Guilford Courthouse National Military Park

A lovely trip to Guilford Courthouse, Great time and beautiful sites to see. Sometimes I hate these things, and they seem to go on forever and ever.

This had a great driving tour and a really nice guy at the visitor center who showed off some guns and was even in period dress.

 Here are some of the sites and neat things that can be seen on the trip through the area. It's fun and learny all in one. Take the kids and pack a lunch people you'll be here for a little while.

Booker T. Washington National Monument

We went to Booker T Washington National Monument during a beautiful time of the year. Lots of outbuildings and foundations to show where buildings had once been.

Not a bad visit and really a good place to learn some details about slavery and the actions that helped to shape the Tuskegee Institute. Though some spots were not as much as I'd hoped, really worth the visit outside of the visitor center.

C&O Canal (Georgetown)

 
The C&O Canal in Georgetown is a great family spot.

The visitor center is really small however the trail along the canal is beautiful.

Tons of shops and places to eat with a great view.

They have a canal boat that you can ride on and view alot of the area. It's a view that shouldn't be missed. If you go please be sure to ride. It does cost to ride however as I said well worth it. They even have period dress!!

Frederick Douglass Home

Now on to a trip closer to DC....yip yip .... The area of town this place is near is kinda depressed until you get closer to the Home itself. It's a nice trip and beautiful views. Takes a unique prospective of the city and how it once may have looked from every area of the house. If you stand on the porch you can see tons of DC and the surrounding areas. The rangers are more than happy to point out all directions to you.


We made it in time to take the tour. Was well worth the small wait to get to it. Neat to see all of the old items and see things that are just now coming back into style. (May be due to the depressed times we are in.)

This one is a Yay you all. Great trip for the family and alot of knowledge you may not have known.

 

 

 The trip home showed some pretty sights too!

Appomattox Court House National Historical Park

 I loved going to Appomattox. It's a great place to visit and an awesome place to catch some living history. Well worth the time and energy to go through every nook and cranny.

We must have walked to every far reaching place of this park. The sites are great the living history is completely amazing and... KEITH GOT DRAFTED! Ha was funny to see and even funnier to watch him following directions to march in a line. If you know him, you know exactly what I mean.

Great place to take kids to learn about history and a great place for adults to learn a little something too.
 
 

Friendship Hill National Historic Site

Home of Albert Gallatin. And who was he, and why was his house so important?

Well he was the one who reduced the national debt while purchasing the Louisiana Territory and he funded the Lewis & Clark Expedition.

His home is a beautiful place to visit and a great sight for a wedding. As a matter of fact as we were visiting they were setting up for a wedding ceremony.

There is a ...... lovely *cough* walk up a small *cough* hill up to the house.

Lots of interesting facts, however if I do say so it's more of a picture takers haven or just those looking for a quiet place.

Fort Necessity National Park

On our way up to PA for a small family vacation we stopped by Fort Necessity National Park.

There really isn't a whole lot to say about this place. The visitor center is great, gives a wonderful history but this really isn't expanded outside of the visitor.

Part of this park also includes Mount Washington Tavern, Jumonville Glen, and Braddock's Grave.

There is acutally a Fort onsite though if your looking for bricks or stones then you're in the wrong area. This is more of the earthworks/wood type of fort.

The great part about this however was that they did have cannon fire demo's, musket demo's and Mount Washington Tavern was open for tours.

I do have TONS of photos and am in the process of going through them all to upload some of the ones I have. If I uploaded all of them then we'd seriously take up all of the space allowed. Not that it wouldn't be fun but... we just can't do that.

Congaree National Park

Ok this one I really really hated, but only because I'm a girl and it's a SWAMP!

Ok, Ok, Ok...... if you don't mind bugs and spiders then it's a great place to visit.

Previously was the Congaree Swamp National Monument and in 2003 was changed over to a bonafide National Park.

This is also the area in which Disney went when getting swamp designs for all of the Shrek Movies. ( FUN FACT RIGHT!!!!!)

The swamp ...er.... Congaree is a International Biosphere Reserve. It has many different species living there and believe me you'll see most of them on your visit. They do have a great walkway in which to view the areas and natural wildlife.

Though, this one I would have to advise that if you aren't a "nature" person, don't go beyond the visitor center. They do have tons of interesting items and information within the visitor center that you don't have to run around the entire trail to see.

:)

Apologies

I must apologize for not writing every day like I said I would. There was a death in the family and I had to go away for a few days.

I do however have many many more National Parks to cover that we have been to so I will be writing again soon. Hopefully I can have a few of my faithful readers still following.

Thank you for your support through this time of grieving.

RIP Pap, Love you

Gettysburg National Military Park / Eisenhower House

One of the first places we went to was Gettysburg. We went camping at Little Round Top Campground and stayed for 4 days. All 4 of those days were filled with sights and sounds of battlefield history, as well as a jaunt to the Eisenhower House.

The visitor center is HUGE, not unexpectedly.

They have many, many, many monuments, statues, memorials, scenic views, and landmarks.

Though I was not happy they took the Devils Den out of the driving tour! Are you crazy?!?! Taking a major landmark out of a tour that is supposed to be showcasing the Battlefield. They have however tons of towers you can go up in to look all around in a 360 view of different areas of the battlefield.

Be mindful of the crisscrossing roads and one way streets.

To get to Eisenhower's House you will have to visit the Gettysburg National Military Park Visitor Center. There you have to purchase tickets, wait for a bus, and then be taken to Eisenhower House. Why you ask? Because part of the agreement when the house was given over to the park service was that it not be turned into a parkinglot.

The Eisenhower House is beautiful, quiet, alot of details are viewable through the tour. And well worth the money and time it takes.

The Gettysburg driving tour took 2 - 3 days though I think it was supposed to take 3 hours. But that's driving past everything, listening to a droning voice tell you about a certain spot and driving on to the next stop. Passing tons of great monuments, memorials, and statues along the way. Now I'm not saying that you HAVE to stop and read each one, I'm saying that it's worth the time for the most part.



Ha found the pictures and as you can see they have now been added. Oh yeah and they had living history!