Chatham Manor is a grand plantation home restored to its former great glory. The mansion is now open for tours on weekends. This thriving plantation was built in the early 1770s. It is a Georgian-style house overlooking the Rappahannock River. The home went…Read More

Chatham Manor is a grand plantation home restored to its former great glory. The mansion is now open for tours on weekends.

This thriving plantation was built in the early 1770s. It is a Georgian-style house overlooking the Rappahannock River. The home went through a period of great destruction during the civil war.

Fredericksburg was a disastrous Union defeat. Burnside suffered 12,600 casualties in the battle, many of whom were brought back to Chatham for care. For several days army surgeons operated tirelessly on hundreds of soldiers inside the house. Assisting them were volunteers, including poet Walt Whitman and Clara Barton, who later founded the American chapter of the International Red Cross.

The home was fully restored in the 1920s and willed to the national park system in the 1960s. The gardens are beautifully kept, and it's a great place to enjoy an afternoon.

The website http://www.nps.gov/frsp/chatham.htm offers all of the information you need to plan your visit. The admission is still under $5 per person I believe. This is a treasure of history to explore on your journey to Fredericksburg.

The Fredericksburg Battlefield Visitor Center is located at the base of historic Marye's Heights on the Fredericksburg battlefield. There are four walking trails that will be mapped out for you here. My favorite is Lee Drive, where you see the fort from where…Read More

The Fredericksburg Battlefield Visitor Center is located at the base of historic Marye's Heights on the Fredericksburg battlefield. There are four walking trails that will be mapped out for you here. My favorite is Lee Drive, where you see the fort from where General Lee kept watch over the river. It's a trail that takes you back in time, with large pictures, original trenches, and a great granite pyramid built as a marker along the railway line to note the historical site. If you're interested in civil war history, they also have reenactments periodically that are very nicely done.

The website at http://www.nps.gov/frsp/fburg.htm is the national park website that gives you all the details you will need to plan your visit to this historical area.

Bring a picnic lunch and make a day of the journey through time.

Caroline Street in downtown is lined with specialty shops and antique treasures. Plan to spend an entire day just walking up and down Caroline Street! You'll see where the Ben Franklin's once housed wounded soldiers during the civil war when it was used as a…Read More

Caroline Street in downtown is lined with specialty shops and antique treasures. Plan to spend an entire day just walking up and down Caroline Street!

You'll see where the Ben Franklin's once housed wounded soldiers during the civil war when it was used as a hospital.

You may enjoy walking through Goolrich's Pharmacy and sitting on an old stool while enjoying an old-fashioned chocolate shake served in a metal tin cup.

If you like antique shopping, you'll be mesmerized by the choices and huge antique malls lining this street in old buildings that are three stories high and very deep. They are filled to the brim with great furniture and historic relics of days gone by.

The eggman is on Caroline Street. This artisan intricately carves great designs into eggshells. You'll see the eggman at work and be marveled by his creations lining the walls-everything from ostrich eggs to emu eggs and eggs of smaller varieties. I have a filigree design on my dresser that I just love. Check out http://hometown.aol.com/cherukatheeggman/ for a sneak peek at his work!

These are just a few of the wonders you'll discover along Caroline Street. Enjoy the journey!