Spring break in Gettysburg & DC

I've been wanting to do this for awhile.

One of my "to-do" things after I retire was to

visit Sarah and see some Civil War battlefields. 

This was trip #1.

Left on a Tuesday and drove to Gettysburg. I tried to save a little money, so I chose a cheap hotel. This one worked. The Budget Host.

My Budget Host room (#108)

Good: Location. Very close to the battlefield; right across the street.

Not so good: It was like going back a few decades.

But, it was $50 a night, so...

Wednesday was battlefield day. First, I went to the Visitor Center and saw the movie. And the cyclorama. And museum. All very nice. 

Visitor's Center

Cyclorama

Then I did the self-guided CD auto tour.

Lutheran Seminary

Where Gen. Reynolds was killed

From the Angle, towards Pickett's Charge

Bloody Angle

The Copse of Trees

From Little Round Top

Wheatfield

 Thursday, I checked out and went to downtown Gettysburg before I went to DC.

Train station, where Lincoln arrived in Gettysburg

Train station

Wills House, where Lincoln stayed the night before the Gettysburg Address

Then, I headed off to DC, to visit Sarah.

The first thing we did was go to lunch at Union Market.

Union Market

I had a brisket sandwich that might have been
THE BEST SANDWICH EVER!

Lunch

Where THE SANDWICH was made.

[At this point I'm not going to write about the return trip to Gettysburg to get the iPod I left behind.]

And we had dinner at Brookland's Finest. It was a nice evening to eat outside. And I had great company.

Brookland's Finest

The next day we went downtown to see the cherry blossoms. They were at their peak, but it was kind of a crummy day.

Then we hit the National Zoo, mostly to see the pandas.

The big cats were neat too.

Dinner at Eat First.

I love this restaurant!

That evening, we went to see:

at E Street

The next day, we drove to Manassas to see the battlefield there. We did a walk with the Ranger at the site of Day #1, and the self-guided car tour for the rest.

Day #1 site

Stone House

Cannon ball in the Stone House wall

Railroad Cut

Sunday, my last day in DC, we went to brunch at Kramer's.

Brunch @ Kramer's

 That was my trip. It was very difficult saying goodbye to my sweet daughter, but I got to spend three days with her. 

I miss her a lot.
I'm gonna do this again.

P.S. I need to include a pic of Sarah's roommate Bug. He was excited to see me.