4th of July Weekend @ Harpers Ferry, WV
Harpers Ferry Historic District,
West Virginia,
United States
Friday, July 3, 2009
DAY 1 (3 July, Friday)
We both overslept (kind of) and I didn't pick up M at the Vienna metro stop until around 1030. We decided to drive up the 15 even though it might take a little longer because we figured it would be more scenic than the 270. We were right. It was a great drive. Nice and relaxing. We made a stop at the Panera Bread in Leesburg for a quick sandwich and we arrived at Jefferson County Visitor Center around 1400. M was on the phone so I went and PILED up with brochures and tourist magazines. :) (I love brochures.) I ran our planned activites past the little old white-haired lady behind the counter and I got her stamp of approval. M was on the phone so I really piled up the paper. I went crazy because I figured he couldn't stop me.
Then we drove through Bolivar and easily found the Anglers Inn at the start of Harpers Ferry. Took just a few minutes. It is a historic B&B (circa 1880s) about a mile up the hill from the Harpers Ferry historic district. Perfect. It was up hill (both ways ;) ) but it didn't matter until M was carrying a pack full of bricks on Day 3. Our inn was lovely. We were both thrilled. The innkeepers rally catered to the fly-fisherman and they seem to have a really nice set up. Even without being interested in the fishing, we really were happy with the inn. We immediately re-arranged our backpacks and walked down the hill.
First stop was the Appalacian Trail Headquarters. M got VERY excited. I didn't really understand how much he really liked maps until I saw him in action with the relief maps. He was having a good time pointing out spots in NC that he had previously trained. A book about two 50 year old inexperienced backpackers who did the AT caught my eye. It was called Solemates. I was interested and commented and M threw out that he wanted to do the AT. I agreed that it would be very cool and he got really excited. I'm not worried, I have 10 years to either get ready or get out of it. But he is really happy. There was a white haired/bearded old man up there living the dream...hiking gear to the hilt, even with brown knee-hi socks. He had a cool hiking hat and wild eyes. I told M that that was going to be him in 30 years. On Day 3, he even bought a t-shirt and the Solemates book for me before we left town. I'll give him my copy of Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods, too. It is a fun easy read and he will enjoy it if he ever reads it.
We wandered towards town and saw the signs for the Hilltop Hotel. The numbers were all disconnected so we went to go check it out. As soon as we got to the top of the hill, we knew why they numbers were off. The place was in horrible disrepair. It dated back to the 1880s and the tourist books raved about the view, but we later heard it was closed almost two years ago. It is structurally unsound and it will take many tens of millions of dollars to restore it. It is going to someday (next decade) become a very nice resort. The view was amazing! We pledged to get up the next morning and catch the sunrise there. M was very intrigued by the structure. It was very cool.
Then we headed back towards town and poked our heads in a few shops. Got frozen custard and then made our way down to the river. We ended up on a big flat rock jutting out into the Shanandoah and we just laid down/leaned on each other for about an hour. There was a little snake that wanted a piece of me, but I kept telling him my boyfriend ate snakes like him and he finally backed off. Big geese floating and foraging. A jumble of rafters floated down the river and it was the same outfitter we were booked with... M commented that maybe we didn't need a guide. Since the guided rafts were full of kids. We watched that group for a while and then made our way back into town.
Since we were meeting the Ghost Tour at 1945, we decided to grab a bite to eat at the Secret Six Tavern. We had a table on the railing overlooking the train station. I had a shrimp apetizer and M had a steak and cheese sandwich. I was pleased but his sandwich was only ok. We were there for the atomosphere though... it was a cool place. The name Secret Six was from the six men from Harpers Ferry who secretly funded John Brown in his anti-slavery activities. Very old. Lots of history. We liked it.
The Ghost Tour was fun. The owner (wife) led the tour. She was an amateur ghost hunter and you could tell she really enjoyed her job. We did so much walking between stories that I got the feeling she was skipping over a lot of things...other tours I've been on were so detailed and exciting. But we really enjoyed it. I got vibes at a few places...just goose bumps really. I got some thoughts that I thought I could attibute to something, but nothing definite enough that was worth mentioning. I told M but I didn't make a big deal about it.
