Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Harper's Ferry

When Hal was here we had a rare day of almost 70 degrees so we decided to take advantage of it and go hiking. My boss had suggested going to Harper's Ferry. It's only an hour drive from DC. It's right where Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia meet, and is where the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers meet.

Overlooking the river is where Jefferson stood and said something like "this is a sight worth crossing the Atlantic to see" It probably looks a little more spectacular not at the end of winter.
The town is amazing. It's like literally stepping back in time to the Civil War which made the town famous of John Brown's raid on the armory.



It also happens to be almost the halfway point of the Appalachian Trail, and where two other national trails meet up. So there's a lot going on.We used the foot bridge to cross the water and we hiked for a few miles on the Appalachian trail. It was flat and easy, but cool to say that we walked along the Appalachian trail! There were tongs of people with children and dogs out around the town and all along the trails, so it's definitely a family friendly place.
We stopped at The Town's Inn for dinner. It also happens to be a B&B, and we were really tempted to stay with how cute it was and how fabulous the food was. All home cooked, made to order, and with perfect portions. And then we headed on down to Swiss Miss, where they sell ice cream from a local creamery that doesn't have food coloring in it!
Tip: don't go all the way out to the National Park. It's like 2 miles outside of the town. While parking can be difficult near town, it's not impossible. We parked a bit outside of the main part of town and walked less than 10 minutes into the city center. Also, on the road closest to the river, there is a parking lot for those who want to pay the $10 National park fee, and you get a map of the area. If you go to the national park, you pay $10, get a map, and have to take a shuttle into town, and the shuttles stop running at 5pm. The map is handy, but if you want to save $10, you can print it out online before you go. 

3 comments:

Autumn @ Autumn All Along said...

I am really happy for you that y'all are back together and being able to explore! :)

Rachel said...

That sounds like a pretty awesome outdoorsy adventure!!

Crazy Shenanigans-JMO said...

Love Harpers Ferry! Technically it's in my home state of WV!

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