ichiban1.org

Posted: **Mon Mar 29, 2010 6:37 pm**

Welcome Home Brothers! We are currently (As of March 29th, 2010) booking a "Mini-Reunion" in Gettysburg, PA. We have a block of 25 rooms set aside. YOU MUST CALL THE HOTEL (The 1863 Inn of Gettysburg), at 866-953-4483 as soon as possible to reserve your room. Mention the 50th Infantry for the special rate of $129.00 per night. (A separate Registration Form for the planned events and meals is downloadable from the Reunion link). We will have registration on Thursday, September 30th, 2010, and will be staying until Sunday, October 3rd. For those that wish to come a day or so early, the hotel will honor our $129.00 rate if you reserve early. I will be available to give guided tours or show the 'hot spots' to visit. The event Registration Form must be mailed to me no later than August 15th, 2010 so I can pay for buses, dinners, tours, entertainment, etc. More details will be forthcoming in the next Newsletter (June, 2010). Planned are a Battlefield Tour along with a few surprises planned for Friday...so be sure to plan on arriving on Thursday! See you there!

kenr17331@yahoo.com

Posted: **Sun Apr 04, 2010 9:36 am**

Which airport would be best for this event. Coming from Houston.
Pete Tovar

Posted: **Sun Apr 04, 2010 5:07 pm**

Pete! Wow...good question! One I had not thought about since I live within a few hours driving time of Gettysburg!

I just did a quick search on US Air & you can get from Houston to Harrisburg with a stop in Philly for about $210.00 if you book now (Not sure if that's one way or round trip...I think I only looked at one way)...but that still leaves you with a 1 hour drive in a rental car...and they are not cheap these days. Other airlines will offer some variety on this same theme.

Maybe Ken will have something more to offer, but I don't see a closer airport in the pattern. The next best thing is to fly "non-stop" to Baltimore-Washington (at least twice as far to Gettysburg as from Harrisburg) and also drive to Gettysburg in a rental car. This is just a bit more driving time though.

The National Park Service website gives the following directions for potential Air travelers:

"Harrisburg International Airport at Middletown, Pennsylvania is the closest air terminal. It is approximately 35 miles north of Gettysburg. The second closest is Baltimore-Washington International near Baltimore, Maryland. Gettysburg has a small airfield on Route 30 west of Gettysburg that will accommodate private aircraft".

So, if you are filthy rich or own your own plane...you can fly in to the General Aviation facilities at the small airfield west of Gettysburg.

One last alternative, and one I would go with if I were making this trip... would be to go with air travel that ends up in Harrisburg...and see if you can arrange van/limo/bus travel to Gettysburg. I am thinking that 35 miles would be $100.00 tops for a taxicab right from Harrisburg Airport (This should be easy to check out)...and you would not have to pay $100.00+ per day for the rental car that will likely only sit in a parking lot. If you get a good driver on the inbound taxi trip...arrange for the same guy to pick you up for a return to Harrisburg on your return date. If you don't want to fool with a cab driver, check with Limousine/Town Car services based in Harrisburg. Emphasize this is not a stretch limo request...but more "business" travel.

Most importantly, remember to tip your driver! ~grin~ Seriously. Some limo companies "build in" a percentage for the driver. Ask him...they love it when the topic is initiated by the customer, otherwise it is unprofessional for a driver to bring up "gratuity", unless he is quoting you a total price and telling you the tip is included in that quote. Minimum tip should be 20% of the price of the ride...if a percent is already built in...ask what percent it is...and bump it up a few dollars if it's less than 20%.

You might consider leaving your return to Harrisburg "open" and possibly hook up with a reunion reveler for a free ride?! For instance, I am 95% sure I am going, but at this stage I am not sure about several things...which would influence how much room I would have for a passenger. All my uncertainties in that area will be finalized by the time of the reunion...and if someone needed a ride, I could give them a straight answer at the gathering.

I will be making my reservation the end of April. Looking forward to seeing you there! Jim Sheppard

Posted: **Tue Apr 06, 2010 11:04 pm**

I mailed Ken my Registration today and made my Hotel Reservations for arrival September 30th & departure October 3rd.

I will NOT be lugging the archives to this gathering, although I may bring along some document CDs for sale.

This one will be a vacation of sorts for me!

Looking forward to it.