The Peach Orchard Salient and the Bloody Wheat Field - 10/30/13

We did the volkswalk for Day 2 of the Battle of Gettysburg on a previous trip, so today we elected to do the walk for Day 3. There were two 5k walks available, and we chose the "Peach Orchard and Wheatfield Trail." My plantar fasciitis would not allow me to do both walks today.

The walk started at the Longstreet Memorial and took us past the Louisiana State Memorial, which features a fallen artilleryman beneath a female figure known as the Spirit of the Confederacy. She holds a flaming cannonball.

We continued through woods and fields past dozens upon dozens of memorials to states, brigades, battalions, corps, legions, units, battles, and individuals. A memorial to the Irish Brigade featured a Celtic cross and an Irish wolfhound.

The Peach Orchard 

On the morning of Day 2, Maj. Gen. Daniel E. Sickles was assigned a position 3/4-mile from the Peach Orchard, near Little Round Top. That afternoon - without orders - he advanced his 10,000-man Union Third Corps, part of it taking position on the high ground around farmer John Sherfy's peach orchard. Sickles believed it was a stronger position.

At the Peach Orchard, Sickles' mile-long line formed a sharp angle, or salient. About 5:30 p.m., following a hot artillery duel, Confederate infantry led by Brig. Gen. J.B. Kershaw attacked the Peach Orchard by way of the Rose Farm, but were shredded by rapid rounds of Union canister.

About 6:00 p.m., Confederate infantry of Barksdale's and Wofford's Brigades struck the Peach Orchard from the west. With a tremendous Rebel yell, the Confederate forces drove the Union defenders back toward Cemetery Ridge. Sickles' salient was crushed.

The Wheatfield

In this 25-acre field of wheat, 19 brigades, totalling more than 20,000 men, engaged in a series of attacks and counterattacks over a period of several hours resulting in nearly 7,000 casualties.

The Lincoln Highway and Beyond

We left Gettysburg and drove west on the Lincoln Highway for about 90 minutes. The scenery was beautiful as we climbed up to 2200 feet to cross a series of mountain passes. The fall colors were slightly past their peak, but still worthy of admiration. We passed Mr. Ed's Elephant Museum and Candy Emporium so quickly that we couldn't stop and get a photo. Sorry.

Eventually we reached the Pennsylvania Turnpike and continued westward for anothe 90 minutes. After passing to the north of Pittsburgh we entered Ohio and continued our westerly course toward Wooster. During the last 30 minutes or saw we saw some classic Wayne County sights: a real pumpkin patch with hundreds of pumpkins still growing, a corn maze, and two Amish women exiting a mall parking lot in a horse-drawn buggy.

We had a delightful dinner with Scott and Lauren at the Broken Rocks Cafe.

One Hundred and Fifty Years - 10/29/13

The Battle of Gettysburg was the costliest battle of the American Civil War based on number of casualties. Spanning over three days, from July 1-3, 1863, the Battle resulted in approximately 51,112 individuals being killed, wounded, missing, or captured. Despite the fact that the South continued to fight for two more years, it was a decisive victory for the Union. The South's retreat and terrible losses were a turning point in the war. From that point on, the South had to abandon its attempt to take the war North.

We did a volkswalk covering Day 1 of the Battle.

The Battle of Gettysburg began unexpectedly. Two Confederate Brigades under the overall command of General Heth moved in to occupy the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Unbeknownst to them, the town was already occupied by two Union Calvary Brigades commanded by General John Buford. The fighting broke out around 8 a.m. as the Confederate Brigades moved in from the Northwest. They expected little resistance but were quite surprised to find the Union Brigades. Buford's men were able to hold the advancing confederates for over an hour while waiting for reinforcements. They were eventually forced to retreat but not before General Reynolds arrived to assist in the defense of McPherson's Ridge. Unfortunately, while deploying the fresh troops General Reynolds was shot and killed, leaving General Doubleday the ranking commander on the field. The battle raged over the next couple of hours with the Confederate troops attempting to flank their Union counterparts and drive them from the high ground. (If a horse has two feet off the ground, it means the rider was killed. One foot off the ground means the rider was injured.)

