We brought the baby hiking backpack to carry Ellie along the trails, but we forgot to clear this with Ellie first. She was not a fan. As it turned out, we did only one hike: Rapidan Camp. Thankfully, it turned out to be the best choice, as we were the only ones there and received a private tour at our destination! Prepare yourself for a little history lesson, folks!
Rapidan Camp was the private retreat of Herbert Hoover, America's 31st president who was in the White House from 1929 to 1933. Herbert Hoover was the first full-time president. The 30 presidents before him took 3-4 months off in the summer like Congress and they returned to their homes during that time. Hoover decided that wouldn't do during the Depression years, but he did require occasional time away from Washington. He sent out one of his men to find a spot that met some very specific requirements: it had to be within 100 miles of Washington, it had to have great fishing and it had to be above 2500 feet to escape the worst humidity and mosquitos. A site was found in what was to eventually become Shenandoah National Park. Hoover bought over 100 acres with his own money, but 150 Marines cleared the spot and the roads to it and built a camp with several cabins for guests, cabinet members, and important visitors, as well as other buildings including a mess hall, a "town hall" (where games were played and everyone could meet to chat), an office to request items from the Filipino servants who had been reassigned from the mothballed presidental yacht...
Rapidan Camp is located at the headwaters of the Rapidan River, and Hoover apparently was so eager to get fishing that he would often be in the river with his rod and reel without changing out of his suit and tie straight from the drive from Washington. When Roosevelt was elected, Hoover offered Rapidan Camp to him, but Roosevelt didn't like the spot. He found a different place and named it "Shangrilah"...a name that was later changed to "Camp David". So there you have it. Rapidan Camp--a fairly humble and quite cozy cabin in the woods--was the first "Camp David." Be prepared to be quizzed later.
Ellie handled the trek to and from Rapidan Camp with minimal complaints, but she made it clear that repeating such hikes would not be advisable. The next day, we drove instead to Luray Caverns (the largest cave system on the Eastern Shore) and then on to Monticello (home of Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States) and Charlottesville.
During this trip, we purchased a National Parks Passport for Ellie, and we're starting to collect some good stamps. She's been to Mount Vernon and Monticello, on the Appalacian Trail (though just for a dozen yards or so), and in Shenandoah. She's also been to Great Falls National Park, though we didn't get a stamp yet. We're so happy to have the opportunities to visit these wonderful places. The US truly has an amazing national parks system, and we love to take advantage of it!
On the way out, we stayed one last night with Mimi, whom Ellie was THRILLED to see! That part of our stay went way too fast, so we hope we'll be able to plan a real vacation with Mimi sometime in the fall. For now, we need to recover from jetlag and unpack the massive amounts of luggage we always seem to take with us.
3 comments:
Oh I wish you had told me that you were going to Monticello, I think I might have been able to get you into the rooms that they generally don't let the public into. I could've called and asked if they would have let you take a private tour of those rooms, especially since you live overseas.... I'm glad that you had a great time though.
It was an unplanned stop, but we had fun anyway. Maybe we'll be able to use your insider connection sometime in the future. :)
Even if Ellie didn't approve, I LOVE the picture of her in the hiking backpack! Too cute! Glad you had a good time and that you are safely back home!
Karly
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