Highlights

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Itinerary

Day 1 – Gettysburg, PA – Dinner at Gettysburg Eddie’s

Arrive in Gettysburg, PA for a three-night stay. Dinner is included tonight at Gettysburg Eddie’s, a fun, baseball-themed restaurant.  Take a break from your Civil War experience & visit this historical tribute to Gettysburg’s baseball hall of famer, Edward Stewart Plank (1825-1926). (D)

Day 2 – Gettysburg National Military Park Museum & Visitors Center – Unforgettable Journeys, a Virtual Reality Experience – Gettysburg Battlefield Tour w/lunch – Farnsworth Inn Dinner – Jennie Wade Ghost Tour

After breakfast this morning, visit the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum & Visitors Center. It has an extensive museum about Gettysburg and the Civil War and the fully restored Gettysburg Cyclorama that dramatically depicts “Pickett’s Charge.” You will also see the film “A New Birth of Freedom”, narrated by award-winning actor Morgan Freeman, which focuses on the significance of Gettysburg.

Also included with your visit to the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum & Visitors Center is Unforgettable Journeys, a Virtual Reality Experience. Become immersed in history as you are introduced to historic figures, bringing to life their important connections and stories during the Battle of Gettysburg and its aftermath. During your virtual reality experience, discover powerful stories of those who passed through Gettysburg’s historic railroad station.  Follow the journeys of real-life people in history—Cornelia Hancock, Eli Blanchard and Basil Biggs. Put yourself in their story.  Feel the impact of President Lincoln’s iconic Gettysburg Address. Consider how it influences us today.

This afternoon, tour the Gettysburg Battlefield with a local guide. You will see all the monuments, cannons, dedicated to the Union and Confederate soldiers who fought there. You will see where the battle started, follow its progression and listen to your narrator as he brings the battle to its inevitable closing.  A boxed lunch will be included today with your visit.

Tonight, enjoy dinner at the Farnsworth House Inn, named in honor of Brigadier General Elon John Farnsworth, who led an ill-fated charge after the failure of Pickett’s charge, claiming the lives of Farnsworth and 65 of his men.  The original part of the house was built in 1810, followed by the brick structure in 1833. The house sheltered Confederate sharpshooters during the three-day conflict, one of whom it is believed to have accidentally shot 20-year-old Mary Virginia “Jennie” Wade, the only civilian who died during the battle. More than 100 bullet holes pock the walls. Following the battle, the house served as a hospital.

After dinner, enjoy a Ghost Tour of Jennie Wade House, one of America’s most haunted historic homes.  Step back in time to hear tales of the resident spirits, ghostly soldiers, heartbroken women, and a variety of paranormal activity.

You will enter through the same doorway through which a bullet passed on July 3^rd, 1863, killing young Jennie Wade and making her the only civilian to be killed during the battle of Gettysburg. Many spirits still linger, and they await your visit.  (B,L,D)

Day 3 – Gettysburg Lincoln Railroad Station – Ride on the Northern Central Railway – Seminary Ridge Museum Program – Dinner at Dobbins House Tavern w/President Lincoln

The morning starts with a visit to the Gettysburg Lincoln Railroad Station. In 1863, enthusiastic crowds gathered outside the depot in hopes of catching a glimpse of the president as he arrived in Gettysburg. Now you can step onto the platform and into history as yet another distinguished guest to this historic station.

Then you head to New Freedom, PA to ride on the Northern Central Railway. These same tracks carried Lincoln’s funeral train two years after the Gettysburg Address. Ride the rails and relive Civil War and railroad history in York County.

Also along for the ride is President Lincoln himself.  He will discuss why the battle came to be fought at Gettysburg and the myths surrounding the Gettysburg Address as well as highlights of Lincoln’s life (subject to availability).

This afternoon, visit the Gettysburg Seminary Ridge Museum. Located on the campus of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, Schmucker Hall, which houses the museum, was witness to the first day’s battle action and then quickly was transformed into a field hospital for the care of the wounded from both north and south.

Included here is the program “Mending the Wounded: Surgeons, Patients & Recovery.” Learn how doctors treated wounded soldiers and used their experience to learn about disease. Follow a soldier from his arrival in the field hospital, through surgery, and into recovery. Examine the experiences of doctors and caregivers and how the patients coped with their wounds for the remainder of their lives. (Other programs are available to fit specific interests.

Tonight, you will enjoy dinner at the Dobbin House Tavern, Gettysburg PA’s Oldest, Most Historic Home. After dinner our 16th President comes to life and arrives on time for an award-winning, one-man performance, “A Visit with Mr. Lincoln.” (B,D)

Day 4 – Shriver House Museum – Depart for Home

After breakfast, tour the Shriver House Museum. You will be led through the home of George and Hettie Shriver by a guide in period attire as you learn about the civilian experience during the Battle of Gettysburg. As you move from room to room in this meticulously restored pre-Civil War home, you’ll connect with the stories of George, Hettie, Sadie (7) and Mollie (5) Shriver. You will soon appreciate what life was like before, during and after the American Civil War.

The tour includes the sharp shooters’ nest in the attic, all the finely arranged rooms of the Shrivers’ living quarters, and a visit to Shriver’s Saloon in the cellar. The house becomes a theatrical backdrop to transport you to another time while listening to the story of the Shriver family and their harrowing experiences during the Battle of Gettysburg.

Following the tour, depart for home. A stop for lunch will be made enroute. (B)

Tour Map