Would you like to hear if President Eisenhower’s reputation in Gettysburg for terrible driving was well deserved? Or what the artist Andrew Wyeth chose as his subject when setting up his easel on a visit to the President’s Gettysburg farm? Or why First Lady Mamie Eisenhower forever exiled the first couple’s favorite Weimaraner from the White House? Just pick up the phone.

Eisenhower National Historic Site has introduced a new cell phone audio tour, providing visitors of all ages a closer look at President and Mrs. Eisenhower’s life and times in Gettysburg. Simply by dialing 717-253-9256, visitors to the site are regaled with a selection of stories about the Eisenhowers, their family, and features around their home and farm.

Seventeen stops on the new tour include the guest house, garage, rose gardens, show barn, putting green, orchard, and bird coop - dog pens. The cell phone tour compliments several other interpretive offerings available daily at the site: a staff conducted grounds tour, a living room orientation talk, a self guided tour of the Eisenhower home, and numerous wayside exhibits posted around the farm.

While visiting the site, or even within the comfort of their own home, the public may access any of the Eisenhower stories by entering the number of each stop in any sequence. Story topics and stop numbers are listed on the Eisenhower NHS website at www.nps.gov/eise/planyourvisit/cell-phone-tour.htm . The tour is free but cell phone minutes apply.

The cell phone tour is made possible by a generous grant from the Dwight D. Eisenhower Society.