Photo Entry: Harpers Ferry

I have the pleasure to visit Maryland/ Washington DC area for work and the chance to take a weekend off to visit the area. Back in 2004, I did an internship in Towson, Maryland, which is on the north end of the state. Maryland is not a big state, but a very diverse and beautiful one. It has a wide demographic in terms of population, almost reminds me of Toronto, and beautiful landscapes and mountains towards the west part of the state. As soon as I was leaving the airport to the hotel, I can see cyclists riding on the winding bike trails along the woods. It's just like Atlanta, may be better... I don't know. Both are my dream lands.

After the official business was done, I was free to roam about. Instead of going into DC and be a typical tourist, I took a friend advice and went to visit Harpers Ferry instead. Harpers Ferry is a historic little town located in West Virgina, at the corner between Maryland, West Virgina and Virgina. Basically, you can be in 3 states within minutes. It is historic because an event happened here that was one of the trigger points of the American Civil War ( Read it on Wiki if you want), and the town has pretty much become a theme park/ museum. Half of the downtown are preserved and decorated to show visitors the lifestyle of folks from the Civil War era. The other half are businesses to serve the visitors. So really, it's a theme park except you don't have to pay an entrance fee.



It was pouring, and I mean.... cats and dogs pouring! Harpers Ferry is also sorta half way point of the Appalachian trail that runs from North Georgia to Maine. Hikers will take about 6 months to hike between the ends and Harpers Ferry is one of the towns where the trails runs directly into. We first stopped at the Appalachian trail visitors center, and sure enough, there were hikers taking shelter from the heavy rain.










Just like the hikers, we were trapped. Well, we are adventurous, brave and strong, so my friend and I were not going to let these puny little droplets of water stop us from making our trip worth while, so we headed towards downtown.













Since Harpers Ferry sits in a valley at the merging point between two rivers, the terrain is pretty hilly and houses sit on sloping grounds connected by steep stair ways. Since I've been stuck in South Florida where the only hills are land fills, this is refreshing to me. I haven't really climbed stairs for quite a while, real ones, made of natural rock, just like these.






















After lingering for a while, our patience and perseverance paid off. The rain stopped and the sky was clearing!!! Together with the setting sun, it was a trip well worth making. So it was more photos and more photos for me.





















For more photos of Harpers Ferry, please visit HERE!!!