Dave and I were able to squeeze in a long weekend trip in mid-July 2017 after the move to Quakertown. After four months of working day and night to finish the move, it was a much-needed getaway.  We traveled to the south-eastern shore of Maryland.  For years, we had wanted to check out Point Lookout, MD.   A vivid memory of this trip in mid-July, on a beautiful summer weekend, is that it really was as hot as hades.

Point Lookout is the historic site of the Civil War Prison, Camp Hoffman, which is also referred to as Camp Lookout. This Prison Camp was created in 1863 after the Battle of Gettysburg at the direction of Abraham Lincoln.  This is where my 3x great grandfather George Scott Fugitt (Miller family line) was held prisoner after he was caught stealing a horse. All over his records, it is labeled “Horse Thief”, which, at that time, was a notorious crime.  He enlisted as a Confederate soldier (Private,12^th Virginia Cavalry, Company C) on June 6, 1862 at Harrisonburg, VA.  He was captured on Sep 1, 1863 near Winchester, VA. He is on a list of prisoners on Sept. 6, 1863 transferred from Baltimore, MD out to Fort McHenry.  He was then transferred farther east to Point Lookout as of Sept. 10, 1863 where he remained a prisoner from until he was exchanged on January 17, 1865.  We did get to see the location of where he would have lived there (in tents, by the way). We could not walk on that ground, as we have at various Revolutionary War or Civil War Battlefields, because that section of the Camp is now under water.

There is natural scenery, shore birds, monuments, historic markers and a Confederate Cemetery at Point Lookout State Park. Additionally, there is a historic lighthouse, that operated from 1830 to 1966, which the markers tell us, might be haunted.   We learned that this point of land where the Potomac River meets the Chesapeake Bay was used in early times by Native Americans.  It functioned as a lookout for British ships during the American Revolution and the War of 1812.  From July 19 to 27, 1813 between 2,000-3,000 British soldiers camped there and conducted raids of St. Mary’s County, MD.  This was a Union stronghold during the Civil War. In April 1865, John Wilkes Booth made his escape through Eastern Maryland near here after he shot President Abraham Lincoln. This is a tour route people can follow through the countryside to trace Booth’s escape route and capture.   For a time, after the Civil War and into the early 1900’s, this site became a Resort.  Passenger steamboats would bring visitors to this place via the Potomac River and via the Chesapeake Bay. Historic markers tell the story as none of those buildings remain.

We also stopped at the Patuxent National Wildlife Refuge, both the North Tract and the South Tract, which are separate Parks.  Just a small note, we had to fill out a form for access at the North Tract as this section is regulated by the US Army.  There is close monitoring of the traffic into the site as there is still unexploded ordinance left over from Military Training that took place years ago.    As you would expect, your entry pass warns you not to touch any ordinance you might find.   We got pictures of some beautiful butterflies, which is about as opposite from military shells as you can get.

The next stop that weekend was at a Dinosaur Park outside of Laurel Maryland.  It was a pleasant surprise that there was an active dinosaur fossil site this close to home.  It’s the darnedest thing.  The site is nestled at the end of a street next to an industrial park. Originally the area was part of an iron ore mine. Like so many locations, development of the land dramatically changes the appearance from what the unchanged area would have looked like.  Dave got to tour the active fossil retrieval site. I started to say dig, but visitors are not allowed to dig there.   They can find fossils exposed from natural weathering and they have the chance to talk to Paleontologists at the site on certain Saturdays.  We planned our trip to visit the area on one of these Saturdays.

We also made a stop in Laurel, MD, to visit Montpelier Mansion. This historic home and gardens was built in 1773 by Thomas Snowden. We read that George and Martha Washington often stayed here as they traveled back and forth from Mount Vernon to Philadelphia or New York or other places in their years of public life.   The house and grounds were lovely. You will find stories up and down the East Coast about how “George Washington Slept Here”.  In this case, the story was true.

On our way back home, we finished up our weekend with a stop at Arlington National Cemetery in Alexandria, VA, just outside of Washington, DC.  We stopped specifically to visit Arlington House, inside Arlington National Cemetery, which is also managed by the National Park Service.  It was the home of Robert E. Lee and Mary Anna Randolph Custis Lee (Great Granddaughter of Martha Washington). There is history attached to the house beyond the Civil War punishment of Confederate General Robert E. Lee by Union Major General Montgomery Cunningham Meigs. It was Meigs in 1864 who recommended turning the grounds of the Custis-Lee Mansion into a Cemetery for Union Soldiers.  The history of the house connects to three prominent families in American History: Washington, Custis, and Lee.

We wanted to get a tour before Arlington House closed for years for much needed repairs and modernization of some features to better accommodate handicapped visitors. The house had not been updated in 50 to 70 years.  Dave did get to take the tour. He had arrived too late to tour the house, on a previous stop when traveling home from a visit to Scott and Leah, so we came back to visit again.  As it was a group of four people, the Park Ranger took them to areas of the house not normally seen by visitors. Dave got to see graffiti in the attic. He also saw a table with a water stain in the pantry on the main floor.  That ring stain was purposely left alone.  It is the spot for many years, where the staff would place his nightly glass of buttermilk, which Robert E. Lee then took up to bed.  The tour was well worth the wait for Dave.  He was very excited to tell me the details.   Once the structure is renovated, I may even get to use my scooter to visit inside with him.