Frederick Disney Travel Agents Near Me

Overview

Introduction

Located 45 mi/75 km west of Baltimore amid rolling green hills, Frederick, Maryland, has a number of historical sights. Be prepared for unsightly urban sprawl around Frederick, but a definite must-see is the beautiful architecture in the Frederick National Historic District, which includes hundreds of buildings (many covered in trompe l'oeil murals) in 34 blocks of downtown.

Also in town is the National Museum of Civil War Medicine, which will give you an all-too-clear picture of the rigors wounded soldiers faced in the mid-1800s. The Roger Brooke Taney House offers tours by appointment of the Supreme Court justice's one-time home. He swore in seven U.S. presidents, and was also the brother-in-law of Francis Scott Key.

Several other sights highlight Frederick's past. Schifferstadt Architectural Museum is an excellent example of a German colonial farmhouse, and the Rose Hill Manor Park and Children's Museum is devoted to introducing kids to what life was like on an estate in the 1800s.

The Barbara Fritchie Home and Museum honors the woman who is said to have defiantly waved the Union flag when Confederate troops marched into Frederick during the Civil War (she was immortalized in a John Greenleaf Whittier poem). Mount Olivet Cemetery is the final resting place of Key, Fritchie and other famous figures.

If you're in town during November, see the Maryland Christmas Show, which includes six buildings full of crafts, food and fun. Frederick is also a treat for antiques collectors. It has a variety of shops to browse through.

Nearby are Catoctin Mountain Park, a beautiful forested area, and Cunningham Falls State Park, site of the state's tallest waterfall (78 ft/24 m). The cascade is located in a rocky gorge, and it's popular with picnickers who like to scramble up the rocks and dine by quiet pools. Maryland's 37-mi/60-km stretch of the Appalachian Trail is also in this area, as is presidential retreat Camp David (don't expect to drop by—it's too secluded to locate).

In nearby Emmitsburg is the National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first native-born U.S. citizen to become a Catholic saint, and the National Shrine Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, a replica of France's famous grotto.

If you don't find enough antiques shops in Frederick, go to New Market (also known as the "antiques capital of Maryland"), about 10 mi/16 km east. You'll find plenty there, along with craft shops and other stores, all housed in attractive old buildings.

In Thurmont (about 15 mi/25 km north of Frederick), you can see the Blue Blazes Still, an authentic whiskey still now operated by the National Park Service, and Loy's Station Bridge, a 90-ft-/27-m-long covered bridge. There are two other covered bridges in the area: the Utica Mills Bridge and the Roddy Road Bridge.

Overview

Introduction

Fredericksburg is associated with two eras of U.S. history: That of George Washington and that of the Civil War. Fredericksburg is where George Washington was alleged to have chopped down the cherry tree (in Reverend Weems' apocryphal parable).

Though the Washington tale is the stuff of legend more than fact, there are several actual sites related to his life and times. They include the Mary Washington House (home of the first president's mother), the James Monroe Museum and Memorial Library (take note of the desk on which the Monroe Doctrine was composed), Kenmore (the beautiful mansion of George Washington's sister, Betty Washington Lewis), the Hugh Mercer Apothecary Shop (a colonial pharmacy open for tours) and the Rising Sun Tavern Museum (a hotbed of revolutionary activity, once owned by Washington's brother, Charles).

During the Civil War, Fredericksburg's position on the Rappahannock River between Richmond, the Confederate capital, and Washington, D.C., the Union capital, made it a crucial battleground. More than 100,000 troops died there before the war was over.

Four major engagements took place within a 17-mi/27-km radius of the town: the battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, the Wilderness and Spotsylvania. The battlefields of all four are part of the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. You can see the grounds by car, on walking trails or on one of the guided tours that are offered in the summer. There are two visitors centers, one at the Fredericksburg site and one at the Chancellorsville site.

The Stonewall Jackson Shrine is at the house where Jackson died after being accidentally shot in the arm by one of his own men at the Battle of Chancellorsville. (The Shrine is in the southeast portion of the park.) Though Jackson was buried in Lexington, Virginia (about 100 mi/160 km southwest), his amputated arm was buried in a country cemetery at Ellwood, just west of the battlefield at Chancellorsville. A small gravestone marks the spot.