Ladies and Gentlemen of the 1860s Conference: Epilogue.1

After the conference ended, we took Nancy to the airport as she had to leave that day. Kimberly and I stayed another day. After leaving Nancy at the airport Kimberly and I headed for Gettysburg. Our first stop was at the new battlefield visitor's center. This is a nice facility, but I think a bit commercial. It contains a gift shop/book store, movie theater, cafe, museum, and the cyclorama. You can also get guided tours of the battlefield.

We first watched the orientation film, which is basically about why the war started; we probably could have skipped that. It's well done, narrated by Morgan Freeman and produced in association with the History Channel. But I think Kimberly and I have a pretty good grasp on the causes of the war :). The film empties out to the cyclorama. I had never seen it before so it was pretty cool. There is a short narrative with battle sound and lighting effects.

Next we visited the museum. Some great artifacts and photos.



We then visited the gift shop. Wow. I know that most museum shops now need to cater to the general public, but the amount of kitsch really isn't necessary. And $26.00 baseball caps? Yes, I know that it goes to support battlefield preservation, but wow. On the other hand, the book selection was impressive.

We then decided to go into town and visit Abraham's Lady and get lunch. I just heard that Abraham's Lady is closing the shop but keeping the Internet site going. I picked up The Way They Were Dressed in 1860 -1865, A Photographic Reference - Volume 2.  I bought Vol. I a couple of years ago when I was there. I also got some buttons for the vest and trousers I'm making for Pioneer Farms.

We then had lunch at the Dobbin House Tavern. I really like eating here. The atmosphere is great and the food is yummy. 

After lunch we headed back to the battlefield to do the tour. It was cold, but managed to get a few pictures.



As we left the battlefield we ran into a little bit of snow. Since we had a late lunch we stopped off at the grocery store and picked up snacks and lunchables. We spent the evening packing up.