Historic drive through Pennsylvania

Gettysburg is name most of you must have heard of. It is the location of Lincoln's famous address and a few months' prior to that, 'The Battle of Gettysburg'. This battle happens to be one of the major defining moments in the history of America and was the battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War and is frequently cited as the war's turning point. Union Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade's Army of the Potomac defeated attacks by Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, ending Lee's invasion of the North. Over fifty thousand men lost their lives in that battle which prompted the before mentioned famous Gettysburg Address. The monuments and statues erected on the battlefields as well as gravestones standing where the men lay all those years ago, are constant reminder of those times and make you realize you are somewhere really special.

I love my history, especially battle history, with the Anglo-Boer wars being some of the most remarkable in South African and British history. On occasion when we drive by these sites in South Africa, my family and I always stop and go through the motions to see what happened on those days that made our country what it is today. Celia thinks I'm a loser, but it makes me appreciate places like this in other countries where the same battles were fought over the same issues thousands of miles away.

We never planned on staying the night there as there were more unique American lives to see not too far away. I'm now talking about the Amish. These folk stay amongst themselves in the farmlands shunning technological advancements of today's world still bizarrely driving around in their horse drawn carriages (with tail lights) sporting their top hats and matching black waistcoats.

That night we found a great little motel to stay in as the only camping area we found was almost the same price… talk about racketeering. Starved, we tried to go get a bite of some local Amish delicacies to find that all the restaurants shut at 8pm and we were about 15 minutes too late. It was probably the worst thing that could have happened as on our last pass we found a trucker's diner, proper movie style I'm telling you. We devoured this deep fried chicken that Colonel Sanders himself might have turned his nose up at, and I drank the thickest milkshake known to man, opting for the spoon once the straw provided a little inadequate. My cheeks collapsing inwards with the sucking power I was exerting, providing Celia with some light entertainment and highlighting the straw's only possible use.

Walking around in their villages, buying goods from them, they do freak me out a little, I think it is because they choose to live such a separate life, not associating themselves with the world, not even knowing much about current affairs.

We never took any pictures of them as the guidebooks say that to them it's bad luck, or something to that effect.

We stopped off at one of the towns they stay called 'Intercourse', in Pennsylvania. Quite ironic as they are so reserved. It seems like these people are from the 'Men in Black' movies, remember that scene in the second installment where they were in the post office where they sent all the aliens and retired 'space officers'. The Amish could definitely be them.

One thing we learnt while we were there is that the reason they are called the 'Pennsylvania Dutch' is because when they first arrived in America (from space), they said to all the locals they were Deutsch, meaning German, the clever Americans mistaking that for Dutch so hence the misconception.