...and for Erik, who is beginning 7th grade, which is the middle grade at the local Middle School.
Here is the home that George Washington used as his lodging and headquarters during that same winter.
After Valley Forge, we drove about 360 miles and finally, we're...
After experiencing the weirdness of Gravity Hill, we moved on to Antietam. When we arrived, we watched a 26-minute orientation film and then took a driving tour of the battlefield. Seeing the places on the battlefield in person enhanced what we'd learned in the film. A very knowledgeable park ranger also filled us in on some of the finer points of the battle. Below is the Burnside Bridge, named for Union General Ambrose Burnside, a key landmark from the latter parts of the battle at Antietam.
Before leaving Antietam, we took a few moments to browse the Antietam bookstore. Erik took a few moments to imitate his favorite president...Abraham Lincoln.
After Antietam, we took a leisurely drive to our lodging for the night, just outside of Harrisburg, PA. We spent a relaxing couple of hours swimming and checking out the town we're in.
On the way back down, Erik and Anne picked out walking sticks from the woods. Anne found hers to be very beneficial. Erik's? Not so much!
When we got back down to the car, we were able to see where we'd been off in the distance.
We then drove to the Visitor's Center for the park and took a shuttle bus to the Historic District of Harper's Ferry. Here, we learned about John Brown and his raid on the armory at Harper's Ferry. The building below is the reassembled fire station where John Brown and his surviving accomplices were captured. John Brown was ultimately hanged for his actions at Harper's Ferry.
Tomorrow, we're heading towards the Antietam battlefield in western Maryland.
...and the TV Land statue of Andy Griffith and Ron Howard as Opie in front of the Andy Griffith Playhouse.
After leaving Mount Airy, we hopped onto the Blue Ridge Parkway just over the border in Virginia.
We immediately ran into a ton of fog, to the point where it was very difficult to see to drive. An early stop at the Mabry Mill was clear...
...but soon we were back in the fog and couldn't see anything. We know that there were things out there, but as was the case with this mountain, everything was "lost".
Finding the Blue Ridge Parkway hard to navigate, we took a detour into Roanoke, VA. We went to a marketplace in town and saw from a distance the famed "Roanoke Star", a large star on a hillside over the city of Roanoke. Later, we drove up the mountain and stood at the base of the star to enjoy the view of Roanoke.
From Roanoke, we went back to the Blue Ridge Parkway and spent the night at a lodge on the parkway. Friday morning, Steve and Anne woke up early and took a one-mile walk around the lake outside of our lodge. Everything was clear. By the time everyone had their showers and we got back out on the parkway, everything was as soupy as it had been the day before. Thankfully, this didn't last forever and eventually things cleared up. We got off of the parkway after a short distance and visited the "Natural Bridge". This land was once owned by Thomas Jefferson and surveyed by George Washington. Now, even though it's quite a sight, it's more of a tourist trap. Still, it was a nice hike and visit.
After Foamhenge, we drove the remainder of the Blue Ridge Parkway and onto Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park. We got off in the town of Luray and visited Luray Caverns, which is known for its underground organ that plays with the assistance of hammers connected to stalactites. Here's the organ...
...and here's what one of the hammers looks like.
We ended the day with a quick dinner at the Luray Tastee Freez, known in some quarters as "Tastee Frizzle Frazzle", before enjoying a little dessert at the same establishment.
Tomorrow morning, we're off to the Harper's Ferry area.
We walked down to Main Street and dropped into the Snappy Lunch restaurant, mentioned more than once on the "Andy Griffith Show", for a bite to eat. Steve and Anne both had the famous Pork Chop Sandwich, which was good indeed!
After Snappy Lunch, we walked nextdoor to Floyd's Barber Shop. The gentleman doing work in the background has been cutting hair at this place for over 50 years. He was on his way out though, having to go to a funeral, so Steve got his trim from the woman working on him below. She trimmed around the ears and the neck, leaving his vacation beard alone at his request. She even trimmed his eyebrows! Talk about pampering! The best part of the visit though was the conversation. There were men just hanging out in the shop, doing nothing but chatting. We talked about everything from sports to politics and had a great time doing it. Sometimes you forget how nice and polite people in small southern towns can be. This was a real treat!
Later, we worked our way to Wally's Service station...
...where we hopped into an old Mayberry styled patrol car and received a tour of the city. It was a hoot! The tour guide even ran the siren for us!
As I sit now, I'm in a room at the Mayberry Motor Inn where I was very surprised to find out that they had wireless internet. Who knew? Apparently, at least in certain places, Mayberry has gone modern.
Tomorrow, after seeing a couple more Mayberry landmarks in the morning, we'll be heading for the Blue Ridge Parkway. We'll be spending the night in a lodge on the Parkway, so we may not have the same modern convenience of the internet that we have here. We'll write again when we're able.
We moved on to Charleston, SC to a warm, but beautiful day. We bought our tickets and took a boat into Charleston Harbor to visit Fort Sumter, where the first shots of the Civil War were shot...which in this case were cannon shots.
Fort Sumter was originally a much taller fort, at least until the Union Army battered it years into the Civil War. While the actions of the Confederecy caused the initial surrender at the start of the war, it was mostly fire in the soldiers quarters and lack of supplies that actually caused the surrender. The Confederate bombardment itself did little damage to the fort.
Here is a shell that's still embedded in one of the walls of the fort.
After our boat ride back from the fort, we visited the South Carolina Aquarium, which was located right next to the docks where out boat returned to. It was a smallish aquarium, but nicely done. Here was a presentation in their large tank that involved divers feeding the fish.
We enjoyed our visit at the aquarium, which ended up being nicer than its understated exterior suggested it might be.
After the aquarium, we headed into the city of Charleston and went to a marketplace where we visited a lot of small shops. After the shops and dinner, we headed to our hotel for the evening.
