(Photo) Devil’s Den Fighting Site.

Piece 1: Gettysburg PA. Flying into Baltimore-Washington Airport, we rented a car and made a pleasant 90-minute drive to Gettysburg PA, located in the south-central part of Pennsylvania.

The site of perhaps the bloodiest battle of the American Civil War, Gettysburg has a lot for history buffs to experience.

The National Military Park, managed by the National Park Service, offers a wonderful visitor center and museum at its entrance.

Using a battlefield map available from the visitor center, we drove through a series of stops that featured key conflict points of the infamous 3-day engagement of North and South troops in early July of 1863.

We spent a good bit of time near some of the fiercest fighting sites of day two; Devil’s Den, the Peach Orchard, Little Round Top, and the Wheat Field.

The roughly 2-hour auto tour concluded near Cemetery Hill, where Confederate General Pickett led an ill-fated charge against a better prepared Union army.

There are a number of museums in Gettysburg to explore; we went to the Heritage Center (297 Steinwehr Avenue) located about five minutes from the National Military Park. It provides a unique perspective about what civilian life was like in the community during the battle.

“Chocolate Kiss” Streetlights in Hershey PA

Piece 2: Hershey/Lancaster PA. A little over an hour drive northeast from Gettysburg is Hershey PA, where the smell of chocolate wafts through the air.

Our first stop was Hershey Park, located in the northern part of town (100 Hershey Park Drive). Originally established by chocolatier Milton Hershey as a place of leisure and recreation for his employees, the amusement park now features a wide variety of rides and attractions. We visited one evening during its Halloween event; fun place.

The next day we went to Hershey’s Chocolate World (101 Chocolate World Way), which features several interactive attractions to help visitors learn how the company produces its candies.

Perhaps our favorite experience in Hershey was the trolley tour of the town, which originates at Chocolate World and includes candy samples, history about the company and its founder, Milton Hershey, and a nice overview of the community. The streetlight globes are shaped like “chocolate kisses”.

We next traveled about 40 minutes southeast of Hershey to Lancaster PA.

The Amish parts of this area are interesting to explore; the countryside is largely void of electricity infrastructure, and horse-drawn buggies and wagons are the common form of transportation.

We visited an Amish shop that sold many handcrafted items (bought a combination pillow/quilt called a “quillow”) and enjoyed a wonderful meal at the Bird-In-Hand Family Restaurant & Smorgasbord, featuring locally-sourced produce, meat, and poultry.

Finally, we couldn’t resist testing our “trial and error” problem-solving skills at one of the many challenging corn mazes in the Lancaster area. Made it back out; phew!

Independence Hall in Philadelphia PA

Piece 3: Philadelphia PA. About 90 minutes west of Lancaster PA is the historic city of Philadelphia.

Our first stop was a tour of Independence Hall (just east of city center), where the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776 and the Constitution of the United States was debated and adopted eleven years later.

The tour of the main hall takes about 20 minutes and is led by a park ranger. In the western wing of the complex (called Independence Square) is the Great Essentials Exhibit which includes original printed copies of historic documents.

From here, we visited the Liberty Bell (very close to Independence Hall). Both Independence Square and the Liberty Bell are secured areas, so visitors are screened prior to entry.

Our last stop was Christ Church, about two blocks north from Independence Hall.

Established in 1695, this was the place of worship for many notable people, including George Washington.

Ben Franklin was also a parishioner there, and he is interred in the church cemetery. Visitors typically place a penny on his grave in tribute to his famous adage “a penny saved is a penny earned”.

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