I'm gonna make you an offer you can't refuse....

My moms side of the family are great historians.  They have tracked our families history for generations.  It's been really neat to follow my roots.  My dads side....well, the closest I've gotten to the history of my dads side is a book called Louisiana Power and Light.  It's not exactly a flattering rendition of my history.  Monroe, Louisiana is where the Fontana family settled after immigrating from Sicily, and since we were close, I thought, what the heck, lets go see what there is to see.

Being good Sicilians, they were all Catholic, and Catholics keep GOOOOOD records!  I got a hold of the perish in Monroe, and I hit the jackpot!  I found birth records, baptisms, deaths, marriages...  It may not seem all THAT exciting, but for me?  Well, I'm a huge nerd, and LOVE research, so this was a big deal for me.  Plus, I was able to peek into the lives of my ancestors, and start in depth ancestry documentation.  I hope to one day obtain a dual citizenship to Italy.  Look for Dominic and Lena Fontana (my great grand parents), and Mary Fontana (my dad's mom).  Pretty neat stuff!

From Monroe, we headed for home.  We were able to surprise Gordon a day early!  Travel is fantastic, but it was good to be back home.

Four Score and Seven Years Ago....

Only 90 minutes from Washington D.C. is Historic Gettysburg.  The bloodiest battle of the Civil War with 54,000 casualties.  We hired a driver to take us through the park.

The Eternal Peace Flame is to commemorate the peace between the states.

I had a good conversation with our guide who has lived in Gettysburg for 30 years about the current Confederate Flag issue.  It amazes me that, with the current events and even past events, that a flag would be flown that is the cause of so much death, destruction, and discontentment with our Great Nation.  

This is the view from the High Water Mark of the battle of Gettysburg.  The majority of the battle took place over the hills and in the forrest.

It blew my mind to imagine over 100,000 troops fighting and dying over this area to protect our Nations Capitol, where we just were.

Gannon decided he liked the Union uniforms better. :)

We left somber, tired, and with a new perspective of our Civil War.