Virginia and DC

Monday we went to Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historic Park. This was one of the battlefields during the Civil War, a turning point for the Union. We got to tour the house which showed signs of the battle

 

Look closely at the stone, there's a big gouge right below the shadow--that was from the fighting that was literally on the front lawn

 

The front porch post had battle wounds too

 

We went to Shenandoah next--we had been here before but it was late November, everything was closed, so we came back! Still amazingly beautiful views!

Tuesday we did a LOT of driving and went into D.C.

 

Our first stop was Arlington National Cemetery 

 

 

JFK's brothers are buried to the south of his grave. Jacqueline, their infants, Patrick and Arabella, are buried here.  Arlington House is up the hill in the background.

Even though I had been to Arlington several times, I had never toured Arlington House. This was Robert E. Lee's home and was part of the surrender and concessions at the end of the war so that a national cemetery could be created.

Amazing views of D.C. from the front porch. Other than looking from the Kennedy gravesite up to the house, I didn't get a good photo of the house from the front!

This carved, draped flag on this headstone was amazing!  

We chanced upon Martin and Ruth Ginsburg's headstone. Ruth's name has not been carved on the stone yet.

We found Robert Todd Lincoln's grave. He was the only one of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln's children to make it to adulthood.

 

John Wesley Powell is buried in Arlington

And then there was this "headstone" that was a cannon!

We didn't finish, had to come back later and find more graves!

Wednesday we went to Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park. This was the site of 4 separate battles, over the course of a few years. We just saw the Fredericksburg site. 

This house had battle scars

 

 

There is a national cemetery there. 

Too many bodies were unidentified, so they buried them with a grave number and how many bodies were buried there

 

J is on the hunt for towns named Bowling Green, so we stopped at Bowling Green, Virginia

 

 

Bowling Green wasn't that far from the Loving's graves. This is the couple that were arrested for interracial marriage and the case Loving v. Virginia that went to the Supreme Court was named for them.

 We went to the George Washington Birthplace National Monument 

 

This house was on a hill at the edge of a river, kind of like Mount Vernon.  This was a much smaller home than Mount Vernon though!

 

We saw some wildlife while we were there! 

This was a salamander, not a snake!

Thursday we went back to Arlington!

 

We watched the changing of the guard and a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. J and S laid a wreath years ago, it was a wet and soggy day that they did it! We melted in the sun this time watching it all.

We found Medgar Evers' grave

William Howard Taft (happier as Supreme Court Justice than president) is one of two presidents buried in Arlington

And then this grave, more importantly for who is listed on the back

Seraph Young, great-niece of Brigham Young, was the first woman to vote in an election in 1870.

 

Before we left, we went to see the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial. If you haven't read Flags of our Fathers, I would suggest you read it! It is a really interesting account of what happened on Iwo Jima.

 

We stopped at Theodore Roosevelt Island

Really interesting to be on an island in the Potomac River and have commercial jets flying overhead as they come in for a landing at Reagan National Airport.

Also out that direction: Lady Bird Johnson Park and the LBJ Memorial Grove.

We have driven past the Pentagon several times. The trees you see here are part of the Pentagon 9/11 memorial. We have been there before too, years ago.

Friday we drove into Maryland on our way to another section of D.C.

 

We went to see the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site. The grounds were open, but unfortunately, the historical houses cannot accommodate pandemic precautions, so the house was closed.

This was his "Growlery"

This mural was on a building a few blocks from the home

 

We went to Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens. I had no idea this was a D.C. national park. I've learned to type in www.nps.gov/DC (or whatever the state's postal abbreviation is) gives you a great list of all the national parks in an area so that's how I found this gem!

 

 Check out the flowers!!!

 

 

And we got to see some wildlife too!

 

Even though the historical homes aren't open and we couldn't tour them, we stopped by the Carter G. Woodson home and the Mary McLeod Bethune Council House. It would have been nice to learn more about these two sites!

 

 

 

 

 

And on our way home, we got to drive right past the Washington monument!

 

 

 

I love me some signs! Here's the "state" freeway sign for D.C.

 

I've seen speed bump, speed hump, speed undulation (two bumps in succession in Sacramento area), but speed table? 

Saturday we went to Harper's Ferry. It was SO crowded. There's a free shuttle bus that takes you from the visitor center to the center of town, two miles.  Unfortunately, dogs are not allowed. So the doggo and I walked down the trail to the town. We saw wild raspberries

And a tiny waterfall

 

Walked down some stone steps

 

 Saw remains of an old cotton mill

 

 

 

And played in the Shenandoah River when we got to the bottom

 

 

There are trains that run on the tracks alongside the Appalachian Trail

 

 

 

 

We walked along the tracks over to the tunnel and got to see these nesting birds on top of the trestle

The Mr. and the dog were hanging around when they saw a train go by on this track. I have always wanted to see a train go through the town and I missed it! He did take a video for me.

 

Harper's Ferry is most well known for John Brown's rebellion. This was the building (reconstructed) that he holed up in.

 

 

 We didn't spend a lot of time on the history at Harper's Ferry, just enjoyed the beauty. We headed to Antietam National Battlefield next

 

This photo in the visitor center had a caption next to it saying that this was the first battle photographed before the dead had been buried. It was a pretty intense battle

 

 

 

Same view of the photo above, only this was my photo

 

 

Rifled cannons are what made this battle so deadly. It was a newer invention, made the aim much more accurate and therefore, deadly.

 

We drove the auto tour around the battlefield. So many farms that were destroyed during the battle.

So many monuments there today

 

For three hours, the Confederates held the area around this bridge until the Union soldiers forced them to retreat. It was a very bloody conflict.

 

 

We briefly stopped at Monocacy National Battlefield on the way back.  

 

  It is still hard to comprehend how such peaceful farmland could be the site of horrific warfare

We drove into West Virginia, Maryland, and back to Virginia, all in one day!

We also followed the Journey Through Hallowed Ground scenic byway