General Lee arrived on the scene around 2:30 p.m. and gave A.P. Hill permission to join the attack on General Meridith and his Iron Brigade. The Union troops were unable to hold their ground under this onslaught and began to retreat towards the Seminary. However, their stay at the Seminary was short-lived. The Confederates pressed the advantage and forced the Union soldiers to flee through the town of Gettysburg and to the area known as Cemetery Hill. Fortunately for the Union, the Confederacy had sustained numerous casualties in their first day victory. They had been weakened and were unable to press their advantage effectively.

Around 4:30 p.m. Major General Winfield Hancock arrived at Cemetery Hill and took overall command of the Union Army from Doubleday on the orders of General Meade. He realized he was in an excellent defensive position and continued to deploy the retreating troops of Doubleday. The remains of Meredith's Iron Brigade were sent to occupy the defensible position of Culp's Hill.

As these events were taking place, General Lee was conferring with Lieutenant James Longstreet. The two disagreed on the course the battle should take from here on out. General Longstreet urged Lee to swing around behind the Union army and cut them off from Washington. This would allow the Confederacy to choose the most advantageous location for battle. However, General Lee disagreed and believed they should press their advantage. He ordered General Ewell to "secure possession of the heights...if practicable." However, the orders were confusing to Ewell and he failed to attack the new Union stronghold before they were sufficiently prepared. Thus, day one ended with a win for the Confederacy, but a squandered opportunity.

We walked through the fields where the troops engaged with each other. Today there are numerous monuments recognizing the various units that participated in the battle. We saw the tower of the seminary used by Gen. Buford as a lookout post. We walked down Chambersburg Pike (now known as US 30 and also as the Lincoln Highway) and imagined the Confederate troops moving along this route 150 years ago. We saw a statue of Gen. Reynolds on a horse and we passed by the site of Gen. Lee's headquarters.

We then headed into the center of the town of Gettysburg. We walked all around the campus of Gettysburg College and learned that both armies swept through the campus on Day 1. One of the college's buildings became a field hospital.

Heading back into town, we saw the railroad station where President Lincoln arrived later that year to deliver "a few appropriate remarks" at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery.

We saw the house where Lincoln stayed and a statue of Lincoln titled "Return Visit."

We saw monuments related to parts of the battle that occurred in town. Finally, we walked up to Seminary Ridge and back to our car, having completed our 10 kilometer walk.

One Hundred Years - 10/28/13

Today is my father's birthday. He was born exactly 100 years ago. He died on January 2, 2002.

This morning Ken and I visited my mother in a dementia facility in Maryland. She was happy to see us. She is 94. She was a little surprised to hear that today was her husband's birthday, but she was not very curious about where he is or what happened to him. At least she still knows when her birthday is.

There was a gentleman in the facility who was very surprised to hear that his wife had died some time ago. Not upset, just surprised. In fact, he didn't believe it. We went through that stage with my mother already. The first time I had to tell her my dad was dead, I thought it would be awful because I thought it would be very upsetting for her to suddenly find out that he was dead. Maybe on some level she did remember that he was dead and so it wasn't particularly upsetting to hear me say that he was dead. Dementia works in odd ways.

After visiting my mother, we drove to the cemetery in Virginia where my father is buried. It was a sunny day and it was peaceful there. I left some stones on his grave as a way of saying I had been there and I remembered him.

Afterwards, we drove to a mall and bought my mother some sweaters and some new shoes. We also bought her a new walker. Her old one is pretty scuzzy. The new one is RED and it has black and red designs on the crossbar and little pockets on the sides for your tissues or glasses or whatever.

We went back to see my mom  and brought her the new clothes. Ken set up the walker and adjusted it to the right height. I think she likes it. We left her at dinner time and she still seemed quite happy and did not fuss at all that we were leaving.

Ships, Planes, and Automobiles - 10/27/13

Today we disembarked in Ft. Lauderdale.  According to Princess, the 75-minute delay in disembarkation was due to understaffing by Immigration and Customs. Whatever. It was enough of a delay to make us a little nervous about getting to the airport in time for our flight.

When we got off the ship we had to retrieve our checked bags and then proceed through Immigration and Customs. The bags were supposed to be color-coded to make it "easy" to find your bags. It still took over 20 minutes to find our bags because one was not in the proper area. The clock kept on ticking.

Then we got in a long line to go through Immigration and Customs and then we got in another long line to get a taxi. The clock kept on ticking. 

