8th stop: A Winter's Afternoon in Warrenton VA

Friday, December 26, 2013. Anxious to continue our tour, we took the day after Christmas to travel further into Virginia. The destinations are farther from home now, so it requires more planning to take a "journey day". Today's trip took us to Fauquier and Culpeper Counties. We had visited lovely Warrenton in the summer, but had not visited any historical spots. We took the opportunity to visit the Old Jail (or "Old Gaol") Museum. It's hard to believe that prisoners wouldn't go crazy being in such a place. The rooms were damp and tiny. Some rooms had no heat. All prisoners were imprisoned together, regardless of the crime. The gallows was located in the recreation yard between the two buildings. This is also the home of a Fauquier County museum. Very interesting displays of the county in its early days and Civil War days. It was a short visit, affording us time to continue the tour further south on Route 15 into Culpeper.

This is not a real prisoner, but shows the conditions of the jail in the 1800s. Below, The Fauquier County Courthouse on Main Street.

As always, check out my links for current information on these historic sites.

A Whirlwind Adventure: 4th of July in Washington DC!

Thursday, July 4-Friday July 5. Although not exactly on the Hallowed Ground Journey, this was the trip of a lifetime! It was an amazing day and a half in our nation's capital (incidentally, the city of my birth).    [Click links for more information about the places we saw.]

Alison, excited to begin the trip

First stop: Lunch in Fairfax with my brother Larry. Every year, Larry shows his American pride by displaying Uncle Sammy on patriotic holidays.  After a short visit, he drove us to the Vienna/Fairfax Metro, freeing me to move around the city, unencumbered by my car.  This was no day to hunt for parking spaces!

Second stop:  Trip to DC on Metro.  Orange line to Metro Center, then Red line to Union Station. We did some amazing shopping in Union Station.       

In the Smithsonian store, Eddie practiced for his future occupation.

We have a fondness for Union Station, as did my mother.  Ever since she arrived in DC in 1951, Mom was greatly inspired by the majesty and vitality of this train station.  She even memorized some inscriptions from the exterior walls and quoted them when she addressed the graduating nurses at the University of Vermont (1986). [Read e-book of inscriptions.]

Reached our destination!  A short walk down Massachusetts Avenue and we arrived and checked into to the lovely and gracious Phoenix Park Hotel.  It is a luxurious hotel, only a block from the US Capitol, often frequented by senators and other important types.  We were impressed, but didn't hang around the room very long.  It was a short walk down the street to the Visitors Center of the US Capitol.  My niece, Ara Joleen Carbonneau gave us an excellent tour through the Capitol, then showed us to prime seating to view the concert.  Here are some of the pictures:

The US Capitol building

Here we are!

     With our amazing tour guide!

 Some of the many statues we saw:

            

 And the concert!! A Capitol Fourth!  We sat on balcony, overlooking the West Lawn.  We were in direct view of the concert stage-- indeed, in direct view of the entire National Mall all the way down to the Washington Monument.  An estimated 30,00 people were in attendance with us.  Headliners were Tom Bergeron, Neil Diamond, Barry Manilow and the National Symphony Orchestra.  I wish I could have taken a better picture of the fireworks-- you just had to have been there!

 

Fireworks right over the stage!

After the show, we stayed in the lovely Phoenix Park overnight.  We spent Friday at the Smithsonian Museum of American History, then back to Fairfax on Metro.  Perfect weather on both days and I'm sure we will always remember!