On the way back from DC stopped to visit Natural Bridge State Park, located in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. Natural Bridge isn’t very well known outside of Virginia today, but if you are in the area it’s well worth a trip. While the park’s scenery in isolation justifies a visit, the experience is enhanced by the history of Natural Bridge. The site is one of the nation’s earliest tourist attractions, with travelers frequently visiting during the 18th and 19th centuries. Thomas Jefferson purchased the land containing Natural Bridge from King George III in 1774, ensuring it would remain in public hands, calling it “the most sublime of Nature’s works“. George Washington also surveyed the site as a young man in 1750, allegedly carving his initials into the wall.
Fun Fact: Natural Bridge is referenced in Herman Melville’s literary classic Moby-Dick – “But soon the fore part of him slowly rose from the water; for an instant his whole marbleized body formed a high arch, like Virginia’s Natural Bridge…”.
