Gettysburg

  GETTYSBURG, Pa. - They died by the thousands during three epic days in 1863. For a kid who grew up in the Denver suburbs, it's really hard to conceive the bloodshed.
  That was July 1-3. On Nov. 19 of that same year, the bodies still in the process of being moved from the battle site to the newly conceived Soldiers National Cemetery, President Abraham Lincoln gave his short but famous "Four score and seven years ago ..." Gettysburg Address.
  To come here and try to make sense of it all is challenging, but time well-spent. Here's a photo of one of several poignant pieces of poetry spread around the cemetery site.

So sweet

  HERSHEY, Pa. - On his way to the top, Milton Hershey failed in several places. He even spent some time in our fair state, learning a few things in Denver about sweets. There, in 1882, he learned "to add fresh milk to caramels in place of paraffin wax."
  That's one of the many things you learn about the man at The Hershey Story: The Museum on Chocolate Avenue. It's a company museum in a company town, but why would you expect anything different?
  Here, the town's welcoming billboard features a smiling Hershey's kiss, the street light covers are shaped like Hershey kisses, and the sidewalks are made of milk chocolate. Yeah, I made up that last part.
  Anyway, it was a quick, fun tour and I didn't come away empty-handed.

 

The king of pop art

  PITTSBURGH - The Warhol Museum is unassuming on the outside, weird and wonderful on the inside.
  Andy Warhol, a Pittsburgh native, was one of the figureheads of pop art, beginning in the 1950s and continuing until his death in 1987 at age 58.
  You will undoubtedly leave the museum with your mind bent. And that's a good thing, right? Isn't that what art's supposed to do?
  Not only are there Campbell Soup can paintings and painted Brillo pad boxes, but there are other exhibits of his art and life that you may or may not know about. For instance, I didn't know he designed the cover for the Rolling Stones' "Sticky Fingers" album, the one with the actual zipper.
  I'm still asking myself, "Is it really art?" And at some point the 5-hour films of someone sleeping become stupid, but I think that the answer is a resounding "Yes."