Friday Sep 5, 2008

260 Miles.
Well today we went for a quick trip to Fredericksburg, VA .
On the way we stopped at Montpelier, James Madison's home.
It was at Montpelier where Madison researched past democracies and conceived of the system of government that became our republic. He and Dolly were not home so we moved on. We did get a pic of his temple and the grounds.After stopping we can across the park where John Leland and James Madison had their meeting to hammer out the constitution position on the separation of church and state. Moving along we found a place Tom wanted to see. We could get no closer than .7 th of mile so Kathy stayed with the car and Tom walked in through the corn. So here is the grave of "Stonewall" Jackson's left arm. He was wounded by his own troups and the arm was saw off. The chaplin buired it here at his home. Just away from the Wilderness Battlefield.
Now you know why Gen. Robert E. Lee called Jackson his "righthand man ". (sorry I had to)
Speaking of Gen. Lee we visited the headquartes and battlefield lookout point over Fredericksburg. Here is Kathy at the vantage point. The trees have grown but the town is a mile down the slope. We had a nice 20 minute hike up to the site. If you open this pic you might see the church steeples.

Well all this walking got us hungry.
So I surprised Kathy with a trip to a restaurant I had looked up on the internet. The name is Tim's II and it is on the Potomac River.

Big deal I know, but we are standing in Virginia and the restaurant is in Maryland! The border is the river bank not the middle of the river. So we had Maryland Crab Cakes in Maryland!
This is a warfside dinning and here comes a new customer.

We had crab cake starters and then Kathy had Fish Tacos! I had a crab cake sandwich, terrific!!!
Great lunch and a good time was had by all. The staff was busy as the TS Hanna was bearing down on the area and they were expecting high winds and tides.
We enjoyed our lunch and our historic tour then headed home.
I took many pics on the way of things to waymark.
Back to the resort to a late dinner and get ready to leave in the morning.

Thursday Sep 4 2008

We started the day at a farmers market. We bought fresh corn,tomatoes and some great sticky buns form a Mennonite baker.
We then spent a few hours at Natural Bridge. Click here to see the pics.
We saw Foamhenge : "It is, Mark points out, the only American Stonehenge that really is an exact replica of the time-worn original. "I went to great pains to shape each 'stone' to its original shape," he tells us, fact-checking his designs and measurements with the man who gives tours of Stonehenge in England. Mark has even consulted a local "psychic detective" named Tom who has advised him on how to position Foamhenge so that it is astronomically correct." Too funny!!!

We made it home and did a bbq of steak, shrimp,baked potato and the fresh corn with tomatoes.
Super dinner.

Wednesday Sep 3 2008

Miles today 270

We went North today to Winchester, VA , Harper's Ferry,WV on up to Antietam Battlefield in Sharpsburg MD. Three states caching in one day.
I'll add pictures later.

Tuesday Sep 2, 2008

Miles today 15.
Today we toured the resort and looked at the amenities.
Spent the afternoon napping, shouting "Fore" across our backyard,
reading and catching up on e-mails. Tom had a good nap, and still had
his bronchitis, So Kathy ran off for an hour of pampering, and facial.

Just a restful vacation day.

Monday 9/1/2008 Washington DC

Round trip 286 miles.

After doing all the research and getting many opinions about how to get to and maneuver in DC it looked like do not drive, parking does not exist, take the Metro and DO NOT go on a holiday.

So Labor Day of course we drove!!
Had a nice breakfast then did a easy drive hitting a few caches on the way.
Pulled into DC and quickly found a parking spot on the tidal basin next to the FDR Monument. We walked around form there visiting many monuments. Washington, WWII, FDR, Korean War, Lincoln Memorial and around the reflecting pool. Stood in the place where King gave his "I have a Dream" speech for the 13th time. Loved the visit.

Then on to Arlington National Cemetery. JFK's Jackie O, and Robert Kennedys grave. Audie Murphy, Joe Louis and the tomb of the unknowns. Got to see the changing of the guard. That was special.

No problems with crowds and parking was great.
Then we had dinner and drove home.
We plan on going back to DC Thursday, maybe George will have time for us then.

Sunday 8/ 31 / 2008

Just a small circle trip today of 110 miles.

Today we toured the Luray Caverns one of the largest systems in the eastern US. We did choose the busiest day of the year for them. Wow there was many people. Still we had a great time. We took many pix which we will post to Picasa but for now, follow the link above to view the professional pix. The caverns are beautiful.

We had lunch at a old local place called Brookside, which is beside a babbling brook. The pork chop sandwich was "out of this world"! They also have cabins you can rent.

After lunch we drove south down the Skyline Drive through the Shenandoah National Park. As their site reads."Gazing across the horizon from the peaks of Shenandoah National Park it’s hard to believe you are just 75 miles from the bustle of our nation’s capital. Take Skyline Drive along the crest of the mountains through the woods and past spectacular vistas. Hike in the shade of oak trees along the Appalachian Trail, discover the stories from Shenandoah’s past, or just relax in the wonder of wilderness."

We did have a great time here. The nice winding drive on a perfect day enjoying the views.
We did view a Black Bear Cub about 2 1/2 feet tall but he scampered off before we could get the camera up to shoot.

We did a hike to the summit of one area called Hawksbill. It was about an hour to the top and about 20 minutes down. Gravity worked with us on the return. LOL. The summit was 4,000 ft.


Here is a view of the trail and trail markers.
On the way Kathy spotted a doe and a buck. She was able to get very close to take some pictures. We will have more on Picasa later but here you can see how close she was able to get.

We also met a very nice couple who were on the trail with there dog, Bradley. They also where able to get close to get some pix. Then we shared stories and since they work in DC, they gave us insight on parking and getting around DC.

Here is one of their pix.
Then we stopped by a local Italian Bistro, ordered a pizza to go and back to the condo.
With all the walking we ate relaxed then crashed.
Let's see what tomorrow brings.....