Summer Ranger Programs

Just a brief note to update everyone on activities here at the National Military Park. The summer ranger programs are in full swing, with hourly demonstrations occurring throughout the park and Visitor Center. Please visit the NPS website for a detailed schedule listing .

Our very favorite programs are the 3:30 pm daily Battle Walks with a Ranger, where you spend a minimum of two hours with a ranger, walking the grounds and studying a particular phase of the fighting during the Battle of Gettysburg. There simply is no substitute for walking the ground here to really gain an understanding of how the events played out.

Click here for a listing of the subjects and rangers scheduled for the daily Battle Walks.

Pictured above is one of our very favorite rangers, Eric Campbell. If you are lucky enough to have your visit to Gettysburg coincide with one of Eric's talks be sure not to miss it!

Also, every evening at 8:30 pm there is a Campfire Discussion held at the McMillan Woods Ampitheather. You can click here for a listing of the discussion topics. Brand new this summer are podcast tours which you can download to your MP3 device and bring with you as you tour the Battlefield...very cool when the 19th and 21st centuries meet! Click here for information on downloading the podcasts and accompanying maps.

The Reynolds Avenue bridge is finally re-opened! They are still completing cosmetic work to the pilings but at least the road is open and the detour signs finally down...good news for all you folks coming in from Pittsburg and points west, you don't have to go the long way around anymore.

We are very busy these last few weeks, gearing up for the 145th Battle Anniversary and Reenactment. Hope you are all having a great summer and that we get to see you soon!

Christine

A very busy and happy May!

How can it be almost June so soon?!?! May has absolutely FLOWN by, with record attendance here at the Inn. Everyone has been enjoying the beautiful Spring weather and all the Gettysburg activities, from Graduation weekend at the college to the huge Memorial Day Weekend soccer tournament. As we get into full swing for the summer season, we are pleased to announce the addition of a walk-up computer for guests' use during your stay at the Inn. We still feature WiFi throughout the house and grounds for your personal laptop, and we now have a computer for everyone to use, located on the second floor hallway near the deck. Guests can check email, view Gettysburg information, and print directions and boarding passes at their leisure.

We have a wonderful new friend to welcome! Our assistant innkeeper Erin, who lucky for us lives very close by, has just brought home a beautiful 8 week old Golden Retriever named Annie...Molly is officially an aunt! Annie is adorable and so very sweet. We are hoping to get lots of good pictures of her in the coming months as she is sure to grow up so fast. Molly is promising to teach her all the ropes when she comes to visit us here at the Inn so she can help to welcome you all when you arrive...knowing Ms. Molly I'm sure she'll also teach her how to scam cookies from the unsuspecting guests!

We've been busy planting annuals in the gardens and the diverse colors are really looking great. The lilacs are done blooming but the many irises and rhododendron are just starting. The peonies have their buds and the ants are doing their work to get them to open up (just an old wives tale supposedly, but it sounds good to me!).

Todd's parents have been an absolute God-send in helping to plant, trim and mulch over the past three weekends. We've also been blessed with good weather to speed us along. As per usual, Molly did an excellent job of supervising, and keeping the squirrels out of the impatiens which they seem to love to dig under.

We had the first hummingbird of the season in late April and to date have seen three different birds at our feeder. The butterflies have found the zinnias and verbena in the garden and are very fun to sit and watch. Before you know it the June bugs will be here, making the Battlefield light up at night.

One final happy note on May...I am very proud to report that I have completed the necessary steps to become a Gettysburg Licensed Town Guide! My written exam was in February, and just this past week I passed the oral exam (thank goodness it's over, I was SO nervous!). The guides are a wonderful group of very knowledgeable people and I am just so proud to be among the ranks with them in sharing the civilian stories of Gettysburg. Guides are available to give tours originating at the Gettysburg Hotel on Lincoln Square from 10 AM to 4 PM daily throughout the summer months, or you may make reservations for a private or specialty tour by phoning (717) 339-6161. You can also visit the Main Street Gettysburg web page for more information at http://www.mainstreetgettysburg.com/.

I sincerely hope that you all are having a wonderful Spring and finding time to do the things that make you most happy. Have a great weekend,

Christine

Lots going on at the Park

Spring is always a dynamic time of year, and 2008 is no exception. Here in Adams County the apple orchards are ablaze in white blossoms. The red bud on the Battlefield is amazing, especially on Little Round Top and the Wheatfield. The dogwoods are in full bloom on the field and throughout town as well.

