Where Next, Honey?

By Jamie on February 4, 2024

A while I back (2015) I mentioned on Facebook that Gerry and I had been considering a trip to Charleston—I'd been there twenty years previously when I'd spent a weeks' vacation on Kiawah Island, a gift from a friend, with Jesse on his spring break. We took a day from the beach to drive into the historic part of Charleston … just a brief trip, but the old homes, the gardens, the French Quarter, the waterfront pier … it was all eye-popping. (You can read about the conversation that bubbled up that day here.)

Because you see now, all these years later, I'd edited an extensive history of the place in the wake of the mass shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church during a Bible study hour.

I'd decided Charleston wasn't the place to take my newly arrived immigrant husband. Maybe some other time. But hey, in the conversation that unfolded about the South's sometimes sad history, a friend of mine asked, "Have you ever been to Gettysburg? Worth going at least once to mourn both sides."

Ding! Ding! Ding!

My friend is a history buff, writes historical fiction, researches her genealogy. Another friend added, "In our junior year at my little high school we studied the battle for a week, took a test and then boarded a bus and drove through the night to Gettysburg to tour all the battle grounds. It's well worth seeing."

Seriously, yes. And there's that famous speech I had to memorize in school.

Then one of my besties piped up: "We visited Gettysburg a few years ago. Fascinating place and it covers many acres. It's worth the splurge to hire a guide who drives your car and gives a minute-by-minute account of the battle as you drive through the battlefield. Colorful and informative!"

Wow, y'all. There are also audio tours.

As it turns out, we did visit the battleground on our way home, driving due to pandemic concerns, from visiting our grandgirl in Rhode Island a few years later … but it was closed. Well, we could drive through the park, but had no access to the museum, where we would have gotten a map, if nothing else. (And I'd forgotten this Facebook conversation.) So now I'm all excited again, and must add it to my Wanderlust Daydreams agenda.