Tuesday, July 2, 2013

I Survived!


I’m back from the 150th anniversary reenactment at Gettysburg, and very glad to be amongst the living! I had a great time participating with the other 15,000+ reenactors as tens of thousands of spectators watched us recreated the three day battle that changed our nation’s history. I also had some time to tour the actual battlefield itself as well, which was great.

Our reenactment was only a few miles away from the town of Gettysburg, so visitors could hear us and we often drew large crowds to our battle scenes. The experience of marching alongside thousands of fellow reenactors from all across the country and the world really made it feel like we were part of a real army back in 1863. Needless to say, I’m also glad to return home after a week of smoke, bugs, and sore feet. But my fond memories of this weekend will last a lifetime.

As the 4th of July approaches, what will you be doing with your summer weekend? Gearing up for BBQs? Hanging out with family and friends? How do you celebrate summertime? 




18 comments:

  1. Sounds like a great way to spend a vacation! To answer the question you asked in your last post, I'd prefer to fight for the North but would most likely be a civvie caught in the middle. :-)

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  2. I bet your involvement really made a big difference in the reality of what happened. Glad you survived. Feet will mend!
    I think we are doing a BBQ with our church on the Fourth.

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  3. That's so cool! I would have loved to join you in that. Or just see what 15,000 "troops" gathered together looks like. I think about this stuff all the time when I'm writing, since this current novel is about a five year civil war. Wow, what a great experience!

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  4. I have been to Gettysburg and love that area...so much history. What a fun experience Mark!

    I will be celebrating the fourth thinking about freedom...liberty...in gratitude. No plans. I hope my instrument gets repaired so I can go to work in peace when everyone else is BBQing. Happy Fourth to you!

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  5. That's a lot of people who participate. I didn't realize you spend a week there when you volunteered for the event.

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  6. A friend of mine used to do Civil War Reenactments, and he always had a great time. My fam and I are hanging out at the beach this week. Looking forward to fireworks on Thursday, and getting to know my new nephew.

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  7. Someday we will visit Gettysburg. Having read so much about it and studied the maps, I wonder how anyone survived at all.

    Glad you shared so much with fellow reinactors.

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  8. Hello Mark...That must have been a great experience! Good for you.

    I like to take excursions in the summertime...day trips, mainly.

    Went to the top of a mountain yesterday....it was very foggy and I felt like I was in the twilight zone! Ha!

    Tomorrow, lunch with a friend and antiquing.

    And so the summer goes. It's great. Hope yours is super, too. Susan

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  9. Glad that you survived. Thank you for sharing the pictures with us.

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  10. That had to have been such an incredible experience! What great pictures. Glad to see you made it out alive ;)

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  11. Phew! That's a relief. I've heard civil war battles are hard to survive from. One of these days, I would LOVE to do this. :)

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  12. I was just talking with a friend of mine about this particular reenactment. He usually goes but couldn't this year. What an amazing opportunity to taste, smell and feel our history!

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  13. 15,000+ reenactors? That must've been so amazing with so many people involved.

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  14. Wow! That's such a huge number of people, all sharing the same passion. It must be an amazing feeling!

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  15. It was a pretty rad experience...and yes, I'm very glad to have survived:)

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  16. It sounds like an impressive experience! Those are a lot of participants.

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  17. Great photos! So cool that you were able to participate. I took my 8th graders a few years back, and it's beautiful country. Hard to believe so much blood was spilled there.

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  18. I got the chills when I visited Gettysburg five years ago. The scope of it all was just overwhelming.We found out later that my great-great grandfather died the first day of battle. I can only imagine what it must have been like to an enactor.

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