I’d heard of Harpers Ferry and how cute it was several times and seen other people’s pictures on FB. But I also knew it was in West Virginia, and, last time I checked, West Virginia was about a three-hour drive from DC. When I finally looked on the map, I discovered that Harpers Ferry was actually at the very tip of the northern arm of West Virginia that dipped down into “regular” Virginia and was barely an hour from DC. No wonder people kept going there! I also never realized how much the shape of West Virginia looked like a Thanksgiving turkey.
So we took advantage of our last weekend after Turkey Day and drove on over. Harpers Ferry is a little different because the entire town is actually a National Historic Park. You can drive straight into downtown without passing any kind of access point, but there is a $20 fee per car. You have two options for parking: You can park in the main NPS parking lot, pay the fee as you enter, and take the free shuttle downtown. Or you can park in the one tiny parking lot downtown by the train station. But you will get a hefty parking ticket if you don’t pay your entrance fee and display it in the car window. Street parking is for residents only.
For some reason, the weekend after Thanksgiving with beautiful weather was absolutely packed! We drove into downtown and did a quick pass of the parking lot that was completely full and had half a dozen cars just sitting there waiting for someone to leave. Then we make a quick U-turn and went back and parked in the NPS lot, which was free with my ANNUAL NATIONAL PARK PASS. Woo hoo!
Happily, the crowds hadn’t quite infiltrated the restaurants yet. After disembarking the shuttle, we made a beeline to The Rabbit Hole Gastropub. We sat in a sunny spot on their back deck with amazing views facing the hills across the Potomac River and watched the trains go by. One of the interesting points about Harpers Ferry is that it sits on the convergence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers. And depending on which bank you’re standing, you could be in one of the three neighboring states: West Virginia, Virginia, or Maryland.
There’s also a lot of great hiking trails in the area. The Appalachian Trail that we’d caught a piece of in Little Stony Man a few weeks ago also runs through Harpers Ferry and takes a mere 27 hours to hike between the two. So after our lunch of a cheeseburger and portobello mushroom sandwich, we wandered around the historic town, hiked up to Jefferson Rock, and walked along the Appalachian Trail where it runs across a bridge over the river.
Another highlight of our visit was the True Treats Historic Candy Store. The store is filled with retro candies, and each area is sectioned off by time period. It was so much fun just to walk around and admire the different varieties. My kiddo stocked up on 1930s King’s Candy Cigarettes (ahem) and chocolate bars, while I procured a few seriously old-fashioned items like Blueberry Stain Glass Candy and spicy Candied Ginger.
Along with cute shops and restaurants, Harpers Ferry is also full of history. According to the NPS website, “Harpers Ferry witnessed the first successful application of interchangeable manufacture, the arrival of the first successful American railroad, John Brown’s attack on slavery, the largest surrender of Federal troops during the Civil War, and the education of former slaves in one of the earliest integrated schools in the United States.” Unfortunately, a lot of the exhibit buildings were closed when we were there. But we still had a lovely time walking around and admiring the 19th century architecture.
On the way back to DC we spontaneously stopped at a little farm store on the side of the road. We didn’t actually go in the store, instead we visited their small animal pen with half a dozen alpacas wearing Christmas hats. Christmas season has officially begun!
In-Flight Movie - DC Edition 