Browsing Category: "Museums"
York Pennsylvania: Visit The Weightlifting Hall Of Fame
OK, all you Arnold Schwarzenegger and Stacey Bentley fans, visit the Weightlifting Hall of Fame in York, Pennsylvania. The hall of fame is located in York Pennsylvania at 3300 Board Road.
Sponsored by York Barbell Company, the museum has 8,000 square feet of floor space. You’ll see the vast and rich history of the weightlifting sport from as early as Greek Olympic events to the modern rise of female strength athletes. There is no charge to enter the hall of fame and you can go on a self-guided tour with a printed tour guide. Learn all about weightlifting and its various classes including powerlifting and bodybuilding. This is a great attraction for all you budding weightlifters. Don’t miss it the next time you come to Gettysburg Pennsylvania. York is a short 40 minute drive.
Weekend Attraction: Strong Vincent and the Battle for Little Round Top
If you’re looking for something to do tomorrow afternoon in Gettysburg Pennsylvania, you should go see Commanders: Strong Vincent and the Battle for Little Round Top. This is an educational event that begins at 1:30 p.m. at the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum & Visitors Center. It will be the best hour you’ll ever spend.
In case your Battle of Gettysburg history escapes you, here’s a little bit about Strong Vincent that you should know.
He was a lawyer who served in the U.S. Army during the Civil War and fought alongside Col. Joshua Chamberlain at Little Round Top. Chamberlain is the one who gets most of the glory for the victory at Little Round Top, but it was Vincent’s vision and ability to see an opportunity that put Chamberlain there. In fact, Chamberlain was subordinate as regiment commander to Vincent who was the commander over 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, V Corps of the Army of the Potomac. Chamberlain’s 20th Maine was a subordinate unit.
Vincent gave the order to Chamberlain to defend the left flank of Little Round Top while he went off to defend the right flank. During the course of the battle, Vincent was wounded and subsequently died from his wounds. Vincent was awarded for his bravery in the battle with a promotion but he died before he ever knew of it.
Gettysburg National Military Park Museum & Visitors Center is located at 1195 Baltimore Pike in Gettysburg Pennsylvania. Be sure to spend an hour there tomorrow afternoon and experience Strong Vincent and Little Round Top in a unique way.
Lincoln Museum In Gettysburg Opens On 200th Birthday Of Former U.S. President
David Wills House in Gettysburg is being transformed into the Lincoln Museum and is set to open 200 years after its namesake, Abraham Lincoln, was born. That date is Feb. 12, 2009.
The project has cost $7.2 million and took an old run down house then reconstructed it from the ground up to be the Lincoln Museum. Lincoln slept in the house the night before giving his now famous Gettysburg Address. The David Wills house was built originally in 1818. The recent restoration project put it back in the condition that it was in in 1863. The museum will also house many of the original furnishings of the house. It is now owned by the National Park Service.
10 Things To Do In Gettysburg (Besides Visit The Battlefield)
Visitors to Gettysburg, Pa. often don’t realize the many great things you can do here without visiting the battlefield. Of course, I’m not saying you shouldn’t see the bloodiest ground on the face of the earth. I’m just saying don’t stop there and stay. Here are 10 other wonderful things to do while in town:
- Ski Liberty – Just a couple of miles out of town and slopes for the entire family.
- Visit the National Apple Museum - Located in Biglerville, just a stone’s throw away from Gettysburg. A must see for the whole family using a pre-Civil War built barn as a museum to honor the nation’s fruit.
- Eisenhower Farm – Actually located in Gettysburg and one of the favorite sites among visitors to Gettysburg.
- Take a ghost tour – I think Gettysburg has more ghost tours than we have ghosts. Really. It’s not hard to find a ghost tour in Gettysburg any time of the year. And it’s something you’ve got to do at least once.
