Part Two
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After being treated on my first day to a great diner and a great park, I
didn't think anything could possibly top it. I was wrong. Today I headed for Gettysburg. I've always loved Civil War history and yet out of all the times I've been to Pennsylvania I have never gone to visit the site of our nation's most significant battle.
At the time it began operation, Wolfe's was a great stop for tourists and travellers heading in either direction on U.S. 15. A motel and gas station are located adjacent to the diner. At some point a cement barrier was erected between the opposing lanes of the highway, and Wolfe's business was effectively cut in half. The diner and motel are still in operation, however, and are doing quite well! One of the main reasons for Wolfe's success is their outstanding Pennsylvania Dutch cooking. Diners and Pa Dutch cooking are a match made in heaven! Why the Dutch were brought into the fray I have no idea, because its roots are clearly German. Pa Dutch cooking encompasses a wide variety of food, with corn a popular ingredient in many of the dishes. Corn fritters, deep fried corn nuggets and corn pie with milk are just a few examples of this staple ingredient. Chowchow is a sweet-and-sour relish of corn, onions, beans and other vegetables. And then there is scrapple. Probably the most well-known Pennsylvania Dutch dish is shoofly pie, which is basically a crumb cake with a molasses bottom. Popular main dishes include the previously mentioned corn pie with milk, schnitz and knepp, which is ham with apples and dumplings, and my favorite - chicken and waffles, which is a wonderful dish that always brings the strangest reactions whenever I tell people about it. It's one of the few Pa Dutch dishes I'd had the pleasure of eating before this trip! In fact I had planned to order Chicken and Waffles when I took my seat in a corner booth at Wolfe's. And then my waitress walked up and said "hi! you want some chicken pot pie?" Chicken Pot Pie at Wolfe's Diner was easily the best meal I had on this trip. Pennsylvania Dutch cooking is just so different and yet so familiar, and the chicken pot pie is no exception! Instead of a traditional pot pie it is a soup, more like a dumpling stew. And the chicken pot pie at Wolfe's was seriously so good that I can honestly say it is the best tasting thing I have ever eaten in a diner.
"You want another bowl?" My waitress told me a 70 year old woman comes in twice a week to make it. She makes the the same amount every time, and they usually run out before suppertime. So if you really want to try Wolfe's chicken pot pie, you'd better make sure you get there for lunch and hope the old lady's been cooking! The atmosphere at Wolfe's was incredibly open and friendly, even by diner standards. And once again I witnessed the most amusing and classic conversation that could only take place in a diner. An older man in his 50's, a local who obviously sat on the same stool at the counter everyday came in and immediately started bantering good-naturedly with the young waitress. Apparently they had a routine worked up that assumed the two of them were having an ongoing affair. Clearly it was all imaginary, but the scenarios they had created were hilarious and the dialogue between them was rapid-fire witty. What other place but a diner would a customer walk in and loudly proclaim "Okay, the wife's out of town, let's get to it"? I left Wolfe's Diner overly stuffed but full of the warm feeling that can only come from a perfect bowl of comfort food, and headed for Gettysburg. I had never seen any pictures of Gettysburg before and really had no idea what to expect.
