Antietam

Last Friday Holly and I went out to Sharpsburg to walk around Antietam Battlefield. We have only been there twice and we didn't get to walk around a whole lot. This time we were able to go down a few trails that we'd never been down before and we were also able to enjoy the same places we had visited the last couple of times we'd been there.Now I understand why they're called the Blue Ridge mountains.

Artwork engraved or etched (I can't remember which is which) and hung on one of the monuments.

Burnside Bridge

Flowers by the visitor center.

A sign we saw while passing through Shepherdstown. This is SO typical of Shepherdstown.

The weather has been SO beautiful lately! I'm sad that I have to go back to work because I can't spend my afternoons outside. Luckily for me I have tomorrow afternoon off! I have an orthodontist appointment. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my dentist will tell me I can get my braces off in the next month! I've worn braces for almost 2 years now. I'm so excited to get them off!

Doing the Charleston :)

Actually, I do know how to do the Charleston (I think). This is a very late post about my trip to Charleston. I went there for a 'business' trip with my boss and co-worker. I feel so grown-up saying I went on a business trip. It was really an expanded functions course conference. I learned how to place sealants and pack cord and fun things like that. I got a couple of pictures of our hotel room. It looked a lot like the Marriott I stayed at in DC, only not as pretty. I didn't really get pictures of the city as it was only about 17*F outside and we always stayed inside the Marriott (home sweet hotel of mine :) or we were hanging out at the 3 story mall right across the street from the Marriott. Which was fun. :)
I did get a picture of this building while we were walking back from dinner. I am not sure if it is a temple or a mosque. It was very pretty though. It started snowing and it looked so beautiful I took a picture of it. Unfortunately the picture doesn't do the building justice. Oh well. Hopefully you have some idea of what it looks like.
I did not particularly like Charleston. We found that the people were not really friendly. There were a few very nice people that we came into contact with, but for the most part we found a lot of people to be very aloof and even rude. Bummer.

It was not a bad trip. The classes I took were interesting for the most part. We enjoyed shopping around and going out for dinner together. The hotel had a really nice restaurant with healthy food. It's nice to have some healthy options because it seems hard to find nutritious foods to eat when you are staying away from home. People usually go to restaurants and everything is greasy or really bready or something. Or at least that has been my experience.

We also stopped at the outlet mall (which was teeny tiny) to stretch our legs a little bit and to go inside the Fiesta Ware store. Apparently Fiesta Ware is based in WV and they do have beautiful dishes. They are really expensive too! The store we visited had a 'Seconds' room where there were lots of dishes with minor defects (unnoticeable ones actually) for really cheap prices. So if you ever want to buy some Fiesta Ware dishes take the road the goes to nowhere and stop at the itty bitty outlets. It's as easy as anything.

As far as capitals go, my favorites are Austin, Texas and DC. In that order. Is that a little weird? I've been to Raleigh too, but can't remember it it was so long ago. Sorry Charleston, but you don't quite make it onto my favorites list. Thanks for letting me come visit for a short while though!

I just love our library...

And it's many staircases. I am finding that I love architecture. Maybe I should do that instead of dental hygiene...or maybe not. :(


I had some other pictures that I took here. Pictures of things other than staircases. Unfortunately, my jumpdrive has been acting really wonky, so I couldn't find them to load them on here. Maybe I'll update this post in the future. :)

From way back in September.

I've been trying to post this picture for awhile now and the computer wouldn't let me. So I finally got it up today. These are pictures from our trip to Maine. This one was taken at a gas station where we stopped to fill up and get directions. The water came right up to the road. There was water everywhere. And the houses looked really old and the towns were very quaint. It was beautiful. It'd be nice to go there in the summer, but I don't think I'd like it in the winter very much. But it's a beautiful place!These were taken on the ride home. I think they're somewhere in New York or Pennsylvania. If it was taken in Pennsylvania it was somewhere near Scranton. A place that lives in infamy now. :)
The drive to Maine is a pretty one, but a long one. We made the trip back in September and it's now July. Well, August first is tomorrow so it's almost August. In an hour and 32 minutes it will be August. You get the idea. And like I said, I haven't been able to load them up since then. Or since January when I started this blog. But now you can see what I saw.
Okay, now I'm really going to bed.

A visit to Antietam Battlefield

Why are battlefields such peaceful places? The ones I've been to are kept up beautifully and are so quiet. I can't imagine the awful things that happened there when it's so peaceful like it was today.I took a whole bunch of pictures. Over a 100 actually, but I'm only posting 10 here.
This was one of many statues. A whole bunch of the statues are obylisks. I'm know I didn't spell that right so sorry about that. Anyway, I heard that the obylisk is a masonic symbol. So I'm wondering if maybe we took a low plane ride over the battlefield we might notice some kind of pattern made up by the statues and find a National Treasure??? Don't worry, I'm just kidding. :P

This was the Poffinberger farm.

It was kinda hot outside, but breezy. It was such a beautiful day!

I think Mom and Dad pulled off on the side of the road so I could take this one. They did that for me a lot actually. :)

I think that if I ever do move away from here, I will miss seeing the mountains.

Dad asked me to take this one.

This was on the way to see the Burnside Bridge. I have other pictures from that and I'll post them later!

I think this was on the way back from the bridge.

And this was the last one I took. I figured I ought to get a picture of one of the many cannons that were in the park.

I bet if we went back in the fall it would be really pretty!

I went someplace pretty today!

To a park up in Maryland.  And then to an Asian restaurant...but I didn't take any pictures of that. :) 

And as usual I took about 5 million pictures of where I was.  I love being in new places where there are lots of pretty things to photograph.

"Now All I've Got Is A Photograph..."

I like that Ringo Starr song "Photograph." At least I think that's what it's called. :P

I also love Harpers Ferry. I really like history, and I love this place because so much happened there. Every time I go there I take a bajillion pictures. Here are a few pics I've taken this past year.

A view of the mountain from the church.


Houses in the town.

My brother in behind the church.

My sister on the ruins of an old building.

A cute restaurant downtown.

I have a ton more pictures of this little town. I love being here and places like Antietam. So much happened in these places. You are walking on the same ground that battles were fought on and history was made when you walk in these places. I would love to go to Israel for that same reason someday. All the amazing things that happened there...it would be great. I suppose that's one of the reasons I would like to travel someday. Not to resort places like Hawaii and the Bahamas, but to countries where important things happened. Only that is super expensive so it may never happen. :)

Now maybe my next post will be about something I've made. We'll see....:)