BWI to Ramstein

Author Message   Rebecca Vernon New member Username: Raffvern Post Number: 4 Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 98.169.138.164 Posted on Thursday, April 29, 2010 - 11:16 pm:    Charles & Lisa, The directions Lisa gave should work real well. Also, the Visitor's Bureau in the center of Bastogne has a free map of the area and the map shows the approximate location of the foxholes. The foxholes were pretty easy to spot from the road, but it was March and there were no leaves on the trees. It may be a bit trickier in the summer/fall, but they are fairly close to the edge of the road, so you don't need to go too far to find them. I look forward to reading your trip reports in the future and seeing what you thought. Safe travels!   charles campbell New member Username: Campbell Post Number: 4 Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 67.234.24.11 Posted on Thursday, April 29, 2010 - 03:24 pm:    Thanks, Lisa, for your excellent information. Now all we need to do is watch Band of Brothers again between now and September and we will be ready. Thanks again. Charlie   Lisa Damiano Member Username: Traveler83 Post Number: 12 Registered: 03-2010 Posted From: 149.101.1.117 Posted on Thursday, April 29, 2010 - 02:42 pm:    Thank you to Rebecca and the other posters for the great info! Charles, Rebecca may have more exact directions to find the foxholes (since she's been there already and I haven't) but I found these directions on a travel blog: "It's rather easy though: when you take the road from Bizory to Foy, passing the Peace Woods at your right hand side, then a bit further the woods (Bois Jacques), on a certain point you see Foy. The woods at your right hand side, the tree line overlooking Foy is E - 2nd and 3rd platoon "territory". Left hand side of the road was the Battalion CP => 'Probably', as Bill and Babe said.... back in September." We plan to use these directions (with help from Google Maps). Also, here are links to some pictures people posted of the foxholes. The first link has several puictures with captions if you scroll down... LINKS: http://www.qsl.net/g7vot/G7VOT/belgium_visit1.htm http://www.flickr.com/photos/16833954@N00/279413714/ Good luck! Warm regards, Lisa   charles campbell New member Username: Campbell Post Number: 3 Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 67.234.24.11 Posted on Thursday, April 29, 2010 - 12:45 pm:    Rebecca, thanks to your excellent trip report, we have changed our plans to include the Bastogne area on our annual space-a trip in September. Is it difficult to find the foxholes?   CTmike Advanced Member Username: Ctmike Post Number: 154 Registered: 05-2008 Posted From: 70.233.85.187 Posted on Wednesday, April 28, 2010 - 11:27 pm:    Lisa, There is another museum in Bastogne called "I was 20 in '45", and it consists of a lot of video interviews of folks who lived through the Bulge being interviewed by school children. What a great way to get young kids interested in history. The foxholes near Foy were definitely a moving experience for the wife and I.   Lisa Damiano Member Username: Traveler83 Post Number: 9 Registered: 03-2010 Posted From: 149.101.1.117 Posted on Monday, April 19, 2010 - 07:44 pm:    Thanks so much for the wonderful information! We can't wait to go, and will definitely be stopping by the foxholes in Foy! Lisa   Rebecca Vernon New member Username: Raffvern Post Number: 3 Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 98.169.138.164 Posted on Tuesday, April 13, 2010 - 11:34 pm:    Lisa, We really enjoyed the American Military Museum in Bastogne, but our favorite part of the day was visiting the Easy Company foxholes a few miles away, just outside of Foy. You can stop alongside the road, walk through the woods, and there they are. It is an amazing experience. After watching Band of Brothers and then being there, I had a much deeper appreciation for what they went through. In Luxembourg, we really enjoyed the American Military Cometary where 10,000 American soldiers are buried, including General Patton. We also enjoyed visiting the Casements, which are tunnels carved into the side of the rock ledges. The tunnels were used during wartime and as living quarters. The city also has some nice areas for shopping and restaurants. I recommend you start your day at one of the Tourist Centers (there are several in the city) and they can give you a walking map with all the places to visit. The city was bigger than I expected and we did not give ourselves enough time to see it all. I'm sure you have already been there, but we loved Trier too. It is the oldest city in Germany and has some amazing sights to visit. Have fun! Rebecca   Melinda Cardarelli Advanced Member Username: Jmcard Post Number: 390 Registered: 06-2007 Posted From: 72.49.218.166 Posted on Tuesday, April 13, 2010 - 11:10 pm:    Lisa, I'll chime in with a suggestion for Luxembourg. We visited Vianden Castle (in northeast Lux,) last summer as something to do within driving distance of Spangdahlem. Huge place and very impressive. They run a chair lift nearby for great views of the area.   Jordan in Virginia Member Username: Itsnotjustme Post Number: 17 Registered: 09-2009 Posted From: 173.66.54.135 Posted on Tuesday, April 13, 2010 - 10:51 pm:    Lisa, Not far from Bastogne is a small museum, Dec1944 or Dec44. It is centered on a German tank which ran out of fuel where it sits during the Battle of the Bulge. The museum is small, but chock full of authentic war materials set up in small diaramas with complete descriptions of things from radios to weapons to uniform patches. It also has many pictures. The man who ran it was thrilled to have an American military family visit, even keeping it open late for us.   Lisa Damiano Member Username: Traveler83 Post Number: 8 Registered: 03-2010 Posted From: 149.101.1.116 Posted on Tuesday, April 13, 2010 - 06:57 pm:    Rebecca, My husband and I will be stopping in Bastogne (and going to Luxembourg) on our next Space A trip at the end of May. What did you do in/near Bastogne and in Lux? Any suggestions would be wonderful! Thanks! Lisa   Sandor Ketzis Intermediate Member Username: Siamk Post Number: 132 Registered: 05-2005 Posted From: 74.107.91.248 Posted on Wednesday, April 07, 2010 - 04:02 am:    Bravo! Great report. You did some good planning.   