Yesterday, I looked at my husband and asked, “Remember when we went to Gettysburg today?” Yes, Labor Day started off like any other day. I woke up early with my son and enjoyed coffee while he ravenously enjoyed his breakfast and looked forward to playing with his toys.
Once my husband woke up, we decided to check out a local, new restaurant for brunch. You guys. If ever you are in the Frederick, Maryland area, you have to check out Family Meal. Amazing food. Amazing service. Amazing atmosphere. Enough said. So, once brunch was thoroughly and wholeheartedly enjoyed, we headed home so that our son could sneak in a good snooze before our afternoon adventure.
What happened next? We packed ourselves into the car and decided to just drive. Usually, people spend Labor Day at a barbecue or a beach. What did we do? We wanted to go on a drive and see where it would take us. We turned right out of our subdivision (which we rarely do since it’s nothing but farms and cornfields) and immediately became surrounded by cornfields, cows, and endless amounts of road.
We drove through tiny town after tiny town and then 20 minutes into the drive we noticed a sign that read, “Welcome to Pennsylvania.” My husband, being the Civil War nut that he is, looked at me and said, “What if we see a sign that tells us that Gettysburg is 10 miles away?” Without hesitation, I said, “Let’s do it.” Even though he is one of the biggest Civil War historians I know, he had never been to Gettysburg … and that’s when we saw it not even a minute later. Gettysburg 10 miles away. He looked at me with a look full of question and I said, “Come on. Let’s go.” So, we filled up the car with gas and quickly found ourselves at the Gettysburg visitor center.
Not even knowing where to begin, I found a park guide and said, “Sooo … my husband and I decided to take a drive and somehow ended up at Gettysburg. What do you suggest we do?” He responded, “Well, you ended up in a great spot.” With guidance, a map, and an auto tour CD on hand, we hopped in the car and started the journey.
Now, first things first … my husband and I have never done an audio/car tour so we were definitely newbies. We put in the CD and listened to the historian talk and explain the upcoming tour. After doing numerous circles around the lot, we were finding headed to stop #1. We eventually got the hang of it and traveled all throughout Gettysburg taking in all of the sights, sounds, and imagination challenges.
At almost every stop, we got out of the car to stretch our legs and get closer to the cannons, fences, and incredible views.
It was amazing to see the excitement that my husband had throughout the day as we ventured from one stop to the next. Sharing this experience with our son, as he explored and took in all of the history alongside of us, made the day picture perfect in our eyes.
And then this moment happened … and I knew that this day turned out to be pretty epic for my husband.
Before we hopped in the car to head home, we stopped in downtown Gettysburg, walked the streets, and filled our bellies at an authentic Gettysburg restaurant. All in all, our road trip had a pretty amazing result.
And I couldn’t agree more with the park guide. We definitely ended up in a great spot.
When was the last time you had a day trip/staycation?
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