Across the USA

I LOVE living in Germantown, Maryland! We are right in the middle of some of the greatest places in the Unites States! We are just down the street from our nation's capital and tons of national history; we can go to Philadelphia, New York City, Boston, Richmond VA, or Raleigh NC for a day trip; we can get to a beach within a few hours (a necessity in my book); we live very close to Revolutionary War and Civil War battlefields (a necessity in my father's book); we are fifteen minutes away from the Washington D.C. temple where Chris and I were married over two years ago...this place is awesome. We are fully taking advantage of it while we are here!

Saturday was the Cherry Hill NJ Stake temple day (along with two other stakes that we know of) so Mimi, Pop-pop, Katie, and Julia arrived Friday night and spent the night with us. Katie and Julia were kind enough to watch Liz for Chris and me so we could go to the temple with my parents. It was packed! (It usually is on a Saturday.) We even saw a wedding which was nice--always reminds me of my wedding :)

We got back to our place with the entire afternoon to spare so we headed west to Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. (Another great point about the Eastern US--you can drive an hour or two and be in a completely different state! Not like the West where you can be traveling for FIVE hours or more and still be in the same state.) We entered the National park, waited a few minutes with some entertainment,

and took a bus to the actual town of Harper's Ferry:

Harper's Ferry was once a bustling town, as it is situated on the banks of where the Potomac River and the Shenandoah River meet. When the US economy relied on waterways and railroads, Harper's Ferry was the place to be. Harper's Ferry also has some claim in the Revolutionary and Civil Wars (I forget what exactly...but my dad can tell you!)


What's great about this town is that it has kept its charm that it had over a hundred years ago.



There are no McDonald's, gas stations, or supermarkets. There are antique stores, family-owned and operated taverns, used book stores, jewelry stores, etc. Beautiful!

One of our favorite things was the bridge that goes over the Potomac. It begins on the West Virginia side in Harper's Ferry; when you reach the other side of the bridge you are in Maryland! The rivers and the area surrounding it are absolutely gorgeous.



I'll readily admit to you that when I thought of West Virgina, I thought of brown scraggly dirt with some scattered trees (sorry to my WV friends). I now know that my first thoughts of the state were completely wrong. West Virginia is really "wild and wonderful," as their license plates say.

We loved it and we can't wait to go back!