Tackling our Northern Neck, Virginia, Bucket List Items

Back on the trail...somewhat...as we work through a bucket list before we move overseas in a few weeks.   

Life has been incredibly hectic the past several years.  A new baby (now 5), sudden deployment to Iraq, coupled with purchasing a 'fixer-upper' home and being assigned as a commander of a reserve unit while homeschooling three children has been quite a bit to balance these past several years.  Needless to say, letterboxing as well as most hobbies have taken a backseat to life.

We will soon be relocating from our little patch of land within the shadow of the banks of the Potomac River and George Washington's beloved Mount Vernon in Northern Virginia to Germany.  As we prepare to depart for this move, we're quickly exploring several of the items on our 'bucket list'; all those places that we kept meaning to visit because they were 'oh-so-close' yet never managed to visit because they were 'oh-so-close'.  Now that we're down to less than a calendar month until we depart we're scrambling to not only prepare for the move (a herculean task in itself) but also to visit several of these areas to get our 'fill' of US history before we go--as it goes hand in hand with homeschooling.  

Today, we visited George Washington's Ferry Farm near Fredericksburg, VA on the banks of the Rappahannock River where he spent his childhood, his birthplace on the banks overlooking Pope's Creek near Colonial Beach a good 30 miles away from Ferry Farm, Stratford Hall (Robert E. Lee's birthplace about 7 miles away from Pope's Creek) and James Monroe's birthplace near Colonial Beach (about 6 miles the opposite direction from Pope's Creek).  A lot to take in during one day but absolutely fascinating to see the various childhood dwellings/locations of each of these key figures in American history.

Pictures to follow once I get my act together. ;)