Happy 4th of July.

We are in Harper’s Ferry – a place I always like to visit.  It’s located on a spit of land at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers.  It is surrounded by mountains on three sides, has great history and the central part of the village has been restored to look as it would have in the 1860s.  It’s a fun touristy national park with lots of hiking and photographic opportunities.

Our house for the next three nights – right on the edge of town, it was built in the 1830s and used to be a tavern.  There is plenty of room for us all and it allows us to walk to everything we want to see and do here in HF.

Drone shot of the bridge crossing the Shenandoah.

Brenda and I went out on an early morning walk and had the park to ourselves.

Part of the path we took is on the Appalachian Trail – HF is just about the half way point.  We saw several people today who were obviously doing the hike.  You can tell because they look grungy, have ratty gear and a 1000 yard stare.  But… they are all in great shape.

Later we all went on a hike to find Fort Duncan.  The construction of the fort began in October 1862, shortly after the Battle of Antietam and the surrender of Harpers Ferry to Confederate forces. The mission of the fort was to guard the land surrounding Harpers Ferry and Bolivar Heights, as well as traffic on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.

We were looking for a hike that was away from other people (and dogs) but we bit off more than we could chew.  We ended up wandering around well off any trails and while we didn’t get lost (we have GPS) it did take us awhile to find any new trails to make our way back.  In the end, we didn’t see the fort (it doesn’t exist any more) but did get in a fun and memorable walk in the woods.

Holden is on his phone using the compass/gps to figure out which direction to keep walking.

After lunch in town, the kids did some shopping in the numerous small, boutique shops.

It got hot by the afternoon, and so we returned and took naps, read and hung out at the house in the shade until dinner time.