MARYLAND

SMITHSONIAM AIR & SPACE MUSEUM

Above photos, The space shuttle Discovery, The Air France Concord, and the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. Really liked the docent tours. 

C&O CANAL, MD

All set for the month of August. Camp Hosting at Antietam Creek Campground in MD on  the C&O Canal. We have 20 tents sites and also host at the Ferry Hill Plantation 3 miles away. 

184.5 Miles of Adventure!

Preserving America's early transportation history, the C&O Canal began as a dream of passage to Western wealth. Operating for nearly 100 years the canal was a lifeline for communities along the Potomac River as coal, lumber and agricultural products floated down the waterway to market. Today it endures as a pathway for discovering historical, natural and recreational treasures! Interesting note; the Canal was George Washington’s idea.

Ferry Hill mansion was finished in 1820 taking four years to build. This was a large 700 acre plantation. Owned by John Blackford a very prosperous farmer and business man. This home was lived  in by six generations of the family. Since the 1940’s the house was used as restaurant. It passed from the family in the 50’s when it was sold to an employee of the restaurant. Interestingly enough one of our volunteers, Jack, is a descendent who grew up in the house. This house was also used by the South and the North during the Civil War.

i GETTYSBURG: Above are picture of the Cyclorama at Gettysburg PA. Enjoyed a full day with the museum, cyclorama, movie and 2 story tellers. Some facts; When the armies marched  from Gettysburg they left behind a community in shambles and over 51,000 soldiers dead, wounded or missing. Wounded and dying were crowded into nearly every building. Most of the dead lay in hastily dug and inadequate graves, some had not been buried at all.

Harpers Ferry, one of our favorite Civil War spots. Love the way the museum is separated in different buildings. Harpers Ferry was strategic in the war due to its location on the Potomac and the Shenandoah Rivers. 

THE HISTORY OF HARPERS FERRY HAS FEW PARALLELS IN THE AMERICAN DRAMA. It is more than one event, one date, or one individual. It is multi-layered - involving a diverse number of people and events that influenced the course of our nation's history. Harpers Ferry witnessed the first successful application of interchangeable manufacture, the arrival of the first successful American railroad, John Brown's attack on slavery, the largest surrender of Federal troops during the Civil War, and the education of former slaves in one of the earliest integrated schools in the United States

Williamsport; a Ranger led program. In some portions of the C&O Canal there are some areas with water. This being one of them we enjoyed a short demonstration ride on a canal boat. Toured a canal keepers house and Jim helped demonstrate how the locks worked. Really like Fort Frederic a British Fort during the French and Indian War.

The Pry House was used as a hospital, the house for officers recovering from wounds  and the barn for the enlisted men. Very informational on surgery. Contrary to TV & movie hype anesthesia was available and used.

Antietam National Battlefield:

The Bloodiest One Day Battle in American History

23,000 soldiers were killed, wounded or missing after twelve hours of savage combat on September 17, 1862. The Battle of Antietam ended the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia's first invasion into the North and led to Abraham Lincoln's issuance of the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.

Maryland and Washington DC

   

We love what we discover along the way. Just looking for a place to pull off the Hwy for a stop. Saw signs for the Hamilton House. Unfortunately the house was closed but we could walk the grounds and read the informational signs. Here’s one we have never seen before. An ice well so they could enjoy ice cream in the summer. There was also a green house with an elaborate heating system to grow oranges during the winter.  

DC-The Capitol and the National Monument.

And Jim in a demonstration at the American History Museum. He plays the part of one of the four black students in the Woolworth sit-in during the Civil Rights movement in the 1960’s

We spent a day at Arlington National Cemetery. Did the walking tour, also the tour of the Arlington House. Saw  where President Kennedy, his wife and two children were buried. Watched the changing of the guard at The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

We were in DC in 2003 so this time we are trying to see different things.

Toured The Holocaust Museum, the African Art Museum and the Ford Theater were President Lincoln was shot. 

