By Shelby
I really liked Frederick, Maryland. It was very clean and the buildings looked new. Next to the library downtown was a really nice canal with pretty plants. The one downside about the library was that we had to pay for parking. Monday, we decided to work from a library outside of town in Urbana, where we didn’t have to pay for parking.
After work, we went to a park to make chicken alfredo for dinner. As usual, it was quite a process. First, we steamed the broccoli and moved it to a glass dish. Then we cooked the pasta. Third, we poached the chicken breast. And finally, made the sauce and mixed it all together. We only have one pot, so we re-used it for everything. But it worked out. I think we’re becoming pretty good at cooking dinner on our grill. The chicken alfredo turned out very good. We were worried it was a bit watery because we hadn’t reduced the broth long enough, but it thickened up in the end. After dinner, we returned to Planet Fitness in Frederick. We noted that it’s starting to get dark out sooner. It’ll be interesting going forward when it gets dark out at 4:30 and we still have to make dinner.
Tuesday, we worked from the library in downtown Frederick. It was pretty nice. We returned to the parking garage where we parked the car to eat lunch. It wasn’t the most scenic, but we didn’t want to pack up food and bring it somewhere else.
After work, we drove to a trailhead for the Appalachian Trail and hiked a couple of miles. We thought it was pretty cool to hike along the Appalachian Trail. We hiked to Weverton Cliffs, where we came to a viewpoint of the Potomac River. We stayed until the sun set behind the hills and then started back to the car.
Since the weather looked bad for Thursday, we decided to take Wednesday off instead. We were going to Harpers Ferry, a historic town in West Virginia near the borders of Maryland and Virginia and where the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers meet. We started off the day by stopping at Denny’s for breakfast. After that, we went on a 6 mile hike in Loudoun Heights to a viewpoint of the town.
After the hike, we walked into Harpers Ferry. The historic part of the town was owned and preserved by the National Park Service. The buildings were turned into small museums that talked about each building’s history. A little further away from the town center, the buildings were privately owned. It was interesting to me that such a historic town remained pretty small overall. Many other historic towns eventually became cities, but Harpers Ferry didn’t.
We learned a lot about the history of the area. Thomas Jefferson visited the area, and sent Lewis there to prepare for the Lewis and Clark expedition. Early factories in the town used water to power mills and machines. The area became a transportation hub with canals and railroads competing for traffic. A federal armory was located in Harpers Ferry and was attacked in 1859 during John Brown’s Raid. During the Civil War, the town saw multiple battles and changed hands several times.
After exploring the downtown area, we walked uphill to Jefferson Rock. This is a rock that Thomas Jefferson famously stood near and declared that the view “was worth a voyage across the Atlantic”. After taking in the view, we went back downhill to eat dinner at a small restaurant.
After dinner, we drove to a grocery store in a nearby city to pick up a package from an Amazon Locker. The battery in our key fobs for the Prius seemed to be getting low and wasn’t working very well, so we had ordered new batteries. Then we continued on to Leesburg, Virginia to sleep at Planet Fitness.
Thursday, we worked from the Ashburn Library 20 minutes from Leesburg. It was probably the coldest library we’d been to so far. I don’t know why libraries always have to be so cold. After work, we drove into Centreville, where Spencer had lived while he was on co-op in 2017. We stopped by Spencer’s old work building and old apartment. Then we went to Wegmans to get groceries for our next dinner, a Thai coconut shrimp soup. It was nice to go to Wegmans again. That’s my favorite grocery store. We went to Planet Fitness to sleep.
Unfortunately, Planet Fitness didn’t have hot water in the women’s locker room, so I had a cold shower Friday morning. After a quick breakfast in the car, we drove to the metro station to go into DC. Our first stop in DC was the Washington Monument. Then we walked over to the Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials. We got food from a food truck for lunch.
My favorite part of the day was the National Botanic Garden. We went through different rooms with different types of plants, like the tropics, desert, and herbs. It was very cool, and free! After that, we walked over to the Capitol Building, which unfortunately was covered by a large white sheet in the front. It looked like they were doing some kind of renovation.
Our next stop was the Library of Congress. As it turned out, you need a timed ticket to go in, which we didn’t have. Oddly enough, you can still go online and book a ticket for a time that has already passed and we were able to get in then with no problems. Spencer is a big fan of Thomas Jefferson, so he was very excited to see the library. Our last stop of the day was the Supreme Court building. After seeing that, we returned to the metro station and went back to Centreville. We chose a different planet fitness this time.
Saturday, we went back into DC again. Our first stop was the White House. We were disappointed with how many fences there were. They really didn’t look good. Our next stop was the National Museum of American History. We didn’t have a specific plan to follow, so we walked through all the exhibits. In hindsight, it may have been better if we planned it out in advance.
We were planning on going to the Air and Space Museum, but it turned out that the whole museum was closed for renovations. That was disappointing. We did go to the Museum of Natural History. That was neat, but very busy. We saw the Hope Diamond and other gems and minerals. There were so many people. Our last stop for the day was the National Archives. This was the only place we had to wait in line to get in, but it didn’t take too long. We saw the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and Bill of Rights, and many other documents. Unfortunately, no photography was allowed, so we couldn’t get any pictures.
After such a busy week, we were happy to sleep in on Sunday morning. We took care of laundry and then went to a park to work on the website and relax. I made dinner while Spencer took a picture of me making dinner and wrote this sentence. He also finished uploading pictures to the website because he’s awesome. Overall, it was a good week. We saw lots of cool things.
Fun Facts from Week 22:
- The Appalachian Trail is almost 2200 miles long. Hikers typically take between 5 and 7 months to hike it completely. The north end starts in Maine and finishes in Georgia.
- Harpers Ferry got its name because a man named Robert Harper established a ferry to cross the river there in the 18th century.
- Wegmans is a highly rated grocery store with a fiercely loyal fan base. It is headquartered in Rochester, NY.
- The Prius’ wireless key fob contains a hidden physical key just in case the battery dies.
2 responses to “Week 22”
Hey! Just read your blog about the Air and Space Museum on the Mall being closed. Not sure if you are still in the area. However, you may already know that there is the “National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center” in Chantilly, VA (near Dulles Airport). It used to be called the “Annex”, I think.
We were there a year or 2 ago, and it was really good. It’s actually much larger than the main museum on the Mall.
Enjoy your Fall!
Mike
We did end up going to the Air and Space Museum in Chantilly. We had a great time! We didn’t even miss the museum that was closed. Thanks for the recommendation!