Only about 30 miles from DC the first battle of the Civil War in July 1861 and then another one about a year later took place in the same area a short distance north of Manassas. This was where Confederate general Thomas Jackson stood "like a stone wall" and earned his nickname Stonewall for his Confederate rout of Union forces. Apparently some people thought the war was going to be all fun and games since spectators came from Washington to watch the first battle. There are a lot of trails at Manassas along with interpretive displays but less in the way of monuments and historical remains than at some of the other battlefields.

I know the Manassas area well since lived there for about 18 months while working my first post-college job in DC area . Why did I live in Manassas, so far away from work and Washington activities? I'm not sure, but it would probably make it to the Top 10 on the list of dumbest things I’ve ever done. As best I can recall I wanted to live alone in a fairly nice place in Virginia rather than figure out a roommate situation closer in to the city and it was a place I could afford a fairly nice studio apartment on my paltry GS-5 entry level government salary that would not be possible closer in, even when commuting costs were factored in. That commute was usually via van pool and required getting up in the wee hours of the morning to beat Northern Virginia’s horrible traffic and work a 6:30 to 3:30 day in Crystal City, the office complex in Arlington near National Airport. That choice definitely put a damper on my social life at a time in my life when it should have been pretty active immediately after college. I would have checked out the old town and looked for my old apartment complex from more than 20 years ago, but it was getting close to dusk and I made arrangements to be back in DC by a set time.

But I learned an important lesson from the experience. Commuting sucks! In all my jobs since I made it a point to choose a place to live very close to work, and the only significant commutes I’ve had were when I started a new job or changed jobs and was temporarily locked into my living place. Long commutes are may be tolerable for married people with dependents who think they need a large house with a yard in an area with “good schools” (whatever that means), but pretty senseless for anyone else.