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The Gipper's Guide to America


The Gipper

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Best battlefield is easily sharpsburg, Maryland, aka Antietam creek

 

I have been to a lot of Battlefields, Revolutionary War/Civil War/War of 1812/even French and Indian War. It is quite hard to rank them.

 

And sometimes it is difficult to even determine what a battle field is. Example: is a Fort where a skirmish took place considered a "battlefield". Just take the French/Indian War. I have been to Fort Ticonderoga, Fort William Henry, Fort Necessity, and the town/fort or Louisbourg. Are these "battlefields"?

 

In the following posts, I am going to list all the "battle sites" of the various wars that I have visited, as much for my own edification as anything else.

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French and Indian War Battlefields I have visited:

 

Braddock Expedition, Wester PA

Fort Necessity

Fort Carillon/Fort Ticonderoga (Carillon was the French name for the same fort)

Ft. William Henry

Lake George Battlefield

Louisbourg (Nova Scotia)

The Plains of Abraham (Quebec)

 

Mexican-American War Battlefields I have visited:

 

Palo Alto (outside Brownsville TX)

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Civil War Battlefields I have visited:

 

Ft. Sumter

Bull Run/Manassas I and II

Wilson Creek

Ft. Donelson

Yorktown (yes, a Civil War battle was fought at Yorktown)

Shiloh

Ft. Pulaski

Corinth

Murfreesboro/Stone's River

Harper's Ferry

Antietem/Sharpsburg

Arkansas Post

Chancellorsville

Fredericksburg

Vicksburg

Gettysburg

Morgan's Surrender/Salineville

Charleston Harbor

The Wilderness

Spotsylvania

Brice Crossroad's

Tupelo

Monocacy

Siege of Columbia SC.

 

I am going to be visiting Richmond/Petersburg/Appamattox/Cedar Creek in June

When I was a little kid I may have visited Chattanooga, but I was so young I barely remember it, so I don't count it.

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I stick by Antietam. Its extremely moving, epic skirmishes occured there in places like the corn field, the sunken road, and burnside's bridge, and there's photographic evidence of the carnage that occured in those places so you really get the feeling of what it must have been like, defending the sunken road when the union boys started pouring over the ridge only yards in front of you and what must have been going through their minds.

 

Antietam is the site of the bloodiest single day in American history. It stopped Lee's first invasion of the north, and mostly sealed the south's loss by discouraging foriegn intervention. So the importance is definately there, and what makes it a great destination is that its compact compared to a place like gettysburg, and its lesser known. I had the chance to hike it one drizzly spring morning last year, and we were nearly alone. Oh, and the land it occured on is simply beautiful. Just the solemn feeling of walking burnside bridge in the rain was enough to justify taking a civil war vacation over the traditional beach scene.

 

If you're into battlefields and American history Antietam is just awesome.

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How about this one: best cemetery.

 

Winner: Arlington - for the history-

arlington-cemetery-picture.jpg

3572768168_73412101a1_m.jpg

 

Basilone-grave-arlington.jpg

 

1st runner up: Lake view cemetary, Cleveland Oh. President Garfield (assassinated) John Rockefeller. Absolutely beautiful landscaping and the haserot angel.

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garfieldtomb4.jpg

 

garfieldtomb3.jpg

 

Second runner up greenwood cemetary, Brooklyn NY.

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history_of_greenwood-350x262.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 4 months later...

Civil War Battlefields I have visited:

 

Ft. Sumter

Bull Run/Manassas I and II

Wilson Creek

Ft. Donelson

Yorktown (yes, a Civil War battle was fought at Yorktown)

Shiloh

Ft. Pulaski

Corinth

Murfreesboro/Stone's River

Harper's Ferry

Antietem/Sharpsburg

Arkansas Post

Chancellorsville

Fredericksburg

Vicksburg

Gettysburg

Morgan's Surrender/Salineville

Charleston Harbor

The Wilderness

Spotsylvania

Brice Crossroad's

Tupelo

Monocacy

Siege of Columbia SC.

 

I am going to be visiting Richmond/Petersburg/Appamattox/Cedar Creek in June

When I was a little kid I may have visited Chattanooga, but I was so young I barely remember it, so I don't count it.

Yes, add Cedar Creek, Richmond, Petersburg, Appamattox where I was in early June.

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  • 2 months later...

Here is some food for thought as you plan your summer vacations. Some hints for your travels, all USA (incl. possessions):

 

Best Sunset: Cape Flattery, Washington

 

Best Sunrise: On top of Mt. Haleakala, Maui. (honorable mention: Quoddy Head, Maine)

 

Best Beaches: St. John, US Virgin Islands

 

Best Patriotic site: Fort McHenry, Baltimore

 

Best Trees: California: Redwoods/Sequoias/Ancient Bristlecone pine/Joshua Trees

 

Best Single Vista: Inspiration Point, Yosemite NP (Multiple vistas: Grand Canyon)

 

Most Fun Town: New Orleans. (Honorable mention: Chicago)

 

Best Small Town: Woodstock, Vermont. (honorable mentions: Chatham, Mass. Seaside Fla.)

