Learn More About America's Beloved President Abraham Lincoln in Gettysburg

When it comes to past presidents...Abraham Lincoln was and will always be my favorite president of the United States. He was born on February 12th, 1809 and died on April 15th, 1865 when he was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. He was the 16th President of the United States from March 4th, 1961 through April 15th, 1865.

If you're a fan of President Abraham Lincoln, you've got to visit Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. You'll find all kinds of Civil War era attractions that are geared towards our beloved president. You can learn about his birth, his political career and his death. In case you didn't know, he was part of the Whig Party and then moved into the Republican Party. 

My wife and I enjoy visiting Gettysburg a few times every year and today I wanted to share some of the President Lincoln historical facts, statues, memorials, etc. with all of our readers. All of the ones that we're featuring are part of the exhibits located at the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum.

Before you enter the museum you'll find a beautiful statue of him sitting on a bench that leads up to the entrance. This bronze statue aka sculpture was done by StudioEIS in Brooklyn, New York. It was a gift from Robert H. Smith and presented the museum on November 19th, 2009 

Located to the left of the sculpture you'll find a large boulder which has a plaque on it with the wordage of Lincoln's famous Gettysburg Address. If you're looking for the official Gettysburg Address spot and historical marker, you'll find that located on the top of a hill in Soldier's National Cemetery which is a short drive away.

Once you're inside the museum you'll find all kinds of different historical exhibits that are dedicated to President Abraham Lincoln. They have a little bit on his early life, a lot of exhibits and information on his role during the Civil War and the Battle of Gettysburg and then they have a few exhibits that cover his assassination and death.

You can learn about the Emancipation Proclamation that he signed, the famous Gettysburg Address speech and you'll see replica's of his assassination newspaper announcements. The museum has an extensive collection of Lincoln memorabilia, so if you're a fan of his, a presidential or a civil war history buff, you'll find plenty of exhibits and information to sink your teeth into.

As you can see, there is a lot to see and learn about President Abraham Lincoln when you visit the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Today we wanted to just give you a sampling of the things you'll see and learn during your visit. 

Art in the Wild at Wildwood Park and Olewine Nature Center

The Wildwood Park and Benjamin Olewine Nature Center is located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It's right off interstate 81 and within walking distance of Harrisburg Area Community College. If you need GPS coordinates: Wildwood Park 100 Wildwood Way, Harrisburg, PA. 17110.

Every year we like to visit the park and nature center with our family. Admission and parking is 100% free. However, if you want to leave a donation, you can do so at the nature center in the gift shop area. There are several parking lots that you can utilize, but in our opinion...the best parking lot to use is the Nature Center Lot.

Once you arrive you'll want to pick up one of the free maps or read the on-site map board to decide which route you would like to take. All of the routes (trails) are marked. Some are paved walking trails and others are wooden boardwalks. There are a few unpaved trails too. You can take baby strollers on most trails & boardwalks and a few are handicap accessible too.

Description of Nature Trails:

Towpath Trail is an easy, level trail that is approximately 1 mile in length.

Wildwood Way is a moderately difficult trail with several long hills. It's 2.1 miles in length.

Delta Boardwalk is an easy, level trail with a wooden walkway that is 0.4 miles in length.

Meadow Trail is a grassy trail that loops through an open meadow that's 0.2 miles in length.

North Boardwalk does not connect with any other trails and is 0.4 miles in length.

East Shore Trail is moderately difficult dirt trails that is 0.9 miles in length.

Tall Timbers Trail is a difficult dirt trail that drops from a ridge that is 0.25 miles in length.

Fox Run Trail is a primitive dirt trail that loops through wet woodland and is 0.25 miles in length.

Recently we went down to the Wildwood Park and Nature Center to enjoy the "Art in the Wild" program that runs from April 8th, 2017 through October 31st, 2017. The theme this year is "transition". All of the naturally inspired art is trail side, so you'll see it was you're walking around on the trails. Each piece is named and numbered.

We were able to pick up a trail map at the Nature Center that shows you were all of the art pieces are located and on which trails. I highly recommend you pick up that free map guide, so that you can find them all.

All of the art was conceived with goals of presenting quality outdoor art using natural materials. The works are composed of mostly natural materials to blend with Wildwood's nature setting. This year (2017) marks the fifth edition of the art event and I'm really looking forward to seeing it again next year.

There are 15 pieces of artwork in this year's show. Some of them were made by High School Seniors and other's were made by adults who live in the area. The map that you can pick up (free) will give you some information about each of the artists.

There are judges who judge each of the featured pieces of artwork and prizes are given out to first place, second place and third place. Then there are the People's Choice Awards where we (the public) can vote on which pieces are our favorites and prizes are awarded for those too.

Today we wanted to feature this annual Art in the Wild event at Wildwood Park and Nature Center as this year's event will be closing on October 31st, 2017. You can see some of the photographs that we took during our visit of the trails and some of the natural artwork that we spotted along the way. As a family...we had a great time and are looking forward to the art event in 2018.

Willow Hill Covered Bridge in Lancaster County

I grew up Perry County Pennsylvania and as a child...I can remember my family taking road trips around the state and we would often pass through covered bridges. As a child, I didn't give much thought to those old wooden bridges, but now as an adult...I really appreciate their construction and beauty.

The three covered bridges that I'm most familiar with are the Fort Hunter Covered Bridge in Harrisburg, the covered bridge in Newport and the now defunct covered bridge in Delville (lost to fire a few years ago).

On a recent trip down to Lancaster in Pennsylvania we came across a few of the covered bridges located in Lancaster County. Today, I'm sharing a few photographs with you of the Willow Hill Covered Bridge that sits right alongside route 30...a major route that runs through the county.

Fun Fact: There are currently less than 30 registered covered bridges in Lancaster County.

This wooden covered bridge was built in 1962 by Roy Zimmerman from parts from two old previous bridges. It measures 93 feet long by 15 feet wide. On the day that we visited, I was able to walk entirely through the bridge which was really nice to experience.

It's painted in the traditional barn red color with white trim. The roof is done in a black/gray type of coloring. As I was walking through the bridge I noticed that the interior was left in a natural state. It's a single span, so only one vehicle can go through at a time and there are two small window openings on each side of the bridge.

Over the coming weeks I'll be sharing some more photographs with all of you on some of the other covered bridges that we saw during our little road trip around Lancaster County. If you're a covered bridge fan, you definitely need to come see the 25+ that we have in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.