Another Day of the Choir Tour

Wednesday was an optional day and since I chose to go to Gettysburg, I can't share about what other groups did.  Up and on the bus by 8 am, we pulled out of the parking lot at 8:03. I have been very appreciative of how considerate everyone is at getting to the bus on time.  I love this church.

We arrived at Gettysburg at 9:30 to meet our National Park guide.  He got on the bus and began our tour at the Peace Memorial.  Seventy-five years after the Civil War, 1,800 Civil War Veterans, from both sides, gathered to dedicate this memorial for peace. I think it might have helped me to end the tour here, rather than begin here.  There was so much death and destruction with the Battle of Gettysburg that by the end of the tour I left feeling heavy with grief

Our guide took us through each of the three days of this horrific battle -- from both the Union and Confederate sides.  We ended at a place called Little Round Top that was pivotal in the battle.  From there we could see the whole valley.

Several of us were disappointed that we didn't get to visit the place where Lincoln gave the Gettysburg address...saving something for our next trip, I guess. We stopped at the Visitors Center to see a film about the Battle of Gettysburg and to visit the Cyclorama -- a huge circular mural that depicts the horrific Pickett's Charge.

Next we had Visitor Center food -- you know the kind--and then returned to Bird-in-Hand to hear how our choir friends spent their days.  We threw on our concert dress and headed to Elizabethtown for the second day in row.  The church hosted us for dinner at the cafeteria of Elizabethtown College.

After our "purposeful" dinner (before all concerts Nike tells us to eat our meals with purpose) we headed to the Elizabethtown Church of the Brethren.  Around 140 people came and we rocked it!  We greeted people at the reception following the concert and then boarded the bus in the rain and headed back to our hotels in a thunderstorm.