Marine Officers, Amish and Civil War

My time catching up with friends in Maryland included visits to Harper's Ferry West Virginia where the Potomac meets the Shenandoah River, site of civil war conflict and civil rights actions. Being a hot day I just wanted to be the one that was floating down the river in an inner tube. We even hiked some of the AppalachianTrail and the town was a great combination of old buildings and history. The scenery and trees were just beautiful and quite different to anything else I had seen in my travels so far.

Its hard to believe its been 8 years since we caught up. Falling back into old rhythms it seems like it was just few months ago we last saw each other. Good old Riley who is now 11 is still going strong.

Vera and I went to Annapolis for the day and had a tour of the Naval Academy which was amazing with a lot of french architecture and an amazing chapel. Although unfortunately classes were out and therefore all of the officers training weren't in situ. They only take the top of the top into the school and there is a huge focus on sport and fitness. It was very inspiring.

Its a cery cute town and I even managed to ensure that I had crab cakes, something Maryland is famous for.

On the last day Dave, Vera, Bethany and I went to Pennsylvania which meant crossing the mason dixon line and unlike at home I was able to visit 5 states in 4 days including DC which I flew out of.

In Pennsylvania we visited Intercourse which is the site of a major amish community and was amazing to see the carts on the roads and the houses that form the community. It was certainly an eye opener and just amazing to see hay balers pulled by 5 horses and a calf being carted around in the back of a cart.

It was wonderful to catch up and I left them organising princess birthday parties etc. After 2 hours to check in I started to make my way to Paris......