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| Great Falls Overlook at C&O Canal Park |
Our first stop today was the Great Falls Tavern Visitor's Center for the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historic Park. This canal is similar to our canal at home and we got to see a canal boat, locks, and some history about the tavern on this site. The highlight was walking down to the view of the Great Falls and Olmsted Island. The park was crowded on this Saturday morning and there was an organization holding a kayak competition. The entrance and exit to the park was a beautiful tunnel of trees.
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| Great Falls Tavern at Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park |
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| Canal Lock at C&O Canal |
We drove next to Monocacy National Battlefield. The visitor's center had a nice museum upstairs and the ubiquitous diorama that displayed the steps in the battle. It was yet another civil war battlefield where the troops lined up in an open field and shot at each other. We didn't stay long.
After stopping for lunch, we headed to Catoctin Mountain Park. This is a great recreational park with many trails of different lengths and difficulties. We stopped at the visitor center to get stamps and to ask where a good spot for painting would be. We decided to go to the Blue Ridge Summit Vista and found a shady spot to paint, draw, and capture the beauty. We also hiked the Charcoal Trail where we learned about how they made charcoal to use in the Catoctin Iron Works in the mid 1800's. On a side note, this is the park that houses Camp David deep in the center. We can see why they choose this location for a retreat!
We ended the day at Gettysburg Military Park. Even at 4:30 the park was crowded and busy. We got tickets to the film and cyclorama. The film was a pro-union explanation of the reasons for the war and the importance of the Gettysburg address for military morale to continue the war. You can tell you are in Pennsylvania and not Virginia. The cyclorama is a 360 degree painting of the battle of Gettysburg which is narrated. There is also a museum, auto tour, bus tours, and, of course, large gift shop.
We will be back tomorrow to visit the Eisenhower National Historical Site which is only accessed through a tour bus from Gettysburg.
Our first stop today was the Great Falls Tavern Visitor's Center for the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historic Park. This canal is similar to our canal at home and we got to see a canal boat, locks, and some history about the tavern on this site. The highlight was walking down to the view of the Great Falls and Olmsted Island. The park was crowded on this Saturday morning and there was an organization holding a kayak competition. The entrance and exit to the park was a beautiful tunnel of trees.
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