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It is obscene.

Bloody Lane now looks like a lovely, manicured grassy ditch instead of the spare, disturbing dirt rut it used to be.

The fence is so shiny new it actually *hurts*.
[for a long time, sections of it were the original period fence...long gone, now]

A hideous parking lot is right up against it.

It looks like something somebody landscaped yesterday.

And yes, you can go through the whole park and never have to get your lazy arse out of the car.

Back in the day, I’ve walked about every inch of it but now everything’s fenced off and inaccessible except the observation tower which is usually full of drunk/stoned teens scaring each other by mock-shoving their buddies off the ledges.

They have effectively erased the entire aspect of the Confederacy and Lee even being there.

[whiny local liberals at work]

I went to take IR photos last year and sometimes go to the December candle event but that’s about it.

Gettysburg is -much- better.

[although I was bummed out when they tore down the “UFO-looking” observation tower]

I go every year, at least once because they have the wonderful Gettysburg Bike Week now.

Bloody Lane now looks like a lovely, manicured grassy ditch instead of the spare, disturbing dirt rut it used to be.

The area has been probably been covered with grass to limit further erosion (if you look at now/then pictures Bloody Lane is much shallower than it was at the time of the battle).

Keeping it a "dirt rut" would eventually see the "rut" worn down (as has already happened, somewhat). Or would require the Park Service to start hauling in additional dirt to keep buttressing the sides. So the choice there is whether they want to keep it "accurate" or preserve the historic fabric for as long as they can. Really good arguments can be made on both sides of that, so I can't begrudge them what they've chosen to do.

We usually get out to Gettysburg a few times a year. I enjoy a early Fall ride down the Lincoln Highway. I really miss the old museum that was directly across the street from the national Cemetery. That has been razed. I hear they wanted to raze the round concrete structure that used to house the cyclorama painting. That is now on the second floor of the new museum which is a money grubbing tourist trap. The battlefields are still the same and mostly quiet. Except when they bring in bus loads of tourists who let their little monster kids run wild. I look at my wife and say: “Lets go” and we head to The Springhouse.