New signage is being installed throughout the Park to mark road names and the Auto Tour Route, so hopefully it will be a little easier to find your way. Right now we still have some construction happening close to home on Reynolds and Buford Avenues. It will be all over soon and the Day 1 area will be better than ever. The new bridge across the Railroad Cut is coming along well. We're told it will be completed by May 18.

On Buford Avenue, the 6th New York Cavalry monument (Col. Devin) is finally being rebuilt! As you may know, it was struck by lightning last October (which Molly was the first to discover when we went for our evening walk). It had to be partially disassembled as the strike blew out all the mortar on the top half of the monument. They are making quick work of putting the pieces back together, and we hope to see it complete again very soon! Here's a picture taken today showing their progress.

Its been nothing but rave reviews for the new Visitor's Center and Museum which opened on April 14. Visitorship is soaring to record numbers for April. The Park Service reported last week that the average visitor stay in the new facility is 4 hours, up from 90 minutes in the old VC.

In other news, we learned this week that the Park Service has had to push back the estimated opening date of the Will's House from November 2008 to February 2009. As the renovation has progressed more deterioration was discovered than had originally been anticipated, and it will take a bit more time to get everything back into shape before the building can be open to the public. The Grand Opening of the new VC and the re-opening of the Cyclorama is still set for September 2008.

With all the Spring rains I have had my hands full keeping the grass cut the past few weeks. We are gearing up to start planting annuals in the garden this weekend as well, with my Mom coming to lend her green thumb. We hope you'll get a chance to come experience Spring in Gettysburg with us! Have a great week,

Todd

Welcome to our Blog!

As we get into our busy season here in Gettysburg we thought this would be a great way to keep in touch with the people who make our jobs so much fun, all of our wonderful guests. Also, with so much happening in town this season we wanted to create a forum where you can check for all the important information. Many thanks to Christine's sister Michelle for the idea and our web master extraordinaire, Roby for making it work AND look nice!

This week featured much excitement with the long anticipated opening of the new Gettysburg National Military Park Museum & Visitor's Center! We were able to tour the center on Monday and were very impressed by the size, layout, and quality of the displays. Even without the Cyclorama painting (which will re-open in September) we spent over two hours in the museum. The new bookstore is wonderful, with a large selection organized by subject which makes it easy to find your favorites. We also had the opportunity to eat at the "Refreshment Saloon" and found the selections to be very tasty and the portions generous. Prices are a bit higher than you will find in town, but it is very convenient if you want to grab a bite while at the Center.

The orientation film "A New Birth of Freedom" is fantastic. It is wonderfully narrated by Morgan Freeman and is visually beautiful as well with panoramic shots of the Battlefield and the monuments. We are proud to report that several still shots from the film as well as three framed pictures in the Visitor Center's entryway were shot by our own longtime and frequent guest, photographer Sean Maloy. You can view his works here on display throughout the Inn and also via his website, American Heritage Photography.


This past weekend we were also happy to host Annette & Emil Grahovac from Austintown, OH. Annette & Emil were the Grand Prize Winners of our 20th Anniversary customer appreciation raffle! For their prize they won a weekend here at the Inn, dinner for two at the historic Cashtown Inn, and two tickets to tour the Cupola at the Lutheran Seminary. They enjoyed fantastic weather the entire weekend and had a great time. They really loved the Cupola tour, which was hosted by Licensed Battlefield Guide and Adams County Historical Society employee Tim Smith. Tim was full of great information during their tour, and the weather enabled them to see for miles from the Cupola. With the nice weather, the couple was also able to get in a few hours of bicycling through the Battlefield. They are already planning their next visit back to Gettysburg, and we can't wait to see them again.
Congratulations to the Grahovac's!

We will close for now but please check often for new posts as we hope to update at least once a week. We would love to hear from all of you, so if you have time please take a minute to add a comment or just say hello! Also please post any questions you might have or any special events you'd like to see us put together for our guests. In the meantime enjoy the beautiful Spring weather and know your friends in Gettysburg are thinking of you. Have a great day!

Christine, Todd & Molly