Any interest in a WAB ACW staff ride in the spring?

**Shek** · 30 Nov 09,, 21:17

Originally Posted by Albany Rifles

Shek could work for the Commonwealth of Virginia's Department of Tourism!

I just trying to help with Reconstruction and put Virginia back on the path to prosperity

Originally Posted by Albany Rifles

My one exception to his list? If you push it a bit, you could combine The Overland Campaign into a single day. That would give you 2 days in the Petersburg area...it takes that to cover all the battlefields and to do a visit to Pamplin Historical Park. Pamplin Park You MUST visit there...it is well worth the trip. You could get to Appomattox by late afternoon and then head to Lexington in the Valley for a late supper. Wake up and work your way down the Valley, finishing at Winchester.

PS: After Antietam, head over to Harpers Ferry.

All I've got to say is that my wife would abandon me after day 3 of my proposed itinterary. The outlets near each of the other battlefields would have kept her along for the ride at least up to that point.

**TopHatter** · 02 Dec 09,, 17:46

Originally Posted by Shek

Day 1 - Gettysburg
Day 2 - Antietam
Day 3 - Fredericksburg/Chancelorsville
Day 4 - Wilderness/Spotsylvania
Day 5 - North Anna/Cold Harbor
Day 6 - Petersburg/Appomattox
Day 7 - Shenandoah Valley

One day for Gettysburg?

Never been there of course, but is that enough time?

**Shamus** · 02 Dec 09,, 17:51

Originally Posted by TopHatter

One day for Gettysburg?

Never been there of course, but is that enough time?

Definitely not IMHO.....I spent a day there with the kids and barely scratched the surface of what I wanted to see

.

**Albany Rifles** · 02 Dec 09,, 18:43

You can do Gettysburg in a day....or a week.....or a year and still not cover it all.

I have been there north of 20 twenty times and I still haven't "seen" it all.

I have spent 2 days just doing the first day. Another time a spent a weekend doing just the cavalry.

You can get there early, hit the visitors center and then take the driving tour. If you start at 8:30 AM you can still hit most everything, walk Pickett'sCharge and cover East Cavalry Field by dinner so long as you are not trying to get the early bird special at Hoss's.

Another great way to do it is to hire a registered Gettysburg Guide and tailor for what you want.

The Association of Licensed Battlefield Guides

The secret is to do your reading up front to figure out what you want.

Now, once you get south of the Rapidan/Rappahanock line I know where you can get a guide for those battlefields for the WAB Only price of a full beer cooler and you do the driving!

)

**JAD_333** · 03 Dec 09,, 04:47

Originally Posted by Shamus

Definitely not IMHO.....I spent a day there with the kids and barely scratched the surface of what I wanted to see

.

That's because you were with the kids.

)

**Bigfella** · 03 Dec 09,, 10:33

Originally Posted by Albany Rifles

You can do Gettysburg in a day....or a week.....or a year and still not cover it all.

I have been there north of 20 twenty times and I still haven't "seen" it all.

I have spent 2 days just doing the first day. Another time a spent a weekend doing just the cavalry.

You can get there early, hit the visitors center and then take the driving tour. If you start at 8:30 AM you can still hit most everything, walk Pickett'sCharge and cover East Cavalry Field by dinner so long as you are not trying to get the early bird special at Hoss's.

Another great way to do it is to hire a registered Gettysburg Guide and tailor for what you want.

The Association of Licensed Battlefield Guides

The secret is to do your reading up front to figure out what you want.

Now, once you get south of the Rapidan/Rappahanock line I know where you can get a guide for those battlefields for the WAB Only price of a full beer cooler and you do the driving!

)

You do realize that one of my grand 'bucket list' plans is to drive through most of the 'lower 48'

)

) (there are a couple of square flat ones I might give a miss). Might just take you up on that one day.

I am sooooooooo jealous of you guys. I was only a kid when I went to Europe & the US, so battlefields weren't high on the family list. One excpetion was Verdun in France, where we went into one of the forts & saw some of the vast cemetaries. They seem to dwarf even Arlington (though that may just be a perception thing).

I have been to a couple of spots in Saigon where the Tet offensive was particularly 'hot', including the spot where General Loan executes Nguyen Van Lem (not morbid, wrote an article about it once & doing a chapter on it if I ever finish my PhD). Also went to the tunnels at Cu Chi nth of Saigon. Worth it just for the huge bomb crater in the jungle. Next trip I'm planning to visit Khe Sanh & some of the battlefields near the old DMZ.

**JAD_333** · 04 Dec 09,, 02:47

Originally Posted by Shek

Here's a potential itinerary that will get you through the major Eastern battles and have you end up in the Shenandoah. If you time it right, you can enjoy the full fall foilage colors, which I believe occurs in late October down in the Shenandoah.

Day 1 - Gettysburg
Day 2 - Antietam
Day 3 - Fredericksburg/Chancelorsville
Day 4 - Wilderness/Spotsylvania
Day 5 - North Anna/Cold Harbor
Day 6 - Petersburg/Appomattox
Day 7 - Shenandoah Valley

Just curious. Gettysburg and Antietam line up with Winchester/the Shenandoah. Why the roundabout loop putting the first two first and Winchester last?

**Albany Rifles** · 04 Dec 09,, 02:52

My thinking is start down the east of the Blue Ridge, circle through the Appomattox watershed and then head west to Roanoke to I-81 to catch the Valley Pike at Lexington. From there head down the Valley.

Also, with the exception Appomattox, it follows the time line.