Best kept secret in Frederick ... it smells good and is very clean. Lots of parking no lines and…read morefriendly service .... Every stamp you could every want . They also have gift cards and greeting cards.

One of the best post offices I've been to in a long time. Great employees with a great post…read moremistress ! This is definitely what all post offices should strive to be like. I'll drive 25 min just to deal with these ladies.

It was my first time sending something overseas to my military son over the holidays. The lady at…read morethe front walked me through how to do the customs form. She helped answered my questions and was so patient. She was just a doll. I have had many interactions with the staff here and they have been nothing but amazing. I will go out of my way to go to this post office just to interact with them.

The staff is wonderful and do everything in their power to help you. Small town post office vibe is…read morereally appreciated in our area. They have helped me get back a package with wrong address and reprint a tracking number from the day before. Lovely people!

The Maryland Challenge is a 41.5 mile hike on the entire Maryland portion of the Appalachian Trail…read morein 1 day. It begins at Pen Mar Park (MD/PA border) and ends in Harpers Ferry (MD/WV border). It's rough, but you'll be proud to have pushed yourself to your limits. I found that I went into this thinking I knew a lot of things that turned out not to be true. Some examples: (1) I thought I wouldn't get blisters since I didn't get any when I ran a marathon. (I now believe it's not possible to walk 41 miles without getting blisters.) (2) I thought the difference between mile 21 and mile 41 would be like the difference between getting stabbed once and getting stabbed twice - both would hurt, but there wouldn't be much of a difference between the two. (I now see that the last few miles take things to a whole new level.) (3) I thought my daily runs would be adequate preparation. (I now see that it would have been better to run in those barefoot sneakers, since the trail is littered with sharp 6-inch rocks that stab your feet every time you misstep.) As far as logistics, I do have a few pointers: (1) It's important to plan your start time so that you finish the downhill section of the hike before dark (about mile 35). There's a lot of sharp rocks to stab your feet, not to mention that you don't want to trip off the side of the slope. We hiked in May, and we started at about 4:45AM. (2) There is plenty of water. You shouldn't need to carry more than 1.5 liters at any one time if you have a water filter. If you don't, there's tap water at a few locations, including the original Washington Monument (mile 21) and Gathland State Park (mile 30). We hiked in May (65-70 degrees) with 2.5 liters per person, and didn't need to fill up until the Washington Monument. (Although the sun set a half hour earlier since we hiked in May, I preferred hiking in the cool weather, which meant we had to stop for water less often.) (3) There's plenty of overnight parking across the street from Pen Mar Park (free), and if you're willing to pay $10, you can park at the Amtrak station in Harpers Ferry (about 50 feet from the bridge between Maryland and West Virginia). If you're trying to save $10, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy is 0.60 of a mile from the Amtrak station, and they'll let you park there for free on the weekends if you call ahead. (4) I recommend hiking from Pen Mar Park to Harpers Ferry, because of the thankfully flat tow path in the last 3 miles. However, Pen Mar Park doesn't allow camping. We ended up sleeping in the parking lot across from Pen Mar, by putting down the car seats so that we could set up sleeping pads, sleeping bags, and pillows. This was more comfortable than I expected, and made things logistically easier the next day. Good luck!

This marker stands on Duke Street just over the bridge from Maryland into West Virginia and points…read moreout the history of Jefferson County. The marker reads, "Formed in 1801 from Berkeley. Named for Thomas Jefferson. Home of Generals Gates, Darke, and Charles Lee. Here four companies of Washington's men organized. Shepherdstown was strongly urged as the seat of the National Capitol." It's not all that far fetched. There was a time that West Virginia was Virginia and it's on the border with Maryland. Much the way that Washington DC is on the border between the two states. Jefferson County is located in the Shenandoah Valley in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, and is the easternmost county of the U.S. state of West Virginia. Jefferson County was established on October 26, 1801 from Berkeley County because the citizens of southeastern Berkeley county felt they had to travel too far to the county seat of Martinsburg. Charles Washington, the founder of Charles Town and brother to George Washington petitioned for a new county to be formed. It was named for Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and third President of the United States. [Review 15605 overall - 57 in West Virginia - 1109 of 2021.]

This marker is located just west of the Conococheague Creek bridge and points out the history of…read morethis road that predates the Civil War. It has the same text on both sides and reads, "The Bank Road. (The Cumberland Turnpike Road). The portion of this highway from the west end of the Conococheague bridge to Cumberland (40 miles) was built between 1816 and 1821. The Banks of Maryland financed it by purchase of the stock." The Department of Transportation has an excellent look at the history of the road at https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/bankroad.cfm that is worth a read. It's interesting to think about how things used to be before the superhighways were built with asphalt and concrete. We take it for granted that we can zip along at 70 miles an hour uninterrupted. [Review 15132 overall, 634 of 2021, number 607 in Maryland.]