Posted on 08/18/2021 9:05:47 PM PDT by MplsSteve
The Wife and I are gonna be in northern Virginia and western Maryland for about a week and a half in mid-September.
Because of my love of the Civil War, we are gonna visit Monocacy, Gettysburg, Winchester in the Shenandoah Valley and likely Harpers Ferry. We may or may not hit Antietam. I've already seen it once before.
The Wife is surprisingly supportive of visiting these battlefields but I also am gonna throw in a winery visit and possibly head up to Hershey Pa.
I need some advice from people familiar with the areas I've described. AFAIK, we're gonna use Frederick Maryland as a central base from which to visit places in the area.
I'm looking for any suggestions regarding decent hotels/motels, places to eat, things to see, etc. I'm also looking for info about places to avoid - crime, etc.
Thank you in advance for reading this and I look foward to your suggestions and recommendations.
Potomac Point Winery is an award winning winery and has great food. It is down by Quantico so you can go visit the National Museum of the Marine Corps.
I’ve been to Gettysburg battlefield many times. There are numerous Confederate monuments there. You just have to follow the road on the western side of the battlefield, where the majority of Lee’s units were deployed.
Since you will be coming out of Baltimore and visiting Gettysburg, I suggest you consider making a big loop of the trip:
1. Antietam, over to
2. Gettysburg, south through the Cumberland Gap to
3. Harpers Ferry, south into
4. The Shenandoah Valley (North to South) (various battle sites) exit the southern end of valley to visit
5. Appomattox (a bit out of the way)then head
6. North up VA 28/29 to Culpepper and head east on VA 3 for Wilderness Battlefield, Chancellorsville, and Fredericksburg. Then pick up
7. I-95 North to go back to Baltimore with possible side trips to Manassas and DC.
As you probably know, all these locations have visitor centers (some large, some small) and plenty of restaurants and hotel/motels for all budgets.
Since you mention having visited DC in the past, I will only say you need to study the various websites for the individual places you want to visit. There are a lot of museum openings and closings due to renovations and a number of changes to operating schedules, etc.
You also need to study the transportation system(s) you want to use to get into the National Mall from wherever you are parking and, once you get there, how you intend to get around the Mall to the various museums/memorials/etc. that you want to visit.
All government buildings seem to require masking up regardless of vaccination status and there is a lot more security in DC these days.
If your main interest is airplanes, you might consider, as an alternative to DC, a trip out to Dulles to visit the Udvar-Haazy (sp) Annex to the National Air and Space Museum (NASM). Easily accessible off of VA 28 North near Dulles International, plenty of parking ($12.00/car last time I visited), and a great museum experience. There are also plenty of hotels and restaurants just offsite as well.
I’m an aviation enthusiast and have visited it a number of times. If I didn’t live so far away, I’d volunteer out there. I love how the spaciousness of the Annex permits full display of a number of unique and very large aircraft with plenty of room so you can see most of them from all angles.
Hope you find some of this useful. Have a great trip.
We just moved to Williamsburg. It’s a bit far afield of your base but the historic district is nice and Jamestown and Yorktown are nearby. Saucy’s in Hopewell and Petersburg has great BBQ.
Maryland gun laws, like New Jersey laws, are designed to trap law abiding gun owners who make technical errors. If you do not have a Maryland concealed carry permit and are make ANY stops in Maryland DO NOT take any handgun, even if it is unloaded and locked in the trunk or a case. The federal law travel exception only applies if you’re are passing through the state.
I second Williamsburg. Love that place.
You might want to consider a few ghost tours in some of the cities your going to. They give you a glimpse of history of the life of the poor and middle class way back then.
I know this is out of your territorial range, but Monticello is worth exploring in Charlottesville. It's fascinating, actually if you have not been. Stopping to see The Lawn at UVA is worth seeing, too - the part of the campus that Jefferson designed as well as the rotunda. However, don't venture into Charlottesville if there is a Saturday UVA football game. The town is completely overrun and gridlocked. You may want to see Monticello before the SJWs force them to burn it down.
A bit further south and west is Appomattox. It was much more interesting than I was expecting. The area is preserved to look as it did when Lee surrendered.
You may want to consider driving down Skyline Drive in Shenandoah Natl Park. It starts in Front Royal, VA and ends at Afton Mountain at I-64. Charlottesville is about 30 mins to the east. It takes about 3 or 4 hours to drive the 90 or so miles. While the Blue Ridge Mountains don't compare to the Rockies, the elevation is about 3,200 feet or so in the north and a bit lower on the south end. There are some great views of the Shenandoah Valley and Appalachian Mountains to the west. If they're not rented out, there are some great cabins at Big Meadows Lodge on the Skyline Drive. They are nice and if it's cool, they will give you wood for your fireplace at night. There is a restaurant on site serving all 3 meals with a pub downstairs. Once at the southern end of Skyline Drive, you can retreat back north, by taking I-64 west to I-81 and drive right up the middle of the Shenandoah Valley to Winchester - about 100 miles. You'll drive past Staunton where Woodrow Wilson was born and half way up 81 is New Market - about a mile from 81 - where hundreds of VMI cadets fought at the battle of New Market and some were killed. There is not much to see at the battlefield, but I found it interesting. The South won and later, the North burned down VMI in retaliation. I've been to Winchester a number of times, but it doesn't really do much for me - but there is quite a bit of Civil War history in town. Also, it's apple season and there's plenty of apple orchards from Charlottesville and all up and down the valley. These orchards have all kinds of odd varieties, including black apples, which is apple equality, I guess.