- Eastern Museum Of Motor Racing - Located in York Springs, Pennsylvania near the Latimore Valley Fairgrounds, this museum houses vintage racing cars and memorabilia of one of America’s favorite sports.
- Go on a scenic train ride - For 75 minutes, or three hours if you prefer, you can take a train tour through Adams County and see the beautiful landscapes from a different perspective.
- Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival – Like music? Like Bluegrass music? Then you can enjoy great Bluegrass music twice a year at the Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival. Takes place between Gettysburg and Fairfield in the spring and fall each year.
- Golf - The Links at Gettysburg is an 18-hole golf course carved out of indigenous red rock formations and meandering streams.
- Visit Washington D.C. - The nation’s capital is just a two-hour drive away.
- Ride a Harley – Every year, thousands of bike riders descend upon Gettysburg for Bike Week. You can join them.
There are lots more things to do in Gettysburg Pennsylvania. Don’t wait for an invitation. Plan your next trip now.
Steinwehr Avenue Traffic Is Dwindling
Located on the south side of Gettysburg is Steinwehr Avenue, what once was the location of the Gettysburg Visitor Center. Before moving to the other side of town, on Baltimore Pike, the visitor center drew lots of visitors to Steinwehr Avenue. But now the Gettysburg roadway gets little traffic and businesses there are hurting. So borough officials are discussing a revitalization plan.
The Gettysburg Visitor Center and Museum relocated last April. Since then, Gettysburg businesses on Steinwehr Avenue have seen a decline and the borough has not seen the revenue from the new center that it thought it would. So borough officials are trying to get a handle on the money.
Well, at least they’re not saying that tourism is dead. People are still coming to Gettysburg. They’re just not going to Steinwehr Avenue.
Two Gettysburg Museums You Should Visit In February
If you’re planning a visit to Gettysburg Pennsylvania in February 2009, keep in mind two local museums as must sees: Shriver House Museum and David Wills House.
The Shriver House Museum tells the story of civilians during the Battle of Gettysburg. The house was built just before the war started and sat vacant, except for several families of wild cats, until 1996 when the house was rebuilt and research went underway to discover the story of this old structure. You’ll definitely want to visit this museum on Friday and Saturday, February 13 and 14. The Shriver House Museum will host a Restoration Tour on both dates at 7 p.m.
Just a few blocks away, in downtown Gettysburg, David Wills House will host its grand opening on February 12, 2009 in honor of Abraham Lincoln’s 200th birthday.
David Wills invited Abraham Lincoln to stay at his house when the president came to Gettysburg to deliver the Gettysburg Address. Lincoln finished writing his speech in the David Wills House guest bedroom. You can learn more about that story by visiting the David Wills House and taking the grand opening tour on February 12.
Jeff Shaara Book Signing
You may first know Jeff Shaara for his cooperative effort with his father Michael Shaara; together they brought the Civil War into comfy chairs all across the country. The two partnered to render the thrilling Civil War trilogy: “Killer Angels,” “Gods and Generals” and “The Last Full Measure.”
Maybe books aren’t for you, but you’ve sat through all 261 minutes of Martin Sheen’s Gettysburg, or you’ve memorized all the lines to General Stonewall Jackson’s first brigade speech in the 2003 prequel Gods and Generals. Either way, Shaara’s ability to weave history into fiction has been capturing audiences for over a decade. In his newest novel, “Steel Wave,” Shaara trades Longstreet and Gettysburg for Eisenhower and Omaha Beach as he uses his pen to recapture the Allied invasion of France on D-Day 1944.
You cannot miss this opportunity to meet Jeff Shaara at the Gettysburg Gift Center on Thursday, November 20 and Friday, November 21. From 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM Jeff will oblige history buffs and fiction freaks alike, adding his autograph to his recently released WWII novel.
The Gettysburg Gift Center is located in the Gettysburg Museum, 297 Steinwehr Ave. For more information you can call the museum at 717-334-6245.
