!

We pulled into the Visitor Center at Gettysburg National Military Park around 4 PM.  Yes, we’ve been here before, but I’ve enjoyed every visit; there’s so much to learn!  We bought tickets to the film & museum which we have not done since 2016.  We’ve been listening to John Meacham’s Lincoln biography, And Then There Was Light,  so this visit was even more enlightening that previous ones.

The Battle of Gettysburg by Paul Philippoteaux.  A cyclorama painting depicting Pickett's charge on the final day.  This is just a small section of the painting which measures 42 ft. by 377 ft.  The first public display of this painting was in Boston in 1884 in the Cyclorama building on Tremont Street.

 

The Visitor Center closed at 5 PM, so prior to dinner we started the auto tour of the battlefield for which we have an audio guide on CD.  Fortunately our van has a CD player!  We only got through 1 of the 14 stops on this tour before it was dinner time.  

 

Creatures of habit that we are we returned to “Food 101” where we had another fabulous dinner.  In addition to having great food, it’s a BYOB, and we brought a fine rose from the Languedoc-Rouissilon region in southern France.

 

Apple Cheddar Chicken Sandwich:  Chicken, applewood bacon, shaved red onion, smoked cheddar, apple butter, hearty greens, ciabatta

Norway lobster (Langoustine), pappardelle pasta, onion, garlic, fennel, tarragon, cream

 

We pulled into our campground in the Pine Grove Furance State Park while it was still daylight.  After driving over 379 miles I was very tired. There’s no cell service so we were not able to listen to the Celtics game.  Thank you to the Bulls for texting us the score which we didn’t learn until the next morning!