Trip: 4

(American History 101)

Visited from May 23, 2022 to Jun 07, 2022

(Group 5)

As with the prior three trips, almost every stop on this trip was educational. Though I knew a lot about Antietam and Gettysburg before the trip, some of the details were new and sometimes horrifying (Antietam: 1 casualty per second all morning).

I did stand near the spot where an ancestral uncle fought and was wounded at Gettysburg and enjoyed seeing in person those areas I had only read about.

Hopewell Furnace showed me details of an industry I knew little about and served me in understanding what made the Ridgelys wealthy at Hampton.

Though Independence Hall is the big Philadelphia attraction, I found the Edgar Allan Poe house and Thaddeus Kosciusko site far more interesting.

Finally, the Visitor Center's presentation at Fort McHenry tops any I have seen to date. I was lucky to then be able to walk the grounds in beautiful weather.

I saved a total of four days driving by using Amtrak's AutoTrain. I was quite happy with it (though it does cost more than the gasoline and motel would have cost). The wear and tear it saves on the car is nice, but more important is the wear and tear it saves on my not having to drive I-95. I may use it again for future trips to the northeast.

Read my blog entry about this trip.

Park units visited during this trip

Click on any of the parks listed below to see the page specific to that park.

The park page will have my comments about the site, photos and links to both the NPS official page and my blog entry for the park.

The interactive map in the top right of this page shows the location of each unit. You can zoom in and move around on the map. The rectangle icon in the top right will expand the map to full screen. Clicking on any unit in the map will open a small information window. The map and icons on it are based on the same information found in the Google Earth KML files, which you can create and download from the Home page.

• May 25, 2022: Antietam National Battlefield    (Sharpsburg, MD)
• May 26, 2022: Monocacy National Battlefield    (Frederick, MD)
• May 26, 2022: Catoctin Mountain Park    (Thurmont, MD)
• May 27, 2022: Gettysburg National Military Park    (Gettysburg, PA)
• May 28, 2022: Eisenhower National Historic Site    (Gettysburg, PA)
• May 29, 2022: Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site    (Elverson, PA)
• May 31, 2022: Valley Forge National Historical Park    (Valley Forge, PA)
• Jun 1, 2022: Independence National Historical Park    (Philadelphia, PA)
• Jun 2, 2022: Great Egg Harbor National Scenic and Recreational River    (Mays Landing, NJ)
• Jun 3, 2022: First State National Historical Park    (Dover, DE)
• Jun 4, 2022: Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site    (Philadelphia, PA)
• Jun 4, 2022: Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial    (Philadelphia, PA)
• Jun 5, 2022: Hampton National Historic Site    (Hampton, MD)
• Jun 5, 2022: Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine    (Fort McHenry, MD)

Other parks visited during this trip

The places listed below are not part of the National Park Service's official 431 sites, but were visited during this trip.
Click on a line to see more information about that park along with a link to the park's official web page.

• Nov 15, 2024: Cape May Point State Park    (Cape May, NJ)