We left Washington D.C., Thursday morning and headed to Gettysburg, PA. It was soooo much cooler there than it had been in Washington D.C.!! We were so thankful!
They have a beautiful visitor’s center that we really enjoyed. If you ever get to go, it is worth the money to go in the museum and see the cyclorama. It is a round room with a painting that goes all the way around. Here are some pictures from our visit there.
Thursday, Gettysburg, and Lancaster County, PA
Buttons that the soldiers wore on their uniforms
umm…guns….LOL!
the boys and Pop Pop watching a short film on Gettysburg.
We thought this was very interesting. The top number is how many man fought for the union side and the bottom is how many fought for the confederate side. Very few other “southern” states had any union soldiers at all. Alabama had the most .
These are pictures from the Cyclorama. There’s no way for you to get the full effect. They had an audio playing that told about the different battles at Gettysburg, and it moved around the picture. They had lights that shined to make it look like the battle and sound effects.
They put objects at the bottom of the painting to make it like 3D. It was so awesome. I’ve never seen anything like this.
My Favorite part of the museum!!
After our visit inside the visitor’s center we went to our van and drove around the battlefield, which is spread out all over the town of Gettysburg. Not at all how I had pictured it. 
Our boys with Abe….
The boys loved climbing on these rocks.
Taylor was pretty sick during this time with his allergies and asthma. You can tell by eyes how rotten he feels. I felt so bad for him.
Strong man!!
My sweet baby boy…
After we left Gettysburg, we drove to Lancaster County. It is such a beautiful area. I love all the Amish farms.
We do not have these type of parking meters in Alabama (yet). This our first time to see them or use them. I took this picture of Jeff and his dad trying to figure out how to use it. Ha! They ended up paying on someone else’s car before they figured out how to pay for our spot.
We visited the Central Market in downtown Lancaster. How I wish we had one of these where I live!!
Lots of home grown fruits and veggies!!
And lots of home made crafts and baked goods.
A huge place I could have spent hours in!!
We went in a museum with antiques in it to use their bathroom.
The boys found some old toys to play with.
We bought our food inside-me and the boys got “Turkish” food, and Jeff got “Mexican”, then we went out to the square and ate. It was such a beautiful day. We really enjoyed it.
There was a little jazz band playing while we ate our lunch.
They were really good too! We enjoyed their rendition of the Pink Panther.
Friday, Lancaster, PA
This Amish farmer worked all day cutting his grass. We stayed in a small hotel across the street from his field. Jeff took these from our front porch and the man never had any idea.
Another shot across the street from our hotel.
Friday afternoon we went to see Sight and Sound’s “Joseph”.
What a wonderful play!! Wow! We had seen “Noah” in Branson, MO (their other theater), but I think this one was my favorite. It’s hard to pick. They do such a wonderful job with their plays. It’s unbelievable! The music, costumes, special effects, props, all of it …incredible!! They won’t let you take pictures inside during the play of course, but here are a few outside. It is a beautiful place!!
They only do one play at a time. This one will probably run for several years. They put so much into it…
Beautiful building!!
The lion and the lamb in front of the theater.
The boys loved seeing Joseph!!
When we came out, someone was flying in a hot air balloon. We didn’t have our long lens with us so this was the best shot we could get.
Saturday, More of Lancaster County, PA. (Also Jorden’s 14th Birthday)
Beautiful farm country!!
The restaurant we ate at for lunch and Jorden’s birthday.
It was owned by an Amish family. Delicious buffet! Jorden’s favorite!!
After lunch we went to a miniature golf place. It was soooo hot! Not a good time to play putt-putt!! But that was what Jorden wanted to do and we all had fun. Can’t believe my oldest son is 14 years old now. He is such a wonderful son though. We are so proud of him!
Saturday night we drove closer to Philadelphia to spend the night. We stopped by the area that the “Messner” family came to when they first arrived in America from Germany.
This is the “Messner Cemetery”
One of the old head stones located there.
The oldest headstone…1788!!!
Pop-Pop’s great, great, grandparents are buried there.
Three generations of Messner’s.
More beautiful farm land around the Messner cemetery.
The Messner’s helped build this old Lutheran church in 1830!
Messner’s are also buried here…
Beautiful old church!
Sunday-St. John’s Center, and Philadelphia, PA
We attended church there on Sunday morning.
Pop-Pop has a 2nd cousin who still attends there with his wife and several of his children.
All of us in the front of the church.
Dad Messner with his cousins and the pastor of the church.
Beautiful stained glass windows that have our family name on them.
Beautiful!!
Next we went to Philadelphia.
It is a very old, historically beautiful, city!
This guy was in the Visitors Center. He was telling a story to the kids using a “jacob’s ladder” toy. It was really neat! We all enjoyed it. I wish I could have had a video camera and caught it on tape for you to hear and see.
The Liberty Bell!!!
Some how Pop-Pop managed to get in all three pictures of the Liberty Bell. Ha!
Independence Hall.
I loved the beautiful buildings there.
The inside of Congress Hall.
We didn’t stay in Philadelphia very long. I wish we could have had more time there. Lots of history to see!! Maybe we can go back there sometime.
Coming up next Part 3!!
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