Sample Three-Day/Two-Night Itinerary
Sample Three-Day/Two-Night Itinerary
AT A GLANCE
- Three national battlefields
- Six museums and historic sites
- Three evening activities
- One outdoor recreation program
- One day in the nation’s capital
DAY 1
Washington D.C. – Less than an hour away from most lodging properties in the heritage area, take a day to see our nation’s seat of politics and power. Options are endless! Continue the Civil War theme with visits to the Clara Barton Missing Soldier’s Office, Ford’s Theatre, the Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr. memorials – all places that speak powerfully to the aftermath of war and the ongoing work of civil rights.
Dine and overnight in Hagerstown, Frederick or Westminster, where a variety of student-friendly lodging and restaurant options are ready to accommodate your group. This will be your base camp for the next few days.
Evening options include a minor league baseball game with the Frederick Keys (Orioles affiliate) or Hagerstown Suns (Nationals affiliate), theater or concert-going, a lantern-lit walking tour (with or without ghost stories), or area amusement parks.
DAY 2
Antietam National Battlefield – Learn how the country’s bloodiest one-day battle in 1862 gave rise to the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. Be sure to stop by the historic Newcomer House, part of a farm/mill complex that witnessed the battle, and the Pry House Field Hospital Museum. Before leaving Sharpsburg, visit Tolson’s Chapel, a post-Emancipation church and Freedmen’s Bureau school, where African American life in a newly free community is explored.
Enjoy a box or catered lunch at Antietam, in the Pry House barn, or stop for a picnic at Washington Monument State Park, part of South Mountain State Battlefield along the Appalachian Trail.
Monocacy National Battlefield – Learn about the Civil War “Battle that Saved Washington.” Pre-Civil War history at this location is also fascinating – find out about archaeology that revealed the largest extant slave habitation site in the mid-Atlantic. While here, local outfitters can lead a “float through history” on the scenic Monocacy River.
Frederick Visitor Center – The site of a spoke factory, this building offers wonderful exhibits and an orientation film, “A Turn of the Wheel.” Afterwards, walk along Carroll Creek on the way to dinner. Students will have fun discovering hidden symbols of community in the tromp l’oeil painted Community Bridge. Dine at Brewer’s Alley Restaurant, where a private dining room can be arranged for your students – the very room where, in 1864, Frederick’s mayor paid the ransom demanded by Confederate General Jubal Early just prior to the Battle of Monocacy.
National Museum of Civil War Medicine – Take an after-hours tour to introduce students to history in an entirely unique way. “Civil War Medicine – it’s not what you think!"
DAY 3
Follow the footsteps of Union and Confederate troops en route to Gettysburg. Start with a walking or driving tour through historic downtown Westminster, where an important cavalry skirmish–Corbit’s Charge–delayed the advance of Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart’s march into Pennsylvania just prior to the Battle of Gettysburg in the summer of 1863.
Union Mills Homestead – The anguish of divided loyalties among Maryland families is powerfully evoked here, where the Shriver family hosted encampments of both Union and Confederate armies. A special treat is the working grist mill, expertly demonstrated by Ivan the miller, a great storyteller and artisan.
Enjoy a box or catered picnic lunch at Union Mills or in Gettysburg.
Gettysburg National Military Park – Visit the park’s Museum & Visitor Center for the film, cyclorama (1900s version of IMAX!) experience and museum. Explore the site of the “High Water Mark of the Rebellion,” the Civil War’s bloodiest battle, by bike, horseback, on foot or in the comfort of the motorcoach.
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