We would be ok if the lines at the ticket counter and security weren't too bad. They weren't too bad, but they made us show our boarding passes at the x-ray machine and people were getting their passports out, too, so Ken got his driver's license out. They didn't need it so he took off his shoes and  emptied out his pockets and took off his belt and sent it all his stuff through the x-ray. Then he reversed the process but forgot about the driver's license. Then he realized that he didn't have his driver's license, so he went back to the x-ray machine and looked inside it and on the floor under it and various other places and couldn't find it. Then he came back to me in a state of panic and I said, "When did you last see it?" When he went through the x-ray. "Where did you put it when you went through the x-ray?" In his shoe. Oh! So he takes off his shoe, and there it is in his shoe. Crisis averted, but clock still ticking.

If we had only known what awaited us at the gate(s). We went to Gate F4 to board our flight. The PA system didn't work, but someone eventually told us to go to F6. There were other people at F6 taking up all the seats. After about 10 minutes they told those people to go to F4, without the benefit of a PA system. After some more waiting, the gate agent told us (without PA) that there was a "paperwork" problem, but nothing to worry about. Then the pilot came out and told us the same thing.  After the flight was over an hour late we were allowed to board the plane. Before everybody had a chance to board, we were told that the plane had been removed from service and we had to get off. Then we were told to go to Gate F5. Finally we boarded another plane and we took off a mere 2 and 1/2 hours late. Thank you, Jet Blue.

Upon arriving at DCA we retrieved our bags and tried to figure out how to get to the rental cars. You would think that someone who has done orienteering for years would be able to figure out the airport map. You would be wrong. You would think that the sign that says "Walkway to Rental Cars" would actually point to a walkway to rental cars. You would be wrong. Somehow, we got there, and after a little bit of elevator combat we arrived at the Emerald Aisle. Thanks to a helpful employee named Kwame, we got the car we wanted and were able to transition from airport schlimazels into members of the elite HOV corps.

Our drive to Bethesda was uneventful, and it was nice to see Bobi and Titan again. We basically did nothing all day, but we were exhausted.

Lines I stood in today:

1. To get into the dining room for breakfast

2. To get an elevator back to our cabin

3. To get an elevator down to the designated area to wait for disembarkation

4. To get out of the waiting area

5. To get off the ship

6. To go through Immigration and Customs

7. To get a taxi

8. To check in with the airline

9. To go through security

10. To go to the ladies' room

11. To board the plane at Gate F4

12. To buy a snack

13. To board the plane at Gate F6

14. To get off the plane

15. To board the plane at Gate F5

16. To get off the plane

17. To go to the ladies' room

A Week of Sun Days - 10/26/13

Today is our 7th consecutive sea day. We will make landfall early tomorrow morning.

The crossing has been fabulous, if a little surreal. Since we left Madeira the water has been more like Lake Placid than like the North Atlantic ocean. It has been sunny and warm every day.

It's too early to say what today will bring, but since we left Madeira we have only seen:

• one other ship
• no airplanes except for one mysterious light in the night sky that may have been an airplane
• no lights (except for the one mysterious light in the sky that may have been an airplane)
• one school of dolphins
• one patch of seaweed
• two groups of flying fish
• no birds (until last night)
• one piece of plastic trash
• no barges
• 1001 moods of the ocean

This morning the ocean appears different. I wouldn't call it angry, but it is calling attention to itself in a way that it hasn't up to this point. It is no longer indulgent.

There are lots of gulls around the ship this morning. We can't see any land, but it's got to be near.

Full disclosure: Most of the time we have only looked from our balcony. We haven't gone up to the highest decks and we haven't tried to see what can be seen from the starboard side.  From the bridge, which is on deck 14, the visibility to the horizon is about 20 to 21 miles.  The walking/jogging track, on deck 18, is the highest you can get. Ken has been up there a number of times and hasn't seen anything.

Tonight's entertainment was Al Katz and Jennifer Fair.

Firsters and Homesteaders - 10/25/13

You have probably heard of hoarders and preppers and truthers and birthers. I would like to introduce you to two new segments of the population.

"Firsters"

I have to let the Firsters go first, whether I want to or not. Firsters are people who are obsessed with being first, to the extent that they completely forget their manners. Or maybe it's a case of you can't forget what you never had.

