Gettysburg Encounters

Julie and I stayed at the Federal Pointe Inn which I highly recommend!!! It is an amazing historic building that has antiques and high ceilings, and a beautiful regal feel. They serve tea and scones from 3-4 in the afternoon. The rooms are lovely and the one we stayed in was part of the vestibule original opening of the building so that we had two large beds, a huge bath and this "party" room with all the amenities including a fridge, coffeemaker and big screen TV in the vestibule and bedroom.




We sat down to have tea in our little party room and my eyes kept traveling to the sleeping area and I had an image immediately of a slender man with sandy hair, very neat, liked the ladies, was more coward than killer. The name Randolph came to mind immediately. Got an image he was a southerner and that he died of fever, not injury.

The town is for walking and has charming taverns and gift shops and lots of artists. In the summer, it's popular and fairly crowded. We had drinks at a tavern in an historic building. We then went with our dear friend, a reenactor, onto the battlefield after dark. They only stay open until 10 and then you're in trouble if you're still wandering and can be fined.

At one point driving through, I told Julie to stop the car and I jumped out with my camera to chase after something but the camera stopped working! I was frustrated! As we drove past a curve in the narrow wooded drive, I felt what seemed like 3 soldiers walking closely to each other, walking through me! I know that feeling. It's a very wild one, breathless, icy, and you can feel the movement from one side of your body out the other. There was so much info from 3 people that I was confused and overwhelmed processing.

We went further down the road and stopped to take pictures and in the dark, I felt a sense of a very tall man with a big belly and black curly hair, arms crossed, staring down at us from a berm. The feeling was one of "Do not come closer!" And, I had the sense he would rush us if we stayed. My body broke out into goosebumps and deep chills which it does before a physical encounter. The reenactor friend of ours is a sensitive and he pointed up the berm and said, "there's something there. I don't like it."

That night, I curled up in bed, exhausted. The air was on very cold in the room, but I didn't want to get chilled to change it, so I curled up like a kitten in the crook of an arm. I woke up chattering. The blanket and comforter was gone and all I had was a sheet. I looked down and saw them balled up in a sphere. I unraveled them and put them on. This happened with the balling up of the blanket and comforter 3 more times at various places around the bed. Then, finally near dawn, I searched and couldn't find them until I walked further and found them 12 feet away at the vestibule. In a ball once again.

Was it Randolph? My guess is quite possibly.

Advice for Gettysburg: Summer is a busy time. Make reservations. Be prepared to walk. Take a ghost tour if you can because they will take you to places that are hard to find. The battlefields are immense and go on forever, so finding particular spots can be rough. We drove around in the pitch dark aimlessly looking for some locations and they're easy to miss in the dark. Be sure to spend time on the fields, just being. Listen. Watch. Photograph when you have the instinctive nudge and in the direction you are drawn to. It's no fun driving in the historic district there, so leave your car and do an on-foot walking trek when you can. Parking is also sometimes slim pickings. It's a lot like beach communities that way.