This place is great!
The new center is in a very attractive looking building, but of course, the first thing you will notice is that on a Saturday afternoon there is room in the carpark for you to park. That is one huge improvement. It was very busy when I was there yesterday but there were still spaces around.
So after being favourably treated in the matter of parking I walked up to the center. As mentioned the building is very attractive. AND HUGE!
The inside is no less pleasing on the eye than the outside and the main concourse, if you will, leads from the various parts to the main center which houses the display, the theater and the bookstore, all with nice hardwood floors.
I didn't dally long there as we wanted to get through the display and still eat some dinner.
Silly us. The display area is massive. It has a ton of information, interactive computer games and relics. It was very impressive.
The display covers the whole of the war, not just the battle of Gettysburg, which I think is fantastic. Many people will come to the center as their only historical trip, sometimes in their lifetimes. The way they have integrated the battle into the entire story, as well as the issues, of the civil war is remarkably well done.
I was in there for about 2 hours, maybe 1.75 hours, and I hardly saw any of it. If you are going plan on spending a good 4 or 5 hours in there. It is well worth it.
The book store was the next stop. The set up there was very good as well. I didn't go into the non-book area but the whole thing was done in an attractive style. It was a little crowded but that is probably due to it being the first saturday afternoon that it was open.
Yesterday was a one day trip so I didn't have much time. I also had two babies in tow so that wasn't conducive to spending a lot of time there, unfortunately. I'll definitely be back before the summer is over.
Very impressed!
completes his initial Union force in 1:72nd scale.
