Harpers Ferry, WV

It's incredible but true - I've never been to Harpers Ferry.  Just about an hour's drive for us, we made the trek there Saturday morning without much planning.  The boys weren't enthused at first; they wanted to go to the C+O Canal again, so I told them that the C+O Canal continues all the way to Harpers Ferry.  That did the trick.

Being our first time there we didn't know what to do expect.  We went to the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park and took the shuttle down.  The shuttle is extremely convenient and comes frequently so it was great.  From there, we headed down to the Shenandoah River first - BB's request.  They threw rocks, sticks and leaves into the river and said hello to two groups of rapids riders.  Next stop was the blacksmith shop - DD's request, but he quickly lost interest when he realized the blacksmith was making a candleholder and not swords.  We popped into the little shops, had lunch at a tiny little restaurant, then crossed the Potomac River on the Harpers Ferry Tunnel.  (Check out this historic photo of the ferry tunnel here).  After doing some rock climbing of the retaining wall on that side, we crossed back to climb to the top of St. Peter's Church, and then descended again to the river for some last minute frolicking.  The light and weather were perfect as the BB and DD jumped from rock to rock in the water.  We knew that shoes and pants would be wet at some point but it didn't matter.