Washington D.C. and Green Living
A wise sage once muttered that, “it’s not easy being green.” Now, that may have been Kermit the Frog twenty years ago, but that sentiment may resonate with you today. We’re living in a new age of recycling, sustainable building materials, organic clothing, and that buzz word: carbon footprint. What are you doing to help? If you feel overwhelmed by the pressure to live green, then take a day trip down to Washington D.C. to learn about environmentally friendly living.
On Sunday November 16 from 2:00 – 5:00 PM, the National Building Museum will host a Family Workshop: It’s Easy Being Green. Admission is $5 for each child who participates in the workshop. The session will equip you with some easy tips and activities to help usher in your new green lifestyle. After the workshop, explore the Museum and take a look at their new exhibit: Green Community. The exhibition shows how some people have always lived green by preserving their resources and providing spaces for recreation, and how people are working together today to create more sustainable communities.
“Green” has become part of our everyday jargon in this society, but maybe Kermie was wrong after all..it just may be easy to live green! Find out for yourselves this weekend at the family workshop in Washington D.C.!
Congratulations To President-Elect Obama
Well, the election is over and now Gettysburg Pennslvania, along with the rest of the country, has a new president-elect. Barack Obama won the election handily and already his historic win is receiving accolades and driving a nostalgia for a time when another historic president made his way through Gettysburg. Obama has been compared with Abraham Lincoln, who signed the Emancipation Proclamation and freed the slaves in the U.S. Lincoln is also recognized as the president who saves the union.
Well, here we are again, in the 21st century, and we’re as divided as ever. Maybe not with guns and weapons of warfare, but with stark differences in ideology, and the incoming president is promising to unite us once again. Can he do it?
Whether he can or not, one thing is for sure. Barack Obama has already made history. There is no doubt that he is destined to have his place in the Hall of Presidents and First Ladies, located right here in Gettysburg Pennsylvania.
George Will Resurrects Faulkner, Civil War Heroes, And Learning
I didn’t realize that George Will, a popular conservative columnist for The Washington Post, had written a column honoring the new Gettysburg Museum and Visitor Center. But he did.
He said some pretty striking things in that column, some of them politically charged, others of them socially on target, and all of them historically enlightening. Among the gems are:
- In 1863, 11 major roads converged on this town. Which is why history did, too.
- Recently, a Gold Star mother finally visited Gettysburg, after driving by it often en route to visit the Arlington, Va., grave of her son, who was killed in Iraq. She was especially moved by these words from a Gettysburg newspaper published four days after the battle: “Every name … is a lightning stroke to some heart, and breaks like thunder over some home, and falls a long black shadow upon some hearthstone.” Gettysburg still stirs, but not as it used to, or should.
- Ours would be a better nation if boys and girls of all regions, and particularly the many high school and even college graduates who cannot place the Civil War in the correct half-century, could be moved, as large numbers of Americans used to be, by the names of Gettysburg battlefield sites, such as Devil’s Den, the Peach Orchard, the Wheatfield, Culp’s Hill and Little Round Top, instead of being like the visitor here who said it is amazing that so many great battles, such as Antietam and Chickamauga and Shiloh, occurred on Park Service land; and another visitor who doubted that the fighting here really was fierce because there are no bullet marks on the monuments.
- Ten years ago, this column asserted that disrespect for the national patrimony of Civil War battlefields should be a hanging offense, and said: “Given that the vast majority of Americans have never heard a shot fired in anger, the imaginative presentation of military history in a new facility here is vital, lest rising generations have no sense of the sacrifices of which they are beneficiaries.”
Each of these snippets is a verbatim passage from George Will’s column and they leave me with a thought: Americans are forgetful, ignorant, and nonchalant about their common history. That is why we need such places at the Gettysburg Battlefield and its associated monuments. The preservation of our national heritage is more than honor. It’s a privilege, and the people of Gettysburg are proud to be a part of that. I am too.
