Harper's Ferry

April 26, 2009. On a hot Sunday in late April, the Walker family took a trip to Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. Harper's Ferry is a quaint, historical community located an hour's drive away at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers. Located right along the river bank, this once active manufacturing town is the site of John Brown's famous raid against slavery and the largest surrender of Federal troops during the Civil War.

Despite the unseasonable 90+ degree heat, we took a stroll through the sleepy town, enjoyed a lunch out, walked across the footbridge spanning the river, and spent time 'feeding' the geese. When first arriving in the town and as I was getting the stroller and gear out of the car, Erik walked Lincoln over to a spot out of the way and in the shade. Much to their surprise, moments later a large train roared by. They were standing no more than ten feet away from the tracks. Thankfully Lincoln didn't shrek, but rather he held on tight, and when the train was off in the distance, Lincoln looked at Erik thoughtfully and said, "All done train, loud." But for the rest of the day, including the entire ride home, about every five minutes we heard, "More again train, loud. All done." We concluded that he really did like the train, but he just didn't want it to be quite so loud.


Lincoln was thrilled to walk across the bridge, but despite this single photographic moment, Erik and I both were untrusting of the railings, and elected to carry him safely in our arms most of the way. Though Lincoln probably would have thought it cool, I wasn't to keen on the idea of a train unexpectedly appearing out of the tunnel and whizzing past us as we stood on the bridge.

Lincoln taking in the scenary and Daddy with a tight grip.

Lincoln got really excited when he heard a helicopter; however, either the sunlight in his eyes or the way the sound carried over the water threw him off, because we never could get him to look in the right direction to actually see it fly by (pictured top right).

Lincoln seen here telling us about the loud train.

There were quite a few geese around and though we didn't have any food, a few geese came to check out the rocks that Lincoln was happily throwing in the water.

This picture is proof that what people leave behind, nature will eventually take back.