 

Best Consistent Architecture: Santa Fe, NM

 

Campiest Attraction: House on the Rock, Spring Green, Wisconsin

 

Nicest College Campus that is not Kenyon: Duke (honorable mention: Notre Dame)

 

Nicest State Capitol building: Olympia, Washington (more for it setting than the building itself)

 

Best Tall Building: Empire State Building

 

Best Statue not called Liberty: Mt. Rushmore

 

Best Scenic Town Setting: Sedona, Arizona

 

Best City Park System: Savannah, Georgia

 

Gawdiest Display of Wealth: Newport, Rhode Island

 

Best Stadium: Wrigley Field

 

Best preserved Western Town: Tombstone, Ariz. (honorable mention: Lincoln NM)

 

Best hiking for the average person: Cuyahoga Valley National Park

 

Best Lake: Crater Lake

 

Best Mountain Range: The Grand Tetons

 

Best Casino: Lakeside Inn and Casino, Stateline Nevada (Tahoe)

 

Best Aquariam: National Aquariam, Baltimore

 

Best Breakfast/Dinner combination: Camellia Grill and Commander's Palace, New Orleans

 

Feel free to add your own

Damn, you've really gotten around! Do you travel for your job?

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Revolutionary War Battlefields I have visited:

 

Lexington and Concord

Ft. Stanwix/Oriskany

Brandywine

Saratoga

Kings Mountain

The Cowpens

Guilford Courthouse

The Siege of 96

Germantown (Philadelphia)

Yorktown

Valley Forge (not strictly a battle)

I am hoping to go to Morristown next week, if the damn thing is open....at least let the road be open.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hey Gip I like the cut of your jib. Any guy that visits all those battlefields is alright by me.

I went to Morristown....but also was at the sight of a very much unknown Revolutionary War battle called the Battle of Minnisink. It was in upstate NY, just above the Delaware River. 200 Patriots lost their lives to a group of Tories and Indians.

Also was at the sight where Washington crossed the Delaware on Christmas Eve before the Battle of Trenton.

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Revolutionary War Battle Sites I have visited:

 

Lexington and Concord

Boston

Gunpowder Incident (Williamsburg)

Ft. Ticonderoga

Machias (Maine)

96

Quebec

Savannah

Trenton (including Washington Crossing)

Ft. Stanwix

Oriskany

Brandywine

Saratoga

Germantown

Chillicothe

Charleston

Kings Mountain

Cowpens

Guildford Courthouse

Yorktown

Blue Licks Ky.

Arkansas Post

Minnisink

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People criticise americans for never leaving america. While I can understand that to a degree, not seeing all the different cultures etc, it's just incredible to see the vast range of nature and culture that exists within the country - you could not leave and still have 50 very unique holidays.

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People criticise americans for never leaving america. While I can understand that to a degree, not seeing all the different cultures etc, it's just incredible to see the vast range of nature and culture that exists within the country - you could not leave and still have 50 very unique holidays.

I have never heard anyone criticize Americans for never leaving America. Who the fuck does that? And why?

 

How about this gft: apply the categories I have used and apply them to the UK....or wtf, apply them to the entirety of Europe.

Bust sunsets, sunrises, stadiums, mountain ranges etc. etc. etc.

I mean, why go to the Alps when I can go to the Rockies.

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I have never heard anyone criticize Americans for never leaving America. Who the fuck does that? And why?

 

How about this gft: apply the categories I have used and apply them to the UK....or wtf, apply them to the entirety of Europe.

Bust sunsets, sunrises, stadiums, mountain ranges etc. etc. etc.

I mean, why go to the Alps when I can go to the Rockies.

People outside America, clearly! And no, that's not a dig. But people do, it's a real thing that happens. I guess you'll have to take my word for it.

 

Not been to enough places around europe to comment on all of that, but it'd probably go something like:

 

Best Sunset: Canary Islands

Best Sunrise: Don't recall ever being awake for sunrise (for good reasons at least)

Best Beaches: south of France/northwest italy

Best Patriotic site: differs country to country obviously, but for a few countries it might be Ypres

Best Single Vista: Pick your favourite point in the alps, there are loads with views of mountains, lakes, trees, snow and wildlife.

Most Fun Town: Honestly, London's up there, with Barcelona and Amsterdam

Best Consistent Architecture: Paris, without a single doubt in my mind.

Campiest Attraction: ? Most like a camp? Not much of a camper.