A sign said "2 hour tour guide, $30." I looked at the map and saw the vast area that encompassed the park, and I immediately knew if I were to get anything out of this visit I had better take the tour. So I walked up to the desk, said "I'd like the tour guide, please," gave them my name and paid my $30. The woman said "he'll be down in just a few minutes if you'd like to wait over there." Less than five minutes later a man wearing an official looking uniform walked up to me and said "Are you Mark?" "Yes," I said. "Hi, I'm ....... and I'll be your tour guide." "Hi, nice to meet you." We shook hands and then I just stood there. "Are you ready?" he asked. "Sure," I said, and then looked around to see if another group of people were waiting. "Um, isn't there anybody else going with us?" I asked. "I'm your personal tour guide," he said. "There's no one else. You're paying to get a personal tour of Gettysburg." "Oh!" I answered. "I didn't know." "Well then," he said, "shall we be on our way? Would you prefer to drive or would you like me to?" "We drive?" I asked. "Yes," he said, realizing that I had no idea what I had just gotten myself into. "We take your car and drive out to the different sites of battle, and either you can drive and I'll just talk, or if you like, I can drive and you can take pictures or just sit back and take everything in." "Whoa, this is awesome, I didn't know." "You've hired a personal tour guide to take you around and show you the various battle sites. Hopefully it'll give you a better perspective on what exactly took place here. I'll be pointing out the highlights of each day's events and hopefully provide you with insight into each opposing side's strategy, get into the minds of some of the key players here and try to figure out what actually went on and what each side was thinking. And hopefully I'll be able to bring the civil war alive for you, that is, if I do my job." He did his job. As we drove out to the site where the battle first began, we first passed through the town of Gettysburg. He pointed out the different houses and buildings that still bear the scars of that battle to this day, and he gave me a kind of end summary of what exactly the people of Gettysburg endured during those three days. Seeing all those brick walls still pockmarked with bullet holes and cannon fire really excited me. It was living history. My tour guide was a genious. He's a professor of civil war history at Gettysburg College. He is not a regular tour guide. He volunteers one day a month, and I just happened to luck out and get him. He's a born teacher, and he took me through each day's events, step by step, first explaining the roles of cavalry, infantry and artillery divisions, then pointing out the precise spot where a small group of Union cavalrymen spotted the first Confederate troops. From there he took me through each day's events, taking me to various lookout points where I could see how each side lined up against the other. When he took me to the Wheatfield and told me some of what went on in that tiny strip of land, I nearly started crying, the stories he told were so moving. Then he took me out to where I could see each side preparing for the final battle of Gettysburg, Pickett's charge. He really succeeded in bringing the Civil War alive. I thought it would be more than I could take in and that everything would go right over my head, but much to my amazement I understood the scope, the strategies and blunders and the entire landscape he so vividly laid out before me. As we reached the end of the tour, he finished with a very personal and patriotic speech. I gave him a $10 tip and thought it was perhaps the best $40 I'd ever spent. After the tour ended I spent several hours revisiting some of the places he had taken me, this time studying the beauty of the monuments that have been commissioned. I realized that I could not possibly have had a better day here, and I would encourage anyone visiting Gettysburg to take advantage of the tour. Without it, I would have just driven around blindly staring at all the pretty monuments but not fully appreciating them or the land they sit on. It was an amazing day.
Today it has been gorgeously restored, with a nod toward the postmodern style. The exterior has been re-sided with stainless and has a very bright crown of chrome, crimson and neon. The interior is covered in crimson as well, although the look is pleasant rather than garish. The counter, in particular, looks inviting, not because of the scallops at each setting (although it's a nice touch and would be a standout in any other diner) but because of the monstrous display of desserts. Yessir, it looks like I came to the right place for pie! A rotating dessert case near the entrance shows off a sample of the diner's after dinner delights. But that is only the beginning. Shelves along the wall serve as temporary placeholders for the cakes and pies waiting to be sliced and served. In addition there are monster cookies that look equally tempting. This place is a dessert lovers paradise! I was all set to order a piece of banana cream pie when my waitress strongly suggested I try the chocolate cake. I asked her why and she snapped "trust me, it's just good." I trusted her, and was rewarded for my faith with the best piece of chocolate cake I have ever had. I was still full from lunch at Wolfe's, but this cake was so good I wolfed it down in no time flat. It was better than any fancy flourless so-called chocolate thing they serve in fussy food joints. First time I ever left a tip that was more than the bill! I left the Lincoln Diner and headed for the road out of town. Along the way I passed one of the major battlefields. I pulled over, stopped my car and got out. I walked across a huge field and when I was right in the middle of it I stopped and looked around. I listened to the sound of crickets and in the darkness I could just make out the distant orchards that once camouflauged young boys and men preparing to do battle. And then I laid down. I looked up at the sky and listened to the quiet sounds of nighttime. Then I lifted my head up and looked straight ahead into the orchards, and imagined that it was all around me, that I was in the echoes of battle that took place on the very ground I was now sitting. In the daylight this was a field full of monuments. At night it became a memory.
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Email: MarkinArk@earthlink.net
