Last month we had friends from Iowa come for a visit. Our friends had never visited Pennsylvania but had a big interest in the Civil War and the Gettysburg area. While they were here we took them down to Gettysburg to visit a few of the Civil War tourist attractions and memorials.
One after we spent at the Gettysburg Military Park National Museum. Visiting the museum is FREE. If you want to watch the Birth of a New Freedom film and visit the Cyclorama you’ll have to pay a special admission fee for those two activities. On-site parking is free and the museum is handicap accessible.
We spent about 90 minutes walking through the museum portion and visiting the exhibits. There’s a few places for you to sit down and watch the mini videos/films that are playing. Everything in the museum has to do with the Civil War and the Battle at Gettysburg. We took our good old time…but if you went quicker you could probably get through the museum portion in an hour (not including Cyclorama or the film).
After we were done we went to the cafe that they have to grab a little bit to eat. They serve your standard fare like burgers, hot dogs, french fries, chicken fingers, salads, sandwiches, etc. along with a few appetizers and beverages. They can be pricey and in my honest opinion…the food was just OKAY. Nothing to brag about.
When then headed to the Gift Shop and Bookstore so that our friends could pick up a few souvenirs from their trip. You’ll find your typical things like books, calendars, keychains, t-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, toys for the kids, snacks & candy, etc. Everything is moderately priced. Hey…it’s a museum aka tourist attraction.
After we were done there we went to Soldiers’ National Cemetery so that our friends could see the spot that Abraham Lincoln gave the famous Gettysburg Address. We spent an hour just visiting the memorials and monuments in the cemetery before heading home.
This post includes a few photographs that I took while we were at the museum.