Ford Theater and the restored but original balcony where Lincoln was sitting when shot. After a ranger talk you cross the street to the house Lincoln was taken to. After a self guided tour it lets into a museum.

MOUNT VERNON

“No estate in United America is more pleasantly situated than this…” George Washington, 1793

It is a lovely setting along the Potomac River. The view across the river is mostly the same as when he lived there. Luckily there were associations who were interested in preserving not only Washington’s home and estate but the view too for all future generations.

We enjoyed an entire day here. Toured the house, gardens, farm. George Washington thought of himself first and foremost as a farmer. Recognizing the inadequacies of 18th-century farming practices, he pioneered innovative methods, including crop rotation and the use of fertilizers. The farm is home to a replica of Washington’s innovative 16-sided treading barn. Which was demonstrated. Horses trot around the circle on the hay shaking the seeds out and down through the slatted floor to the gathering area below.

 

Washington’s Tomb his final resting place, his wife, Martha and other family members are interred there.

Our visit began with an 18-minute action adventure film. Tours of the Mansion, grounds then hours in the Museum and Education Center.

There is a food court and a nice restaurant on premises. Always a good thing if one didn’t pack a lunch.

MORE PENNSYLVANIA

Monday must be laundry day! On our drive through the Amish country lot and lots of clothes were hung out on very long lines looked like  in  the front yards in some cases.

‘The Pennsylvania Amish of Lancaster County are America's oldest Amish settlement, where thousands still live a centuries-old "Plain" lifestyle. Arriving in PA Dutch Country allows you to step back in time to enjoy a slower, more peaceful pace – one where the horse & buggy remains a primary form of transportation, and where windmills dot the landscape, providing power harnessed from nature. Always a vital part of Lancaster County culture, the PA Amish are involved in agriculture as well as an array of businesses and cottage industries. 

We had a great Ranger led tour at Valley Forge. Fantastic history lesson. We  also enjoyed several short tales by very enthusiastic story tellers.

Valley Forge docent giving a talk and demonstration on the life of the military solider. The cabin above is replica which housed around nine.

Valley Forge was the winter encampment for Washington and his  Continental Army of 12,000 men in 1777. 

George Washington’s Valley Forge headquarter and living quarters. This was rented for $100 for the six months, a fair amount for that time. Martha Washington joined her husband, helping and caring for the wounded.

Traveling PA

Our new favorite beer! The Brewery founded in 1829 the oldest in America is located in Pottsville PA. Great old building, underneath are hand dug tunnels and storage. Very cool down there , felt so good as it was such a hot day the tour guide couldn’t take us into the brewing area. But we got to top it off with 2 cool ones in the bar.  

The Ephrata Cloister was founder in 1732 be Conrad Beissel a German who left his country to pursue his desire for a quiet home free from distractions allowing him his spiritual pilgrimage to join God in Heaven. He had 2 important issues, worship on Saturday and be celibate. By 1750 Ephrata numbered eighty celibate Brothers and Sisters know as the Solitary. And families known as Householders, numbering 200 who lived on nearby farms.

Meager diets, brief periods of rest, long hours of work and time for private meditation were embraced by the solitary in their quest to be received by God when he returned. They slept on a bench with a board for a head rest so as not to sleep deeply, awakening every few hours waiting to receive God.

Corning glass Museum

Corning Glass Museum was very interesting. Starts with the beginning of glass making to the current uses. Several rooms of historical glass wear. A full level dedicated to technological uses and demonstrations of glass. Plus much more. And of course a very very large gift store.

Catskill Mountains

We are staying at the edge of the NY Catskill Mtns. for a week. Woodstock being one of our day trips. Small tourist town with several hippie style stores. We did find out that the concert was actually held about 50 miles from here as the city would not give them a permit for the amount of people projected to attend. A good thing since it ended up being twice as large.

Got in a bike ride on a rail to trail path going thru a nice mountain town called New Paltz. Don’t know what I was thinking it was so hot & humid I was a bucket of sweat in no time. Couldn’t go very far AND boy was I happy to have our camper waiting in the parking lot. That SHOWER never felt so good!