They start the visitors out Disneyesque style...furbling through a line to enter a movie theatre to watch a 20 minute movie. It is a superb movie, narrated by Morgan Freeman (he could narrate an episode of South Park and make it seem like an epic tale of adventure and triumph) and I was all teary-eyed...yes, I know I cry at the Folger's coffee commercials but Morgan Freeman's voice and melancholy music will do that to you. Then the crowd is herded to view the cyclorama, a 377 ft long and 42 ft high circular painting which I remember seeing when we came to Gettysburg back in the 70's. The painting has recently been restored (2003-08 for $13 million) to it's original colors and now includes narration and special effects such as strobe lights going off and the sounds of gunfire and cannons exploding (my mind raced to Pirates of the Caribbean ride and how this might translate...take a journey through the ravages of war, watch the men writhe in pain as a lead bullet tears open their chest and legs are sawed off without anesthetic...it's only a reality show away). When the painting was originally displayed in 1883 the dimension of the painting was enhanced by staging life size objects corresponding to the painting (which is also included for this display). For instance if there was a stone wall in the painting real stones would jut out of the painting to continue the illusion in perspective. It is all a bit was a bit theme park-like but the painting is absolutely magnificent.
The round part of the building houses the cyclorama...reminiscent of a building at Circus World but without the elephant smell. The poster below was an advertisement for the cyclorama when it went on display in 1883--look at the cool font.
The cyclorama spits you out to the doors of the main museum which was a rambling display of artifacts and photos and letters and a bit of a reflection of the multi-tasking attention span of our time. If you read all of the text it all would take a little over a year. In the beginning I started reading the outside wall of fascinating little known facts about key figures in the battle (like Grant received a ticket for riding his horse too fast in DC, the rabble-rouser, or in his case rebel-rouser) and realized after half an hour later I hadn't even enter the museum yet. There were little buttons to push to hear more about a certain battle or hear commentary 20 feet apart so I'd start to hear one tale and then it was over powered by the start of another pre-recorded story, set to high decibels to accommodate the golden demographic attending. It reminded me of being at an airport and all the gates are announcing the departures at once.
The artifacts were vast and after a while some of it became overwhelming...the desk in the room during the signing of....I was just waiting for the display of the crumb found in the back of the drawer that was in tin of the bureau upstairs in the bedroom next door to the house that General Lee slept in while he was on his way to the signing of the....everything is history, part of a story of the past, so how much of it do we cherish behind glass, with a foam core explanation?
Military uniforms...who wore it best????
And the comparison? Is Baraboo really three notches below? I dare your Mayor to out committee chair our Mayor! Well, first of all, it's hardly a comparison. Gettysburg has over a million tourists a year pass through the National Park, which has just a bit more historical significance than a bunch of tightrope walking, tiger taming, fire eating folks that had more tattoos than Elvis had pills (that's a really old reference children so just look it up--and I could have said "Carter had peanuts", you can look that one up too). Baraboo would only get that many people visiting if a Packer player was in town, to give away free brats, a beer, and supply of ammo for the upcoming hunting season.
But I must say, the town is adorable, centered around a round-about and tree lined streets. Cute shops, lots of restaurants, fancy boutique hotels, street art, flowers...no banners, what, no banners? One mark off! It has all of the charm but quadruple the traffic and people and nobody had a dog in their shop, at least the ones I visited. Two marks off! I don't have any good photos but you get the idea:
We did stumble upon a fantastic gallery that carried several of the same jewelry artists I carried through the years at Cornerstone, except this gallery had one of everything the artist made, maybe two! I don't know how they carried that kind of inventory. Everything was impeccably displayed and very tasteful but it was sterile, no cards about the artists and all under glass and no prices showing...what is it with hiding prices, like it's some special secret? (Oh, but if I let you see the price you will know that this item actually costs money, and if you think it costs money you may get discouraged and leave the store but if I keep it a secret you will fall in love and buy it because you have fallen in boundless love and will sell crack out of your Subaru CrossTrek to purchase this fine trinket.) If I can't see how much it is I don't even want to ask, and I know there were affordable items in the case. Who started that annoying habit?
But I must say, the town is adorable, centered around a round-about and tree lined streets. Cute shops, lots of restaurants, fancy boutique hotels, street art, flowers...no banners, what, no banners? One mark off! It has all of the charm but quadruple the traffic and people and nobody had a dog in their shop, at least the ones I visited. Two marks off! I don't have any good photos but you get the idea:
Funny thing, I kept running into the same friend along the way. He gives great advice:
"Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be."
Always the delightful tourist guide.
Drove past some of the battlefields and monuments as we headed out. We saw an interesting tag line for one of the restaurants, "Dine on the Battlefield". Like you want to imagine the horrendous battle in your mind while you're eating??? So the underlying idea is..."Enjoy your steak tar tare as you imagine men getting shot as you dine", or "enjoy our homemade blood sausage and fingerling potatoes on the same ground that John Brown lost some blood and his fingers", good grief, do I need to make that into a television episode too? Admired some of the battlefields on the way out of town, without eating.
We made it late at night to Virginia, just outside Charlottesville in a cute little mountain town of Crozet (no "t" sound, now we're getting all french-like, oui, oui...well the state tag line is, Virginia is for Lovers).
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