August 31, 2007
164 miles
NE Corner Trip
Day 1
Friday
Okay, I've been home from the Northwest almost a whole month and feeling the need to get on the road again. Sylvia is going to take a few extra days off and we will be heading up to the Northeast Corner of the US. We went to Maine last August and loved escaping to the cooler weather -- so we're going to do it again this year.
The traffic is expected to be thick around DC with everyone trying to escape for the holiday weekend, so we decide to swing wide to the west rather than go due north through the thick of DC.
Turns out that Sylvia can't get out of town until late in the afternoon and I want to stop for stamps along the way, so I leave before her and take my time getting to Gettysburg. She will meet me there later in the evening.
I pull out from Fredericksburg at 11:30am under a sunny sky at 76 degrees. Not bad weather and it should only get better from here. I couldn't resist this view down a side road as I traveled along US17... so I turned to go check it out. As with most places in Virginia, there's Civil War history made here. That's the local post office at the turn in the road with the US flag. I just love those small town post offices.
The traffic is expected to be thick around DC with everyone trying to escape for the holiday weekend, so we decide to swing wide to the west rather than go due north through the thick of DC.
Turns out that Sylvia can't get out of town until late in the afternoon and I want to stop for stamps along the way, so I leave before her and take my time getting to Gettysburg. She will meet me there later in the evening.
I pull out from Fredericksburg at 11:30am under a sunny sky at 76 degrees. Not bad weather and it should only get better from here. I couldn't resist this view down a side road as I traveled along US17... so I turned to go check it out. As with most places in Virginia, there's Civil War history made here. That's the local post office at the turn in the road with the US flag. I just love those small town post offices.
I didn't do business at this post office, but when on the road it's these small, out of the way places that I do most of my postal business. If I need stamps, drop postcards in the post box, or mail something home... These small locations are the places I usually stop.
Okay, that was a short distraction...back to the previously scheduled route.
Traveling on the smaller roads is sooo much more interesting than flying past on the Interstates.
The first stamp collecting stop I made was at Harper's Ferry in West Virginia.http://www.nps.gov/hafe/index.htm
Harper's Ferry is where the three states of West Virginia, Virginia, and Maryland come together at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers.
Monocacy National Battlefield visitor center found outside of Frederick, Maryland is located on and about the various farms where the battle was fought on July 9, 1864. Though the Confederates were victorious here, they were delayed in their march on Washington DC. Because of this delay, the Union had time to reinforce their defenses of the Capital. Therefore, the Battle of Monocacy has become known as the "Battle that Saved Washington."
I think this is the Eisenhower Farm. It's at about the right place, but the only way to access the Eisenhower Farm was by shuttle from the Gettysburg NMP visitor center. And we all know that I wasn't going to leave Fleeter alone in that parking lot long enough to ride across to the other side of the Park and back. So this is what I saw from US15 as I rode into town. If it isn't the famed farm, it's a nice place none-the-less.
Gettysburg...named for one of the first settlers - James Gettys.
There are many impressive statues along the miles of park roads in Gettysburg National Military Park. This is the monument to William Wells.
I stop to grab some fast food and check into the hotel about 5:30pm. Sylvia catches up with me about 9:30pm. Tomorrow we make headway toward the Northeast and the cooler weather!
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