Day 7 Gettysburg, Pittsburg

 Party's over, wee-Bullingtons. Hope you liked the tilt-a-whirl, because today we will start our Magical Mystery Tour with a trip to the hallowed ground of the Battle of Gettysburg. If you've forgotten what they taught you in school, not to worry! We've an audio book that will help you brush up on your knowledge of the most pivotal battle of the Civil War! We started our visit with the wonderful film narrated by Morgan Freeman (and I could listen to him read the phone book!) We saw the cyclorama, and toured the museum. It was incredibly well done. We took to the battlefield and visited the cemetery where Abraham Lincoln delivered The Gettysburg Address. 

Aren't we cute?

Cyclorama dating back to 1883

Pew-Pew

Site of the Gettysburg Address

We had to depart the battlefield to reach our next stop, Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water, for our timed entry. But, there were other plans for us....

We were driving through beautiful central Pennsylvania when we were the second car to the scene of a horrific car accident. A car with two women and three children ran a stop sign and struck a car with an older couple inside There was one other car in front of us and the driver had jumped out of the car and was trying to get the older couple out of the car. He literally cut through the air bags with a pocket knife to get to them. Mr. Bullington got on the phone with 911, and I jumped out of the car with a container of wipes. Because, even when your kids are teenagers, you will always need wipes. The older man in one car was fine but his wife, Daria,  had been on the side of impact and was confused and bleeding excessively from two wounds on her head. I started applying pressure to her wounds while the other guy started getting the children out of the other car. The two elementary aged girls were fine but rattled (one girl and her mother were Deaf and communicating with ASL). A little boy a few years younger than Thomas was bleeding and stunned, lying on the ground but breathing.  While continuing to try to stop the bleeding on Daria's head, the wrecked car that she was in caught on fire. Another bystander ran from car to car trying to find a fire extinguisher while Daria's husband and I attempted to move her farther from the car for fear that it would explode. She was unable to stand, but crawled about 20 feet until she was far enough away from the flaming car. Because we were so rural, it took awhile for emergency vehicles to arrive, but many volunteer civilians arrived on the scene. All I could guess was that there is some sort of volunteer EMT/fire/rescue alert system in rural areas that can radio for help. It is hard to describe what happened today. A bunch of strangers, thrown into a really scary situation, coming together for each other because it's what you do. Abraham Lincoln's words rang in my head all afternoon, "A house divided against itself will never stand". But today, people who had nothing in common and didn't even know each other came together. We can offer comfort to strangers, we can act on behalf of people who can't help themselves. The second best quote of the day came from Thomas, who dutifully delivered some band-aids from our car's first aid kit to try and help. "Mom, I wish you would've let me use some of the first aid I learned at Boy Scout Camp... Then I could be in Boys Life Magazine!" 

Hemmed in

Stuck in the middle with you.

We missed seeing Falling Water but Mr. Bullington said it best.  "We were where we needed to be". 

The water fell without us

The ride to Pittsburg came to an abrupt halt when we arrived at Charlotte's destination of choice. Nestled in a not-at-all quaint section of metro-Pittsburgh, The Abby Lee Dance Company inhabits at least an 1/8 of an acre of pot-holed parking lot.  If you are a fan of the reality show Dance Moms, which I am not, you will recognize this spot. It is the celebrity birthplace of JoJo Siwa and a bunch of other little fresh-faced scantily clad dancers. Apparently, the mom's of these gyrating tots get a little spicy with each other and they made a show about it. If the "nice" lady running the gift shop is any indication,  "Dance Moms" live up to their reputation! And, we are two t-shirts richer and 80 brain cells poorer.   

The girls listening to a class in session.

eye roll emoji

I am not sure what I expected, but Pittsburgh is surrounded by beautiful mountains.  This city is gorgeous! And, so clean!  Despite a little road construction that sent the GPS and Mr. Bullington into an almost hissy. We arrived! 

And on the 8th Day, God created beer! 

Our first stop was The Church Brew Works. I couldn't decide if I was happy or sad about this one. I guess I'm glad that this beautiful church isn't sitting empty and falling into disrepair, I am saddened by how she got this way. A house divided? But, our waitress, Rachel was delightful and the food was delicious! Pirogies all up in here! Charlotte's salad was served "Pittsburgh" style. That means it had french fries on it. On her salad..

    

Healthy!