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Goin' to Gettysburg, any advice?


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We make the trip every winter over the MLK day weekend. We stay in cabins at Camp Hidden Valley, Landisburg, PA, Keystone Area Council. The kids love the camp, and this year, we had snow, although the temp was around 15 degrees, making the battlefield trip a little brisk. We made two trips, one to Gettysburg battlefields and the second day to Roundtop Ski resort. From the camp, it's about a 30 minute drive to either location.

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One activity to include on your agenda is the "electric map". It sounds really tacky, but it is definitely worthwhile. This is a commericially owned and operated tourist attraction. What they have done is create a relief map of the entire battlefield in a large room. The spectators sit on bleachers elevated above and around the map. They turn the lights down and the map comes alive. They have put little pea lamps in the map showing the ebb and flow of the battle along with narration. It really is informative and unique. You come away with a much deeper understanding of what happened.

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Ditto to eisley. The electric map is the best way to start at Gettysburg. Also, the tour of Eisenhower's hose is worthwhile. And, in my opinion, the walk accross Picket's Charge is great! Enjoy your trip! I've been there twice with my Troop & we are planning to go back next summer.

 

Ed Mori

Scoutmaster

Troop 1

1 Peter 4:10

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  • 3 months later...

Our troop just returned from Gettysburg on Monday and my thanks to many of the forum posters who gave me ideas and suggestions. Our troop decided to follow the Gettysburg Historic Trails program developed by the York Council. The program was a challenge to complete in two days and an evening but we managed. The boys got a lot out of the program.

 

Thanks again to all who gave advice and I would highly recommend the program to any Scout troop that may be interested.

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  • 4 months later...

We were in Gettysburg the week before ACCO's group last year. As noted in this thread, contact the York Area Council and get information on the Heritage Trails Program. The link is in one of the earlier posts.

 

We had 8 Adults and 11 scouts earn the Gettysburg Heritage Trais Medal. Two of the adults are involved in a Cub Scout Pack and wear their medal on their Cub Leader Uniform. This has precipatated a fair amount of interest in the Pack in the Webelos to cross over to our Troop in the Spring.

 

One additional piece of advice, the York Area Council Info mentions being able to take showers and the local Y. For a few bucks more you can rent the use of the Olympic sized indoor pool they have there. A very nice facility and our group really enjoyed the use of the pool after a day's hiking. They also have an adults only Hot Tub/Whirlpool.

 

SA

 

 

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We went two years ago and our scouts loved it.

 

Definitely look into the Gettysburg Historic Trails program. We left on Thursday in order to complete all the different sections of the program. As stated by Acco, it's a very busy two days but both the adults and scouts learned alot.

 

At an impromptu PLC after our meeting Monday, I was soliciting ideas from the boys for future camping. Gettysburg was mentioned as something they would like to do again. But we will hold off until summer in order to properly plan.

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I don't know if this will be considered heresy or not, but when in Gettysburg, you may consider Colonel Pickett's Buffet. It's across the street from the visitor's center. All of the Historic Hikes start and end around the Visitor's Center and a quick stroll across the street and dinner is served. They offer a Scout's group discount and are quite friendly

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Haven't take the troop there yet, but my family went last fall. All good suggestions here.

 

Rent a good Gettysburg movie before you go, show it to the troop. It's an interesting battle with many amazing stories. It will help them understand what happened. If you've got a history buff in the troop, have them along as your own personal tour guide.

 

The ghost stories are fun, the kids would enjoy it. You can hire a story teller for your group. Not sure how much it would cost, but it could be fun. The other alternative, if you've got a good story teller in your group, is to buy one of the many ghost stories of Gettysburg books and pick some good ones to tell.

 

Take the tour of Eisenhower's house. It's preserved in 1960's/70's decor, the way it was left when Mamie went to the hospital. Also, I think on Friday's the tour guide is the President & Mrs. Eisenhower's personal physician. He did a great job and told the story from the heart. Much better than your average tour guide. Check with the visitor's center, I think he's there every Friday.

 

Good luck. Let us know how it goes.

 

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