Harper's Ferry

We are stuck inside becuase of the 2016 blizzard so I thought that it would be a perfect time to catch up on the blog. :) 

On Monday it was Martin Luther King Day so we Jeff and I had work off. We read that all of the parks were free so we decided to head to Harpers Ferry for the day. It is a historic town in West Virginia It is at the confluence the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers and is where Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia meet. Lucky for us, it is less than an hour away. It was a perfect day trip! However, it was colder then we had expected and walked around in 18 degree weather. It was definitely worth the trip though. 

The best view was from Jefferson Rock. On October 25, 1783 Thomas Jefferson stood here and said that, "this scene is worth a voyage across the Atlantic."


We visited St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church and learned that it was the only church in Harpers Ferry that escaped destruction after the Civil War. 

We didn't realize how much there would be to do. Almost every building was a museum that you could walk in and learn about the history of the town and the Civil War. 

                        

I did not realize that this is where John Brown's raid took place. He led an armed band of abolitionists to the arsenal to fight for freedom of the slaves. However, he was captured and charged with treason and murder. However, he captured the attention of many and this continued through the Civil War.

Information on John Brown's Raid

 

 We had a wonderful time and Harper's Ferry! It was a perfect way to spend Martin Luther King Day as we learned more about the Civil War and reflected on the freedom that we have. 

Thanksgiving

I haven't posted in a while. Now that I am on winter break, there are many things that I am trying to catch up on. Over Thanksgiving, we were lucky that my family was able to come and Jeff's parents came the next week. It was so fun to show them around Virginia and DC. My family flew into Baltimore on Thanksgiving. I was able to pick them up and we headed to my aunt's house in Maryland for dinner. 

On Friday Jeff had to work so I was the tour guide for the day. I woke Emma up early to do some Black Friday shipping with me before everyone work up. Then we decided to run to the lake behind our house to burn off some calories for the day. 

Afterwards we went to a donut shop called Duck Donuts. (Hopefully the run helped a little bit.) It was a really neat place. When you go in, you get an order form to customize your donut. You pick the

glaze and toppings. Then they cook your donut fresh on the spot. Such a fun idea!

  

We then went to the Town Center for their annual Day After Christmas parade. It was packed with people and the parade went on for over an hour. We snuck out a bit early but saw Santa waiting as he was the grand finale. 

     

After the parade, we decided to head to Manassas to see the battlefield. At this location there were two Civil War battles: The Battle of Manassas and The Battle at Bull Run. We got to watch a movie and had a tour around the fields. It was very interesting and is neat how close it is to where we live. 

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When Jeff got home that evening, we headed to the National Zoo for Zoo Lights. It is nice that the zoo is free because it is a Smithsonian. We  enjoyed looking at the light s and going in the animal houses to watch the animals. It was a busy day!

On Saturday we took my family to the Potomac Falls. We walked around and showed them the ruins of the Potomac Canal and the town Matildaville. 

We then headed to Georgetown.Our first stop there was to Georgetown Cupcakes where the show DC Cupcakes was filmed. It is definitely a popular place and sure worth it. One bite was rich enough. We continued walking to the shops around. It had the DC feel. 

It was a great trip and we are so glad that both families were able to visit. We love you!

Jeff's Birthday

On Monday it was Jeff's birthday! We were lucky that it landed on Labor Day so we didn't have to go to work. Instead, we hopped on the metro and went to the Washington Nationals Baseball game. Unfortunately they lost to the New York Mets but we enjoyed being true fans while drinking lemonade and eating hot dogs. 

We bought these hats from a vendor by the stadium. We wanted to attempt to look like loyal fans. ;)

I am so lucky to be married to my best friend. Happy Birthday!