Laura Bourdo

Hi all --

Please excuse the cross-post, but I want to reach as many people as possible.

Liam (16) and I are taking a road trip this October (hopefully) to visit Civil War battlefields, and I was thinking that some of you might have input about good places to stop and see on the way.

I've got a guidebook for National Civil War Parks, and we are looking at sites in Mississippi, Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania -- all the major battle sites, plus Appomatox Courthouse and Washington DC. We'll also be travelling the Natchez Trace from southern Mississippi to southern Tennessee and taking a look at some non-Civil War sites there, as well.

Question first: Have you been to any CW sites that were particularly riveting that we just shouldn't miss?

Second: We've only got two weeks altogether, and will be driving from Houston to DC and back, so time is of the essence. What would you particularly recommend in the DC area? We just can't do the whole thing, and this is not the trip for it. I was thinking of Ford's Theater...are there any other particular CW sites that we should visit there? (I know....I'm checking online too. :-)

Third: Any great places to eat or stay? We're looking at a tight budget, but can splurge once in awhile.

Fourth: Good scenic routes? In particular, can anyone tell me if Interstate 81 through western Virginia is good? I'd love to be able to get off the interstates altogether and take back roads, but we just won't have the time. The map looks like 81 goes right through the long middle of the W. Virginia mountains on the west and the Blue Ridge on the East. Is it nice there, or have they managed to make that interstate as boring as so many others? We will, however, be able to take back roads for select periods. Any favorites?

Thanks in advance for your time in responding!
Laura B.



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TreeGoddess

On Aug 24, 2004, at 7:44 PM, Laura Bourdo wrote:

> [Liam (16) and I are taking a road trip this October (hopefully) to
> visit Civil War battlefields, and I was thinking that some of you
> might have input about good places to stop and see on the way.
>
> I've got a guidebook for National Civil War Parks, and we are looking
> at sites in Mississippi, Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland, and
> Pennsylvania -- all the major battle sites, plus Appomatox Courthouse
> and Washington DC. ]

Laura,

That trip sounds so cool! I'd love to do the same one day. My family
has a lot of ties to Civil War soldiers. I especially would like to
visit the site of the Battle of Chancellorsville in VA where my
relative, Brigadier-General Elisha Franklin ("Bull") Paxton, was
killed. He was "Stonewall" Jackson's right hand man apparently. If
you go to Chancellorsville keep an eye out for his name. I *think*
there is a plaque on a bridge there with his name on it (along with
some battle history) but I can't seem to locate my disc that has the
photo on it. LOL

-Tracy-


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kayb85

> Third: Any great places to eat or stay? We're looking at a tight
budget, but can splurge once in awhile.

I assume when you say you're going to a civil war battlefield in PA,
you're talking about Gettysburg. :)

I haven't been there, but someone once told me that the Dubbin House
Tavern in Gettysburg is a cool place to eat. While you're waiting
for your food you can go tour the basement and see where the slaves
stayed in the underground railroad.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g60798-d112991-r1721229-
Historic_Dobbin_House_Tavern-Gettysburg_Pennsylvania.html

http://www.ohwy.com/pa/d/dnsartsg.htm

You might want to call first to make sure you don't have to make any
type of reservations, and to make sure you'll get to see where the
slaves were.

"In particular, can anyone tell me if Interstate 81
through western Virginia is good?"

This might be of interest to you:
http://www.ihoz.com/I81.html

If you take the Hershey/Grantville exit on interstate 81 and follow
the signs to the Hershey attractions, you can do Chocolate World.
It's a ride that's a simulation of the Chocolate Factory, and at the
end you get a free candy bar. It's completely free. I think it's
about 7 miles off of 81.
http://www.hersheyschocolateworld.com/chocolate_tour.shtml

Sheila

mamaaj2000

--- In [email protected], "Laura Bourdo"
<LauraBourdo@h...> wrote:

> What would you particularly recommend in the DC area?

Laura, this is just down the road from me, but I've never been, so I
don't know how interesting it is:
http://www.surratt.org

--aj

SHYRLEY WILLIAMS

Harpers Ferry is fun. About 35 miles from DC. The Mannassas battlefields look like....big fields.....

Shyrley who used to live there.

mamaaj2000 <mamaaj2000@...> wrote:
--- In [email protected], "Laura Bourdo"
<LauraBourdo@h...> wrote:

> What would you particularly recommend in the DC area?