Rebecca Vernon New member Username: Raffvern Post Number: 2 Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 98.169.138.164 Posted on Wednesday, April 07, 2010 - 12:01 am:    Hi Edgar, we were able to make the Space A reservations at Spangdahlem and Lakenheath about 30 days out. (Mildenhall would not let us do it, though.) The folks at Spangdahlem indicated that the ability to make Space A reservations was affected by the number of open rooms. I guess if they have a certain number of rooms open at the 30-day-out point, they will let you make a reservation. Billy and Melinda, the ferry turned out to be a really neat part of the trip. We checked with Hertz before we left and they confirmed that it was no problem for us to take the car on the ferry and for us to drive it in England. We used P&O Ferry, but there were several that went out of Calais. For our family of four and the car, it was 75 Euro round-trip. Not too bad! We bought the tickets on line and were given a confirmation number. When we arrived at the port, we gave the number to the person at the drive-up ticket booth and were issued our tickets. We then processed through immigration by driving up to another booth. The process was easy and well-run. We were also surprised by the quality of the ship. There were several lounge areas, a coffee shop, stores, and bars. We sat at a table in the coffee shop and played cards while we looked out the window. We tend to get motion sickness, but we had no problem during the trip. The ship was punctual and off-loading was swift. I highly recommend this mode of travel. The only downside is that it was a four hour drive from Spang to Calais and then a 2.5 hour drive from Dover to Lakenheath, so it made for a long travel day. But, we enjoyed the sights along the way and we couldn't beat the price and convenience of getting to keep our rental car. If we were to do it again, we would have given ourselves more time in the Dover/Kent area because Dover Castle and Leeds Castle would have been great places to visit. Ticket prices were high and not worth the short time had to spend. Guess we need to plan another trip!!   Edgar Inocentes Senior Member Username: Traveler88 Post Number: 513 Registered: 01-2005 Posted From: 209.242.132.226 Posted on Tuesday, April 06, 2010 - 08:56 pm:    Rebecca, how far in advance did you make lodging reservations?   Melinda Cardarelli Advanced Member Username: Jmcard Post Number: 382 Registered: 06-2007 Posted From: 75.238.58.72 Posted on Tuesday, April 06, 2010 - 11:50 am:    Rebecca, thanks for posting your report. My family would like to try a similar trip but I haven't considered the ferry to get to England. Could you explain how you obtained the tickets and the cost? Thank you!   billy j billingsley New member Username: Chiefw01 Post Number: 5 Registered: 09-2009 Posted From: 98.216.32.90 Posted on Tuesday, April 06, 2010 - 01:10 am:    rebecca you state in your post that you took the ferry to England. We are trying to do the same thing. Could you drive your rental car with no problems other than driving on the other side of the road?   John R Garrison Senior Member Username: Majorg Post Number: 2494 Registered: 02-2006 Posted From: 208.81.157.86 Posted on Saturday, April 03, 2010 - 03:35 pm:    Rebecca: Great Report! Thanks for taking the time and effort to write it up and to share it with us. Great first post too! Happy Travels, john   Joan Advanced Member Username: Joan Post Number: 296 Registered: 02-2006 Posted From: 71.212.53.232 Posted on Saturday, April 03, 2010 - 03:25 pm:    great family memories made!   Rebecca Vernon New member Username: Raffvern Post Number: 1 Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 98.169.138.164 Posted on Saturday, April 03, 2010 - 02:06 pm:    My family and I just returned from a VERY successful Space A trip from BWI to Ramstein and back. I have been on active duty for 15 years, but had never tried my hand at Space A until now. Thank you all so much for the great info and work you put into this site, as my trip would not have been possible without you. I started my leave early (on 19 March), as suggested by folks on this site. We watched the flights and saw that one was leaving on Sunday night, the 21st, with 65 tentative seats. I was traveling with my husband and our two boys, ages 5 and 10. The terminal was real busy, but we were able to get on the flight. They took all the Cat IIIs and I believe some of the Cat VIs. It was a great flight and we arrived at Ramstein on Monday afternoon. We were able to get a TLF for that night. The next day, we rented a car from Hertz on base and drove to Spangdahlem, where we spent the next six nights in the TLF. The TLF is fantastic (including in-room washer and dryer) and Spangdahlem made a wonderful home base for our day trips to Trier, Cochem, Luxembourg, and Bastogne. We then left Spangdahlem and drove to Calais, France where we caught a ferry to Dover, England. We spent the next three nights in the TLF at Lakenheath. It was a great home base for day trips to Cambridge and London. We caught the ferry back to Calais on Thursday and spent Thursday night in the TLF at Spangdahlem. We planned to stay another day or two, but then saw there was a flight on Friday from Ramstein to BWI, so we drove down. We had no trouble getting on the flight--I had been on leave for a while by then. They did not have me in the system, but thankfully I had taken the advice of folks on this site and had printed out the e-mail I sent. They honored the e-mail and we were put on the flight. We went into this trip with no expectations because we knew about the perils of Space A. We realize we had some incredibly good luck and are very thankful for the opportunity. It truly is a great benefit and it was an amazing experience, especially for my two young boys. Thank you again to everyone who works to maintain this site...we could not have done it without you!!