Ike and 200 Year Old Food

Bus to Eisenhower Home Site

While here in Gettysburg we wanted to go out to visit Dwight D. Eisenhower's (34th President of the United States) Home and Farm. We got up early and headed to the Gettysburg National Military Park. That is where you buy the tickets for visiting the home. You are not allowed to drive your car out there so we bought our tickets and went to jump onto the bus that takes you there.


Front of house

Eisenhower National Historic Site is the home and farm of General & President Dwight D. and Mamie Eisenhower. Located adjacent to the Gettysburg Battlefield, the farm served the President as a weekend retreat and a meeting place for world leaders.

With its peaceful setting and view of South Mountain, it was a much needed respite from Washington and a backdrop for efforts to reduce Cold War tensions. General and Mrs. Eisenhower donated their home and farm to the National Park Service in 1967, with the condition that they would live their life out there

After living in approximately 32 places that they never owned this house was to become their very first home.


Living Room

Two years later, General Eisenhower died at the age of 78. Mrs. Eisenhower rejected the idea of moving to Washington to be closer to family and friends and continued to live on the farm until her death in 1979. The National Park Service opened the site in 1980.

The farm to this day is a working farm and you can also visit it and walk around the entire estate and farm,

The tour started out as a guided tour but once they told you a lot of information about the Eisenhowers you were pretty much allowed to roam throughout the house and farm.  We had a very enjoyable and fact filled day while visiting President Eisenhowers and Mamie's Home & Farm.

Historic 1776
Dobbin House Tavern

Four Score and Seven years before the Civil War Battle of Gettysburg, (1776), Reverend Alexander Dobbin built a house to begin a new life in America for himself and his family. Today his home, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is a colonial restaurant where candlelit elegance, superior food in abundance, and gracious service bring back the sights, sounds and tastes of two centuries ago. Reverend Dobbin had 10 children with his first wife and when she died he remarried a woman with 9 children. A total of 19 children were raised within this historic home.

 In the mid-1800's, a secret crawl space, featured in "National Geographic", served as a "station" for hiding runaway slaves on their perilous journey to freedom on the "Underground Railroad." After the battle of Gettysburg ceased, and the armies had departed, it served as a hospital for wounded soldiers of both the North and the South.

We met friends here for lunch and they reccomended the Onion Soup and they were so right ~ it was the best I have ever had...YUM!

Today the historic house appears virtually the same as it did over 200 years ago. Its native stone walls, seven fireplaces, and hand carved woodwork have been painstakingly restored to their original beauty and character, with interior decor in the traditional eighteenth century manner. The natural springs that ran through the house and was used as refrigeration/cooling now have been routed to only one which is located in the Sringhouse Tavern.  Many of the home's antique furnishings are identical to those listed in the inventory of Rev. Dobbin's estate. The china and flatware exactly match fragments which were unearthed during the re-excavation of the cellar. The servant's period-clothing is completely authentic right down to the tie on pockets!

As a truly authentic colonial tavern, patrons of the Dobbin House may "eat, drink and be merry".

We loved visiting Gettysburg and had a lot of fun.  It was great visiting the home of one of our Presidents, Dwight D. Eisenhower.  Now we move on to Hershey, Pa. where we will be going to of course Hershey Chocolate Factory.  We will also be visiting the PA Dutch Community and the Amish area.

Have Fun, Travel Safe & Stay Healthy!!!