Laura, this is just down the road from me, but I've never been, so I
don't know how interesting it is:
http://www.surratt.org

--aj




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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[email protected]

In a message dated 8/25/2004 1:45:38 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
shyrley.williams@... writes:

What would you particularly recommend in the DC area?






The Chancelorsville battlefields just outside of Fredericksburg, VA (which
also has more battlefields) still has the trenches that the soldiers lay in as
they battled back and forth. Very wooded (Manassas are open fields like
Shyrley said), one can stand in the calm stillness and almost hear the cannons
roar and see the soldiers fall (of course it probably helps if one is an avid
Civil War buff and really LIKES these kinds of settings).


There is a huge Civil War cemetery in Fredericksburg way up on a hill that
you walk about five hundred dug in the ground steps to get to that's pretty
interesting.

Lots of cannons, all have visitors centers with lots of info on that
particular place and battle.

Manassas does have the statue of Stonewall Jackson and IF you go there I
would recommend a stop at the "Stone House" at the corner of Sudley Road and
Rte.29 (where the roads to the battlefields intersect basically). This is/was
a tavern converted into a field hospital. The inside is the same as in the
war. Lots of strange instruments and such. Cannonballs are still embedded in
the exterior of the old building.

One thing in the DC area that I would also highly recommend, which is a
world away from the Civil War is the brand new Air and Space Museum that is right
beside Dulles Airport in Chantilly ( a short distance but can be a long
drive because of traffic from Manassas). Lots of hands on stuff and close ups of
planes and even a Space Shuttle is there.

Of course DC proper has more museums and experiences than imaginable.

As for the drive down I-81 it's about like any interstate drive these days.
You will see some rolling hillsides and farm animals and rock walls as you
get closer to Blacksburg and the more mountainous regions of VA.

You CAN however experience the Blue Ridge Parkway and there you will likely
see deer, possibly black bear, and LOTS of green and you can see valley's
below and the views are very beautiful.

IF you want to experience going south into VA but want to escape the mundane
world of the interstate, Route 11 runs mostly parallel and it is WAY less
developed and winds through the countryside without a lot of the usual Cracker
Barrels and Wendy's and such.

glena



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[email protected]

In a message dated 8/25/2004 2:54:17 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
rubyprincesstsg@... writes:

What would you particularly recommend in the DC area?




Also when you are in the Fredericksburg area you are a little over two hours
from dipping your toes in the Atlantic Ocean at VA Beach. Going towards
there are of course Norfolk and Portsmouth with lots of Navy ships, etc., to see.

Cait reminded me to also tell you about Morefield Mine, which is about one
hour south of Fredericksburg and a wonderful place to explore and collect and
bring home REAL minerals and gems you find.

Another short trip (just maybe 15 miles north of Fredericksburg VA) is
Goldvein, VA with a gold mining museum and with a bit of advanced notice they will
have someone there to assist you in panning for gold and sometimes the kids
find real nuggets.

These are just something's that might be of interest if you wanted to add a
bit more than Civil
War sites to your trip.

glena


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

crazeemom77043

--- In [email protected], TreeGoddess
<treegoddess@c...> wrote:

> Laura,
>
> That trip sounds so cool! I'd love to do the same one day. My
family
> has a lot of ties to Civil War soldiers. I especially would like
to
> visit the site of the Battle of Chancellorsville in VA where my
> relative, Brigadier-General Elisha Franklin ("Bull") Paxton, was
> killed. He was "Stonewall" Jackson's right hand man apparently.
If
> you go to Chancellorsville keep an eye out for his name. I *think*
> there is a plaque on a bridge there with his name on it (along with
> some battle history) but I can't seem to locate my disc that has
the
> photo on it. LOL
>
> -Tracy-


Tracy --

I'll keep my eyes out for Bull Paxton at Chancellorsville. It's
definitely one of the places we're planning to see.

Laura B.

crazeemom77043

--- In [email protected], "kayb85" <sheran@p...>
wrote:

> I haven't been there, but someone once told me that the Dubbin
House
> Tavern in Gettysburg is a cool place to eat. While you're waiting
> for your food you can go tour the basement and see where the slaves
> stayed in the underground railroad.
>
> Sheila


Sheila --

Dobbin House sounds JUST like my cup of tea (or mug of ale :-). I've
bookmarked the site, and will call for reservations.

