Hey all, I thought I would send off a quick missive before heading back to New York City. I am typing this from our apartment in DC. About an hour ago I dropped off the rental car before hopping on the Shady Grove metro. We had a great time in Gettysburg this past week. We did it right by going the week before the battle anniversary. The crowds were heavy but manageable up until yesterday. Thursday (yesterday) morning it suddenly became REALLY busy, as in Times Square busy. That said, I must say that the Park Service had things under control; the hard work of the last several years made a clear difference. It was fun being in the VC and talking to folks from all over the country. Many of the people there were reenactors in town for the first of two events taking place in the next couple of weekends. Reenacting is not my thing, but to each his own. The only hiccup so far was a power outage at the Visitor Center on Wednesday morning caused by a powerful summer storm the evening before. People milling around said traffic lights were not working in parts of town as well. When I came back later in the afternoon everything was back to normal. Yesterday afternoon as I was coming down Taneytown Road I noticed workers building a huge stage near the Leister Farm (Meade’s Headquarters). The adjacent Ziegler’s Grove looks great sans the old cyclorama building. When we picknicked there one day I wondered aloud how many 2013 first timers will be unaware it ever existed. Such is the evolution of the park.

The battle anniversary is of course July 1-3, which is next Monday-Wednesday. The downside to that is that the weekday schedule may impact television coverage. I am going to check the tv listings to see what C-SPAN has scheduled over the weekend through next week. This is really a once-in-a-lifetime thing. Make time.