Harper's Ferry, Antietam and camping

In an effort to avoid summer re-runs on t.v. and the exhibits and testimony I need to go over, that I brought home for a trial on Wednesday, here is what we did a few weeks back when we went camping.

Where do you go to find the C&O Canal,











the convergence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers, and stand where Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia all meet,




walk on the Appalachian Trail,












and tour a really well-preserved Civil War era town, as well as Civil War battlefields?







Harper's Ferry, West Virginia



Harper's Ferry was a layover for Meriweather Lewis before he met up with William Clark for their great trek cross-country.





It's also famous for the 1859 Raid on Harper's Ferry to take the Abolitionist John Brown, who was planning a war against the slavers.







He held up here in Harper's Ferry before the slavers caught up with him.








So today, the old downtown part of Harper's Ferry is part of the U.S. National Park system.








All the buildings, shops and cobblestoned streets are well-preserved.










You can go into the various stores that existed in the mid-1800s and see what they would have looked like, what types of merchandise they would have carried, etc.


It's a really beautiful town











































a large portion of the downtown is built right into the rock hills that surround the area.

































Within 20 miles of Harper's Ferry, in the midst of miles and miles of pristine farmland








sits the location for the "converging storm of iron," the Antietam Civil War Battlefield.





















































Here's a quick video I took down by the river and the C&O Canal. I don't think you can see the river through the trees though. It was really pretty there.