Onward

I have had Gettysburg on my list of things to see for some time and finally that was realized.  I even entered a show just for the excuse of going, but didn't get in.  (I told you I get decline letters too.)  So, the day was cold and spitting rain as usual.  I was really impressed with the new facility.  It was so clean and well run.  We were there fairly early to miss the crowds.  Good planning.  We started with a tour of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's home.  It backs up to the battlefield and has a beautiful view.  Informative and polite guides, but the opportunity to just walk around was quite pleasant despite the weather.  My favorite area started with the barn.  I loved getting in the barn as I had seen this style when we drove into this part of the country.  The barns back home don't look like this, so it was interesting to actually see the difference up close. Apparently Dwight and Mamie worked really hard to pick the right color. Really?  Army institutional green?  As a military kid, I can't count how many buildings I've been in that were this color.  I have to say if I had been given the opportunity to redo a house from the ground up, I would have made the ceilings higher.  A little stifling, though par for the times.  Perhaps they were looking for something more...cozy?  My favorite part was the linen closet.  Yes, Mamie's favorite color was pink but it was the organization that I admired.  The phones were fantastic and everyone had their own number.  Ike's "big" kitchen looks functional (he liked to cook).  I wonder what his apron looked like?  And this little vignette caught my attention and raised an eyebrow.  Really?  With the hairbrushes?  I'm still pondering that scene today.   It poured down rain as we got on the shuttle to leave.  Next was the battlefield and after the first stop on the tour it quit raining and the sun came out.  Hooray!  We went through town as well, but I would have liked to stay longer.  We enjoyed our thoughtful guide who stopped by the Arkansas monument just so we could take photos.  Although the close proximity of things were noted, I couldn't help but compare it to Vicksburg.  The proximity of combat in Vicksburg was really close; not a whole valley.  It was more like combat with the house across the street.  Close.  Really close.  It started raining again and we headed back to have dinner with friends at Passion Fish in Reston.  A delightful end to the day.  Back to my brushes.  

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."  - Dwight D. Eisenhower