Road trip to Maine: Days 3 & 4

ROAD TRIP TO MAINE: DAYS 3 & 4

Days 3 & 4 of our trip involved much less traveling than days 1 & 2. We had arrived in Gettysburg late the night before, pre-booking a dog friendly hotel to rest up at. After a full night of rest in a real bed we got up, showered, and headed into beautiful downtown Gettysburg.
We walked down main street and perused gift shops and antique stores, buying a Robert E. Lee slingshot (best purchase of the day!) and an actual bullet left on the field from the war. Very cool.

After that, we did the Gettysburg auto tour, which essentially leads you through the battlefields, major monuments, and major places of action in the war. Plus its dog-friendly, so Maddie got to join us!
[We were able to get out and park the car at every major stop, and I got a lot of pictures. But they're historic places, and I wanted to share them all with you, so I picked a bunch of my favorites to frame up for this post. Sorry if its lengthy!]
The pictures above are of a cannon's mouth and a surviving farmhouse from the war, still showing the hole in the brick where a cannonball flew through.

More artillery reproductions on the left. The right is at the Gettysburg National Cemetery, where unknown soldiers were buried. Sadly, there were dozens of unknowns in the graves we passed by.

Behold: Joshua Chamberlain! Maine's own hero. He was a Maine professor who taught at Bowdoin College and even acted as our 32nd Governor! Outside of Maine, he's also known for having volunteered during the American Civil War to join the Union Army. It was cool seeing a statue of someone familiar! It was also cool seeing that someone left flowers for him.

There were several other monuments dedicated specifically to soldiers from Maine...so naturally I got my picture taken with one!
Below, the massive Pennsylvania Monument honoring any person who gave any services to the war, be it soldiers, woman on the front at home, or families who lost soldiers in the fields.
A spiral staircase leads to the top, which offers a viewing deck looking over all of Gettysburg. The ceiling, at right, is beautiful and striking even from outside the monument.

After a long day of driving through Gettysburg, we headed for Pennsylvania Dutch country. We stopped in Intercourse and Bird in Hand, both relatively accessible Amish communities located in South East Pennsylvania. Unfortunately for us photo-hungry bloggers, the Amish generally don't like having their pictures taken. I respected that, so theres not much to show you from there. But it was beautiful, and totally worth the visit!  Funny how bizarre it was seeing such modestly dressed women and families riding around using a horse and buggy. It was neat though, seeing such a small pocket of diversity in small-town America.

Our last stop before home was in Bryn Mawr. We only stopped because we were getting hungry and knew there wouldn't be much in the way of vegan food between there and our final destination. 
We'd heard of the college before, but didn't realize until later that Bryn Mawr is one of the wealthiest communities in the US. No wonder we liked it so much!
Bryn Mawr is home to Vgë Cafe (pronounced vee-gee), a 100% vegan, kosher restaurant in downtown. They offer plenty of gluten-free options, like that delicious mac and cheese  in the first picture. It was super cheezy and better than any vegan mac and cheese I've ever concocted. The lentil soup was killer, too, and seriously hit the spot after a lot of cold, in-the-car sandwiches. We also ordered a Sea Salad wrap, their version of a tuna, and a falafel wrap. The falafel was alright but the tuna mock-up was really good!
Also note-worthy at Vgë, a soft-serve vegan ice cream bar, and a fountain soda machine that dispensed only healthy sodas made with organic cane sugar. They serve the food using all reusable and compostable materials. It was a vegan paradise!
We left Bryn Mawr after dark and arrived in Maine pretty late on Day 4.

And the next morning when we woke up...we were home!
We're staying in the little cabin below for the summer, while we build a little eco-friendly cabin of our own on some land several miles through the woods.
As you can see, Alex and Maddie are thriving here. She loves having a 30 acre field at her disposal and Alex loves tiring her out in the field.
We have a little woodstove inside and a lofted bed, plus a small dresser, dining table, and futon. Its modest but comfortable, and we're happy to be here.

Follow our trip!
Road Trip: Days 1 & 2!
Packing for a Vegan Roadtrip