I’m a huge geography nerd, I mean I majored in geography in college! I love maps, borders, weird anomalies, and what I think are unique geography facts. And I have never been to West Virginia, Maryland, or Pennsylvania, so I told my boyfriend and travel companion Roman, let’s go to Hancock, Maryland to see the smallest non-vertex border-to-border distance of any U.S. state!
What does that mean? Well you know the narrow section of Maryland (look at a map of Maryland for reference), that part is only about 2 miles across at its narrowest. From West Virginia, it’s possible to cross into Maryland for 2 miles and then cross over the Mason-Dixon line into Pennsylvania. And this is all less than 2 hours from Washington DC. Sick of walking it was easy to convince Roman of a day of driving.
We left early in the morning and traveled northwest, to the border of West Virginia. We had my phone GPS rattling off directions and occasionally we come across beautiful hills and farms. This area apparently is heavy with vineyards. Closer we get to the border we also notice the striking difference between the DC metro and what is essentially farm land near the Appalachians.
Also the people are somewhat different, it reminds me more of parts in the South where life is at a slower pace. Crossing into West Virginia, from the rolling hills of Virginia, we came down a large hill into a valley, truly defining the border of a mountainous state to Virginia. We decided to stop in Martinsburg to find some Starbucks and found that only 2 exist in the entire region surrounding the city. One ended up being inside a Target.
Martinsburg is nothing much to rave about but it does feel a lot like what I would think West Virginia is. You can tell the city isn’t thriving, its people move at a slower pace. Coming from a fast paced city like DC, it was strange to see our Target Starbucks cashier hold 5 minute conversation with customers. Can’t complain I guess as we really had nothing better to do.
Starbucks in hand we get back into the car and continue north for about 45 minutes. The scenery is beautiful and the road take us in and out of hills, valleys, over rivers, and through small remote Appalachian cities. There isn’t much to do, not even restaurants around, but there is something about driving into remote areas that is relaxing. Driving along the river we come about the last town before Maryland, Berkeley Springs.
From here we officially cross into Hancock, Maryland, over the Potomac River. It’s like any town in the area really and doesn’t look like we need to stop. I drive downtown and then turn north. Within 2 minutes, on I-70, we cross the Mason-Dixon line and into Pennsylvania. For people who don’t know the Mason-Dixon line use to mark the line in the old US between the north and south.
After taking a break at the welcome area, we drive 4 miles north into Pennsylvania, just cause. The area we were in there really is not city nearby that is even worth driving to. For me it was more or less to say I stepped into Pennsylvania but I really don’t have any tourist advice to give you. All I can say that it is pretty and somewhat mountainous and a mere 2.5 hours away is Pittsburgh!
We made a u-turn and headed back into Maryland and then 7 miles to the west on I-68. Here there is Sideling Hill, a long steep mountain ridge situated at nearly 1,300 feet. There is a rest stop and what use to be a former exhibit that is now closed. There are some stairs that people can walk up to get a better view. We snapped some photos and enjoyed seeing 3 states all within a couple of miles.
This is the furthest west we decided to go so we headed back to Virginia via I-70 to I-270 through Maryland. So much traffic no matter what time it is in the Washington DC metro! It took us around 2.5 hours to get to Mt. Vernon, Virginia, a tiny town just south of Washington DC known for the residence and death sight of George Washington, Americas first president of course.
Lot of families everywhere! Too many families really and being that this was a beautiful day, near 80, everybody and their mother came out. It was crowded but because the Estate is large it didn’t feel too bad. The price of admission is actually kind of steep at 17 dollars! But it was raved about so we felt justified paying.
From here we walked around the grounds to the Greenhouse, where George Washington store plants from the winter cold as well as slaves who worked the plantation. The building is one of the biggest and has a small garden out in front to walk around. There is line to get into George Washington’s main house and you need a ticket with the correct time to get in! So we had to wait for around 2.5 hours for our time to come and it’s still around 45 minutes to complete the tour.
So then we decided to continue touring the Estate and went to the buildings near the main house that stored meats, couch cars, and animals. They did have some of the original items and the cool part is that most of the items on the Estate are in fact original or belonging to the 18th century. One unique item was a wheel chair where George Washington hooked a horse to wheel carrying a chair. Traveling in 18th century Virginia was no easy task!
Around the bend lies George Washington himself! He died actually in his bed in 1799 and was buried on his Estate. Today there is an updated tomb and usually completing crowded with tourist looking for a peak in. Honestly there wasn’t much to see so we stayed a couple of minutes and then headed down by the river, essentially the border between Virginia and Maryland.
From there we toured the orchards and gardens which weren’t in bloom but still scenic. All done with the outside we decided to go back inside and look at some of the exhibits which are actually quite impressive. They put together his whole life and how he came to own the Estate, which was really originally owned by his grandfather. We got to see a lot of original artifacts including an original sword he used in battle!
They say you need 3 hours but really we finished all the essential sites on the Estate besides the main building within 1.5 hours. Anyways we were starving and so decided to go to those overpriced cafes on the near the Estate. Actually the Mt. Vernon Inn was quite charming and from early 20th century, serving beer, wine, and American food. We were hungry and we were definitely satisfied.
So we did get to tour the main building but we didn’t get to take photos because they told us not to. My recommendation is to look here at the inside photos because George Washington’s house is quite cute inside. And very large at 9,000 square feet. It doesn’t look that way standing from the outside. Also there are plenty of rooms to view plus the room and original bed that George Washington died in.
The next day was the day we were leaving but it wasn’t until 5 pm, so we had plenty of time to head over to Alexandria, Virginia. We heard great things about this city but really kept it on the “if we get there” list. I’m so glad we went because this city ended up being one of my favorite parts of the trip. On a Tuesday it was very easy to find parking and although overcast the weather was quite pleasant.
So first we got a Starbucks and then walked on foot around Alexandria. Now there are some very old buildings that go as far back to being owned by British colonists and you can tour these buildings. We had no interest in doing that rather opted to see the different facades and the beautiful trees in the city. Walked around about 2 hours taking pictures and enjoying our Starbucks. Alexandria, Virginia can be summed up in one word is: charming!
After a couple of hours or so it was time to leave Washington DC. We made sure to stop by some very good Tex-Mex near the airport, after disagreeing about 3 other places to eat, dropped our car off and on to the airport. What I’ve learned about Washington DC is that it is a very charming city and surrounding area, just I wouldn’t want to live there. Too many people! But we had a fantastic time and I’m happy I finally saw my nation’s capital area.
images by: shawnvoyage