Nicest College Campus that is not Kenyon: My alma mata, University of Birmingham is pretty nice. But winner is probably Cambridge/Oxford, although not strictly speaking a campus

Best Tall Building: The Shard is striking, if not 'nice'

Best Statue not called Liberty: Probably the colossus at Rhodes or Zeus at Olympia, if they were still around

Best Scenic Town Setting: Any of hundreds in and around southern/central europe, through france, italy, switzerland, pick your poison.

Gawdiest Display of Wealth: Monte Carlo - yachts absolutely everywhere and not a poor person in sight. Closely followed by Cannes.

Best Stadium: Nou Camp

Best hiking for the average person: Swiss Alps

Best Lake: Geneva?

Best Mountain Range: Alps

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Campiest Attraction: ? Most like a camp? Not much of a camper

 

Campy in this sense means kitchsy, low brow, or weird/bizarre, odd, quirky

 

Here is a better definition:

"camp: providing sophisticated amusement by virtue of having artificially (and vulgarly) mannered or banal or sentimental qualities; "they played up the silliness of their roles for camp effect";

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  • 3 months later...

Ok, we don't really have those! They're quite american. Nearest I can think of is probably the horse or angel of the north:

 

 

long_view_300x400.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westbury_White_Horse

 

Is this the "Westbury White Horse? If so, it is not what I would call "Campy". I read The Pale Horseman by Bernard Cornwell, and this white horse is supposedly a commemoration of The Battle of Ethandun between the Saxons and the Danes. In fact this horse has supposedly been there since the days of Alfred the Great. Apparently one of the leaders of the Danes was a fellow named Svein, who rode a white horse and whose sigil was a white horse, so they constructed this "design" on the nearby hillside.

 

 

 

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Wow, somehow I missed this thread. My family loves to travel, camping in particular as we've been camping in 38 states.

Here is some food for thought as you plan your summer vacations. Some hints for your travels, all USA (incl. possessions):

Best Sunset: Union Bay, on Lake Superior in Michigan's UP

Best Sunrise: Acadia National Park, Maine

Best Beaches: Long Beach, NC

Best Patriotic site: Gettysburg

Best Trees: California: Redwoods/Sequoias/Ancient Bristlecone pine/Joshua Trees yes!

Best Single Vista: Dead Horse Point State Park, Utah, or Half Dome in Yosemite

Most Fun Town: Las Vegas

Best Small Town: Deadwood, SD

Best Consistent Architecture:

Campiest Attraction:

Nicest College Campus that is not Kenyon: Penn State

Nicest State Capitol building: Montpelier, VT

Best Tall Building: Empire State Building

Best Statue not called Liberty: Mt. Rushmore

Best Scenic Town Setting: Kalispell, MT

Best City Park System: Cleveland

Gawdiest Display of Wealth: Charlevoix, MI

Best Stadium: Ohio Stadium

Best preserved Western Town: Moab, UT

Best hiking for the average person: Dolly Sods Wilderness, WV

Best Lake: Mono Lake, near Yosemite NP ( never been to Crater Lake, yet)

Best Mountain Range: The Grand Tetons

Best Casino:

Best Aquariam:

Best Breakfast/Dinner combination:

Feel free to add your own Bryce Canyon & Arches National Parks..."must sees" if you can

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Wow, somehow I missed this thread. My family loves to travel, camping in particular as we've been camping in 38 states.

A lot of good choices Bob. A couple of things;

 

I have been around Whitefish Bay and Keeweenaw Bay in the UP, but I don't know where Union Bay is.

 

I have not been to Long Beach NC, Kalispell, Dolly Sods, or the Capital in Montpelier. Since I am going to Vermont this summer I will try to pop in there.

 

You also get a big check mark from me on your choices of Acadia....I suspect the sunset/sunrise on Cadillac Mtn. would be awesome. Also on Dead Horse Pt, Mono Lake and Bryce and Arches.

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A lot of good choices Bob. A couple of things;

 

I have been around Whitefish Bay and Keeweenaw Bay in the UP, but I don't know where Union Bay is.

 

I have not been to Long Beach NC, Kalispell, Dolly Sods, or the Capital in Montpelier. Since I am going to Vermont this summer I will try to pop in there.

 

You also get a big check mark from me on your choices of Acadia....I suspect the sunset/sunrise on Cadillac Mtn. would be awesome. Also on Dead Horse Pt, Mono Lake and Bryce and Arches.

I saw you were at Quoddy Head, and I've been there too its amazing (I think it's the most eastern point in the USA).

 

Union Bay is the name of a campground ( suppose the nearest city would be Ontonagon, MI). It's also funny to me that the best gnocchi I ever ate was in the U.P. Another cool spot in the U.P. is the ski jump at Copper Head- you can climb to the top and see just how high those ski jumpers take off from, it is amazing.

 

So many beautiful things to see in the USA, but not enough time or money I suppose to see it all (mega millions would cure that lol). I really want to see the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon/Washington someday, along with Big Bend National Park.

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