Back to Harpers Ferry - just outside of town, is where Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia meet. If it's your thing, there is an easy hike called Maryland Heights - there's an easy, quick trail and a longer, slightly harder trail - they end at the same spot - but at the top, you will be in Maryland with a beautiful view of Harpers Ferry from across the river with Virginia on the other side of the river. The Appalachian Trail goes right through Harpers Ferry and is the halfway point. You won't see any through hikers in September, but there are plenty of day/weekend hikers. You can walk across an old railroad bridge, which is part of the trail, and on the other side of the river is the C&O Canal towpath, I'm sure you remember it originates in Georgetown and goes as far west as Ohio - but not certain. There are scores and scores of wineries all over the place. The most well known is Barboursville Vineyards just north of Charlottesville - they have a very expensive restaurant - and some of its wines can be expensive, too. I've been dragged to various vineyards and I still don't know a thing about wine. I wouldn't know a good one from a bad one. Barboursville is where one of the presidents was born, but I can't remember who it is.
Someone mentioned the Smithsonian museum at Dulles airport and I agree, it's absolutely spectacular and I'm not much of a museum person, unfortunate when living in the DC suburbs. If you have the time, do it. It costs $20 to park and it has a true Imax screen - 60 feet tall. Good luck and have fun!
https://www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/veterans-and-gold-star-families-free-access.htm
Keep in mind (everyone) that veterans have free access to national parks/battlefields/forests. If you are going somewhere with an admission fee, show proof that you are a veteran, including the “veteran” designation on your driver’s license.
If you get a chance, the Red Fox inn is an excellent dinning experience with some historical significance attached to it.
https://www.redfox.com/
Completely incorrect. The Confederacy monuments are where the Confederacy was....primarily facing the North. However, there is a nice monument to General Armistead, right where he was shot, in the middle of the Northern defenses.
Hard to believe he got that far (some say high water mark for Confederacy).
The best CW place to visit imo.
The battle of Antietam/Sharpsburg (Maryland) was fought around Sept 17th 1862. The park and the city do a very nice remembrance over that weekend. Battle reenactments, living history presentations and a candle light tour in the evening that will move you to tears. If it’s not booked already, I recommend the Inn at Antietam.
Worth your time and the detour!
I found this event listing for the park on the 18th.
https://www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/event-details.htm?id=67D88E71-A45A-EEF7-A1E490DF8629C27F
The town used to have a three day festival with food and crafts and lots of historical activities, but I’m not finding much when I search for it on the web.
The Inn at Antietam has 2 rooms available for that weekend!
https://www.innatantietam.com/availability-calendar
Harpers Ferry is a worthwhile stop in that area. You may want to throw in a stop at the outlet malls in Lancaster, PA to sweeten the pot for your wife. If you get to eastern MD, the museum at Aberdeen is a great trip. Not too far north of there, Havre De Grace, MD sits on the point where the Susquehanna River becomes the Chesapeake Bay (based on salinity). There’s a beautiful old light house there, lots of neat little restaurants and shops and the national duck decoy museum if you’re into that kind of thing.
Ball’s Bluff is an interesting small battlefield that is well preserved and interpreted. The battle had far reaching consequences. It’s worth a visit.
The best kept secret among Civil War enthusiast sites is Old Blandford Church in Petersburg, VA. The Tiffany stained glass windows are stunning. I have visited many times and taken guests, who never fail to be impressed.
First off, I’ve never been in it - not much of a civil war buff, but I’ve been told by those who’ve been to it (and it was profiled on CSPAN) that the civil war museum in Harrisburg is supposedly one of the best in the country.
Many people didn’t know that Harrisburg was a staging area (the area known as Camp Curtin) for civil war troops.
It isn’t that long of a drive from Gettysburg, about an hour following 15 north.
>>>>There are three places I recommend to everyone in Virginia:<<<<
A couple of additional recommendations for Virginia visitors: The MacArthur Memorial in Norfolk, and the Pungo Air Museum in Virginia Beach. You could spend a couple days at PAM and still not take it all, in.
Be careful in The Inner Harbor...
It ain’t what it used to be.
Bingo.
AVOID Richmond, VA. The beautiful home of “Monument Avenue” no longer exists.
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