Geographer, Will Travel: Fredericksburg, Virginia

In an effort not to go crazy sitting inside the house on yet another cold day, we decided to drive to Fredericksburg, Virginia. There are many old, historic cities within an hour of us, so we just picked one and headed out.

I was not super impressed. I guess I was expecting more. (Kyle is always getting on me for my high expectations.)

The Good:

There are lots of places to eat. We chose Sammy T's and it was delicious. I split my pasta with Anna but I really did not want to share.
There is a super cute consignment/vintage clothing shop (that I cannot remember the name of or find a website for) and I could have spent an hour just looking through their racks. Everything was well priced too.
The homes are so pretty. We spent most of our time downtown and the homes in the area are just so nice. They are HUGE, well taken care of, and seem like they have been there for centuries.

The Bad-ish:

There are sooo many antique shops. Do not get me wrong, I enjoy looking through lots and lots of crap in hopes that I will find something amazing and cheap. However, once you have gone through 10,000 square feet of crap, I do not have the patience to go through anymore.
There was not a whole lot else downtown. I guess the antique shops bought up all of the retail space before stores selling items from this decade could; or, maybe the antique shops have been there all along and the items for sale were not always antiques...
It was really cold. This is not the city's fault of course, but it did not help that I was freezing and worried that Anna might lose a finger due to frostbite.

The History:

I guess most people venture to Fredericksburg for the historical sites. There are tons of historical sites. The visitors' center can provide a map to each and will even tell if you if they are Colonial sites or Civil War sites. (This led to an awkward conversation with Kyle about what Colonial vs. Civil War actually means and would we be able to tell the difference. My guess is that it is referring to the time period when each site was built, but do not ask me to pick out the differences. We are really bad at history.)
We missed the Civil War battlefield which is actually a National Park. I forgot Anna's passport, so I am guessing I will drag us all back to get Anna her stamp.