The trip to Gettysburg started out with our trip organizers having to cancel because Robin hurt her foot and ended up in a boot. Jeff met Pat and Patty Cawthorne, Dick and Sandy Suffredini, and Tom and Jaimee Rippert at the Wawa across from the Windmill restaurant on Route 23 in Morgantown. He gave us all the info we needed for the weekend….all the things he had planned to do and restaurant reservations.
The weather could not have cooperated more. Pat came up with a beautiful “back roads” route out to Gettysburg. It was sunny and warm and a perfect day for a drive in an MG through beautiful countryside.
In a few hours, we arrived at our hotel in Gettysburg. We unpacked our cars and headed into town for dinner. We ate at the Garry Owen Irish Pub. The authentic Irish food was delicious, Shepherds Pie, Bangers and Mash, Irish Stew, Scotch Eggs, and of course Guinness. After dinner, we drove to the Soldiers National Monument in the Gettysburg National Cemetery to hear Taps. Every evening at 7:00 p.m. from Memorial Day through Labor Day “Taps” fill the air in the National Cemetery.
Friday morning, after breakfast at the hotel, we drove to the Rolls Royce Museum (and repair shop). We were all pleasantly surprised at all the beautiful Rolls Royces and Bentleys in this museum. We had a very nice gentleman, named Tommy, give us a tour and a little background on each automobile. Our guys were able to point out some details on a few of the cars that even the docent was unaware of. After spending a couple of hours there, we drove to Pine Grove Furnace State Park. It’s a beautiful State Park and I remember camping there with my family as a child. We stopped at the Country Store for ice cream, and while we were sitting there enjoying our ice cream, we met a young man who had a 1953 Clipper blue TD that was his Dad’s who bought it new. It’s a small world.
We returned to the hotel, and then headed into downtown Gettysburg for dinner at the Dobbin House Pub, where we all enjoyed some excellent pub food.
It sprinkled a little as we headed back to our hotel that evening. The following day was bright and sunny as we did a drive through the battlefields of Gettysburg before heading home.
Thank you Jeff and Robin for setting up this great trip. Wish you could have been there!!
-- Tom & Jaimee Rippert