The Underground Railroad connection is perfect too. I want to get to
an UR museum (either in Kentucky or in Pennsylvania), we're visiting
the African-American Museum in DC, plus Liam wants to read _Uncle
Tom's Cabin_ and a biography of Harriet Tubman, so...it all fits.

Thanks!

Laura B.

crazeemom77043

--- In [email protected], "mamaaj2000"
<mamaaj2000@y...> wrote:

> Laura, this is just down the road from me, but I've never been, so
I
> don't know how interesting it is:
> http://www.surratt.org
>
> --aj

AJ -- The Surratt House sounds fascinating, and is close by where
we'll be, so as of right now, it's on the itinerary. Thanks for the
link! We're going to visit Ford's Theater in DC, so this is the
perfect connection to John Wilkes Booth.

Laura B.

crazeemom77043

--- In [email protected], SHYRLEY WILLIAMS
<shyrley.williams@b...> wrote:
> Harpers Ferry is fun. About 35 miles from DC. The Mannassas
battlefields look like....big fields.....
>
> Shyrley who used to live there.
>

Nice to know, Shyrley, that Harper's Ferry is worth the time. I'd
planned a stop there. How much time would you give it? We're
heading up to Gettysburg the same day, and I know I need a full day
there...

About Manassas, Liam is really interested in military strategy, so
even though you're not the first to tell me about its'...fields :-),
I think he'll still have fun visualizing. We've got a neat book I
found at a used bookstore that has maps and charts and statistics
about all the major battles of the war, and he wants to wander
through that pretty thoroughly.

Laura B.

crazeemom77043

--- In [email protected], rubyprincesstsg@a...
wrote:
>
> The Chancelorsville battlefields just outside of Fredericksburg, VA
(which
> also has more battlefields) still has the trenches that the
soldiers lay in as
> they battled back and forth. Very wooded (Manassas are open fields
like
> Shyrley said), one can stand in the calm stillness and almost hear
the cannons
> roar and see the soldiers fall (of course it probably helps if one
is an avid
> Civil War buff and really LIKES these kinds of settings).

RIGHT up Liam's alley. We'll do it.

>
>
> There is a huge Civil War cemetery in Fredericksburg way up on a
hill that
> you walk about five hundred dug in the ground steps to get to
that's pretty
> interesting.

Ooof.

<snip>
> Manassas does have the statue of Stonewall Jackson and IF you go
there I
> would recommend a stop at the "Stone House" at the corner of Sudley
Road and
> Rte.29 (where the roads to the battlefields intersect
basically). This is/was
> a tavern converted into a field hospital. The inside is the same
as in the
> war. Lots of strange instruments and such. Cannonballs are still
embedded in
> the exterior of the old building.

This sounds awesome.

<snip>
> You CAN however experience the Blue Ridge Parkway and there you
will likely
> see deer, possibly black bear, and LOTS of green and you can see
valley's
> below and the views are very beautiful.

I've traveled parts of the Blue Ridge Highway before, and would love
to show them to Liam.

<snip>

Thanks, Glena!

Laura B.

SHYRLEY WILLIAMS

Half a day is fine. There's only one museum worth going into. Oh, you could look at the waxworks just to see how bad they can actually be. The bookshop is pretty good and the walk along the river to where the Shenandoah and Potomac meet is beautiful.
If you do go the Fredericksburg, there's a civil war museum there. Well worth a vist as they manage to set the whole thing in such a way that you could think the south won! (Ah think theyur still sore about it down there in Virginny)

Shyrley

crazeemom77043 <LauraBourdo@...> wrote:
--- In [email protected], SHYRLEY WILLIAMS
<shyrley.williams@b...> wrote:
> Harpers Ferry is fun. About 35 miles from DC. The Mannassas
battlefields look like....big fields.....
>
> Shyrley who used to live there.
>

Nice to know, Shyrley, that Harper's Ferry is worth the time. I'd
planned a stop there. How much time would you give it? We're
heading up to Gettysburg the same day, and I know I need a full day
there...

About Manassas, Liam is really interested in military strategy, so
even though you're not the first to tell me about its'...fields :-),
I think he'll still have fun visualizing. We've got a neat book I
found at a used bookstore that has maps and charts and statistics
about all the major battles of the war, and he wants to wander
through that pretty thoroughly.

Laura B.



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