Sometime back, I read this book, Daughter of the Stars by Phyllis Whitney. It is based in Harpers Ferry, WV. I was intrigued by the place and decided to add it to my vacation plans. It is not too far from where we are and one can spend half a day easily. Most of the interest is due to John Brown, when he raised a voice against slavery, a pre-cursor to the bigger movement. It is at the junction of three states - MD, VA and WV and 2 rivers meet - Shenandoah and Potomac. Shenandoah is an Indian name meaning Daughter of the Stars. Jefferson spent a lot of time here, and there is the Jefferson Rock, which is a great spot from which to view the 3 states. There is canoeing/rafting for those interested. The season starts in April, so it was not crowded. The picture shows the confluence of the two rivers.From there we drove to Williamsburg, VA (thankfully avoided I495). Since we had already been to colonial Williamsburg a couple of years back, we decided to concentrate on the rest. While the old man spent time chasing holes on the green, the girls and I visited Yorktown and Jamestown. A good doze of history to be had. Then there was Busch Gardens. It was a lot of fun, dug a big hole in our pockets and one day was not enough. We missed some of the shows and it was cold for water rides and the sky ride. But the kids had a wonderful time and so did we.
A short drive brought us to the Chesapeake beach, but it was too windy and too cold to step on the sands. But we loved the underwater bridge tunnels.
There is also the Presidents Park close by, which is worth an hour or so. All the presidents' giant busts, a replica of the oval office and half of airforce one, can be toured in a quick trip. That is Coolidge in the picture, with Abe taking up a little of the background. The kids had fun reading about presidential nicknames (sounds like a Jeopardy category!). Food was no problem as there are all types of cuisine to be had. The lone Indian restaurant was a pleasant surprise and had a decent fare as well as decor. And that is a lot to expect indeed! The thai place was good too, except the husband decided to order thai hot, which is worse (or better) than Indian hot. Each spoon of Panang curry needed a glass of water.
Like all other good things, it went by quickly and I am already thinking about my next vacation, another mini one, this time to the cradle of liberty!
2 comments:
Bah! Thanks for this much needed knock on my head. Can you believe it when I say I live about 45 mins away from Harpers Ferry and have been planning to visit this beautiful place every year and just never got to going? Now that you mention it, its definitely going in my list for this year.
That aside, was it warm enough to be outdoors around this time?
That and the antietam battlefield and there are a bunch of wineries on the VA side.
We had a great day for our trip. It was in the 40/50 range and sunny. It was cold to walk on the footbridge as it was windy and we were over the river. But by the time you climb up the stone steps to Jefferson rock, you stop feeling cold ;-)
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