Aug 3 – We started the day with Arielle’s awesome pancakes (hard to choose between blueberry and chocolate chip!) and some last play time for the kids.

Our plan was to head straight to Bethlehem PA, but when we realized how close we would be to Gettysburg, we couldn’t resist a stop. The orientation film was shorter than that at Manassas but more comprehensive about causes for the Civil War. The crowning experience of our visit was the newly restored Cyclorama. This example of a nearly lost art form is part mural and part diarama, featuring a 360 degree wrap-around painting (377 feet in circumference, 42 feet high) that puts spectators in the middle of the action during Pickett’s charge on the third day of battle.

We arrived in Bethlehem in time for a short tour of Lehigh’s structural engineering facilities, where our friend Lane is currently pursuing her master’s degree. (Susannah especially enjoyed the reinforced concrete columns that Lane’s class had tested.). Lane and her son Ben provided warm hospitality, including a delicious grilled chicken dinner and freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.

After dinner we headed into downtown Bethlehem for a taste of Musik Fest, a 10-day extravaganza of music (600+ acts!), food, and crafts. We heard snippets of multiple concerts, perhaps the most unusual of which was a masked man playing a carillon of bells. We sampled funnel cake and Rowan visited with the horses accompanying the mounted police. Lane pointed out many historic buildings and areas in Bethlehem – it seems a charming city!

Day 36: Herndon VA to Bethlehem PA – 213 miles.