Appalachia and Washington DC

At our first stop, we visited several Underground Railroad stops in Mt Pleasant, Ohio. Members of the local Historical Society opened our visit with a tour of the largest Quaker Meeting House I had ever seen. This building, roughly the size of a high school gymnasium, can seat 2,000 people.

This restored log cabin dates back to 1803, the year of Ohio's statehood. While we toured it and the other buildings in Mt Pleasant, we were serenaded by millions upon billions of cicadas, out for their 17-year joyride.

That evening, we reached our cabins, located in a campground on the Potomac River near Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. 

The next morning, we went river rafting on the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers; no photos of that, though--phones are not a good idea in Class III rapids. In the afternoon, we toured Harpers Ferry (above and below), including some information from a guide in 19th century garb and a tour of the outstanding little John Brown Museum.

John Brown is on the left.

Here we are atop Jefferson's Rock (above and below), with a view of Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia
at the convergence of the Potomac and the Shenandoah.

We closed the trip with a day in Washington, where we ate Native American food for lunch and Ethiopian food for dinner.
In between, we walked the length of the National Mall from the US Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial.

We visited the Museum of the American Indian, the Air & Space Museum, and the Vietnam Memorial,
with the Lincoln Memorial serving as a capstone to our study of abolition.

We read through the Gettysburg Address and the conclusion of the Second Inaugural Address, noting in particular Lincoln's generosity of spirit toward all of those, black and white, North and South, soldier and family, who suffered in the Civil War.