If you want to see a Firster, go on a tour. There is at least one on every tour. It's a cosmic rule. Often, the tour group will be standing on the dock waiting for the guide. No one knows which direction the guide will come from and in which direction the group will be sent when it is time to board the bus. This must be excruciating for a Firster. Or maybe he (it's usually a he) looks at this as an especially fun challenge. Anyway, as soon as the direction of travel becomes evident, the Firster will scurry around and obtain the position of first in line. This is a highly developed skill and is interesting to observe from an anthropological point of view. It's not so interesting if you are a member of the group and a Firster has rudely cut in front of you or pushed you aside or stepped on you.

Why is it so important to be first in line? Obviously, you will then be first on the bus and you will have the best view. Once you get the front seat, you get to keep it for the whole tour (see "Homesteaders," below). (Whatever happened to the idea that the front seats are reserved for those with mobility problems?) First on means first off, so you can be first in all the other lines on the tour and first in the line to get back on the ship.

On the walking part of the tour, the Firster is always right next to the guide. The good guides all have microphones or radios, so it is not plausible that they need to be up front in order to hear. They park themselves in the best spot to see whatever it is we are supposed to see at that point of the tour and they stay there after they have seen it and they forget to move aside to let others have a chance to see or take an unobstructed picture.

The worst thing about Firsters is not their selfishness, it is their rudeness. If they can get past you in a sneaky fashion, they will. If they can't sneak past you, they will do whatever it takes to get past you. They will push, they will shove, they will tailgate, they will get out of line and run down another staircase, they will pretend they have an important question for the guide, they will pretend they are interested in purchasing the item the guide is standing next to. I am not making any of this up. I have seen it all and it cannot be clearer that the actions of these people are deliberate and calculated.

More than once, I have been the victim of a Firster. One stepped on my foot in Capri and knocked me down. He did not try to help me and he did not apologize. He was on my tour and he was an American.  He had already cut in front of me a couple of times that day, and he was trying to cut in front of me when he knocked me down. Hooray for him - he was first in line to get on the funicular!

I usually try to keep politics out of my blogging, but I'm going to make an exception here. Firsters seem to fit the Tea Party model. You have no obligation to anybody else. You are only in it for yourself.

"Homesteaders"

Homesteaders are more benign than Firsters, but equally interesting to the shipboard anthropologist. Homesteaders can be found in any public area on the ship. They sit in the same spot for hours. They read, knit, play cards, talk, sunbathe. They bring a lot of stuff with them and spread it out and make themselves at home. They take off their shoes and put their feet up on the furniture. They spend more time in their "spot" than in their cabin. When they go, they leave trash and dirty dishes behind.

Admittedly, a homesteader has as much right to sit in his or her spot as the next person. It's a public area and it's intended that anyone can sit there. I like to go and sit in public areas myself.

Here's the difference: Non-homesteaders sit in public areas and use them for their intended purpose for an appropriate amount of time. And then they leave. Homesteaders sit in the same place all day, every day. If it's an eating area, they sit there playing cards for hours even if all the other tables are taken and people are walking around with plates of food trying to find a place to sit. If it is a quiet spot, they shuffle cards or make their dominoes clatter or talk way too loud.

When they go to eat lunch or to participate in an activity they often leave things behind to "save" their seats, even though they have been asked not to do this by the cruise staff. In fact, they usually "save" additional seats for their stuff so they don't have to put up with anyone sitting close to them.
 
Why do they do this? Here's my theory: They are cheapskates trying to game the system. Some people say they never spend any time in their rooms except to sleep and shower, so why should they pay for anything but an inside cabin? This is how you pretend to be practical when you are really just cheap. So they book inside cabins but can't stand to spend waking hours in those little caves, so they homestead in the public areas, preferably next to a window. If the weather is nice they go up to the sun deck before breakfast and put towels on deck chairs, even though there are signs everywhere saying that the reservation of deck chairs is not permitted.

People, were you absent from kindergarten on the day you were supposed to learn about sharing?

After Dinner we saw a show called "Spectacular."

The 25-Hour Day - 10/23/13

This morning the sky was gray and the water was gray. Last night we skirted the edge of Tropical Storm Lorenzo. Later the water was blue and the sky was blue. Now the water is sparkling. It is so beautiful.

It's later now and the sparkle is gone. The water is flat, but with a lot of texture.

For four days we have not seen another ship or an airplane. Ken saw 3 flying fish a few days ago. We haven't seen any other sea creatures. Now, for the first time, we can see occasional pieces of seaweed.

At dinner we sit with three other couples. All of them have been sick with the cough that is going around. After dinner, a show with comedian Al Katz. He is entertaining.