Stone Bridge

We took an historical excursion with my brother's family this weekend down to the Stone Bridge in Manassass, VA. It was quite the outing with 7 kids under the age of nine and 3 adults.

They hiked their little feet off, but I think they enjoyed it thoroughly. The weather was cool, but not too chilly. A little recent rain made it a bit muddy in spots, but I've never known kids to complain about walking through mud, just the adults.

Stone Bridge is a bridge that crosses Bull Run in the Manassas National Battlefield Park in Manassas, Virginia. It was destroyed during the Battle of First Manassas on July 21, 1861, the first major land battle of the American Civil War. Some years later, a new bridge, apparently similar to the original design, was built on the site of the old bridge. Today, visitors to the Battlefield Park can see the structure at the eastern entrance to the park. Modern day U.S. Route 29 crosses Bull Run on a bridge built in the late 1960s downstream of this one. [Wikipedia]

These are photos that I took on our first trip in 2004. It looks much the same now except that it's winter.

After visiting the bridge proper we hiked along the elevated causeway through the flood plain, up to the Van Pelt house site, and then halfway to Farm Ford. Interestingly, they have rebuilt the elevated walk using composite boards rather than real wood. I guess it'll last longer, but I liked the old wood.

I also got to borrow my brother's jogging stroller for Nub; it is so much more awesome for uneven terrain with its 16" tires than the traditional stroller. With 5 Nodlings, I have no idea why we've never bought one. (Maybe because I don't jog, and we thought they were bulky. Although it's less bulky than our double stroller.)