After the Ghost Tour, we stuck our head in the Secret Six Tavern to listen to the O' Be Joyfull owner Rick Garland bellow out a few tunes. He was great. For a while, we were the the only ones in there. He sang on the keyboard for about an hour. All historical and/or patriotic songs. He would through out historically significant blurbs before and after a song so it was extra interesting and of course he was dressed in garb of the era. We were happy.
That night, we were trying to scare the other inn guests making all kinds of creaking noises like ghosts. ;)
DAY 2 (4 July, Saturday)
Happy Fourth of July!
We didn't get up for the sunset, but we PROMISED we would get up on Sunday.
Breakfast was a lot of fun. The innkeeper made us a delicious gourmet breakfast and we ate with a British mother and daughter. They were interesting and the conversation flowed really well. We were happy and had good fun. We exchanged contact information with Merrill (daughter) and maybe we will link up with her before she moves to Dubai in September.
We had the morning so we went down to John Brown's wax museum and wandered through some of the NPS museums at the foot of the hill in the historic district. M was really excited by the civil war maps of the battles, etc and there were some transcripts, letters etc that were very fascinating. I just wandered around reading things of interest, but M had a better appreciation of what we were viewing. I like it when he takes the time to explain to me why something in particular is fascinating to him or relevant. He always comments on interesting things I never realized or understood. I like listening to him when he is in that mode.
We wandered up to the church and the cemetary. View was spectacular. Our innkeeper had told us THAT is the place to watch the sunset come up through the valley. It was a sacred place for the Indians and they too put special importance of the view and the rise of the sun. We VOWED that we would catch the Sunday sunrise there at the cemetary. We sat under a tree in the cemetary and talked a long time. It was nice. I love to talk to M. He doesn't open up much but when he does, it is always good stuff.
We poked around a bit and then made our way back up to the inn by 1300 to get ready for our rafting trip. We found River Riders very easily and we requested a trade from the guided raft to floating tubes. WE HAD AN AMAZING FLOAT down the Potomac and into the Shanandoah River. We took a lot of pictures with the disposable camera so I can't wait to see them. We were very happy. I was a little nervous at first, but I kept noticing all the little kids and I knew M would help me if I got into trouble, so I got over it quickly. It would crack me up watching him floating along with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. Often times, he would let me link up to him with our feet and he would paddle for me. I'm spoiled. :) A guy in a boat yelled at me that I'm supposed to paddle, too. Whatever. It was working very well the way it was, we didn't need interference from strangers. We took a break on a flat rock next two lesbians and we laid in the sun talking. We can talk forever. When we run out of new topics, we always go back to the "I love you." "Thank you for picking me." "What do you see in me?" "You are so beautiful." conversation. We both say the same things to each other. We are silly. I got a little extra sun than I normally would have up on the rock but he was happy so I went along with it.
After the float, we were dropped off back at the outfitters. We had a little wait until the steak dinner so we drank some beer and talked on the curb. We sat there and talked for about an hour or so, we didn't notice the time really and then we met a Navy pilot and his wife. We ended up eating dinner with them. I was a little loopey from the beer but it didn't matter we were never going to see them again. It was fun. I like the way M talks to people. He is kind of quiet but he is a good conversationalist.
After dinner, we drove to Antitem Battlefield for the fireworks. They were ok. Nothing special, but we were sitting there together and we were happy. There was a family of three crying babies next to us, so if you listened closely to them they were actually synchronizing their cries with the light show. Since we couldn't hear the orchestra , this worked well enough. It was there though that we both confessed that we are too old for babies and after we raised our kids, it should be just us. I slept all the way home, but M got us home safely. We fell alseep right away.
Day 3 (5 July, Sunday)
We missed the sunrise, but the good news is that M noticed during his early morning smoke that it was a cloudy morning and we wouldn't have been able to see the sun come up anyway. I slept (like a rock) until I heard M in the bath around 0800. He LOVED that old bathtub. It was an old antique bear claw tub that the innkeepers recovered from a corn field. M really liked that tub. I think if you asked him he would tell you that it was his favorite part of the inn. We ate breakfast by ourselves this morning in the parlor because the table was full when we finally came down. After breakfast we sat on the porch in the rockers talking for quite a while and then made our way upstairs to pack up our gear. It was 1000 before we got up there and we had an hour before check out so we spent time in our room before we left. We wanted to maket those scary creaking noises for the inn guests one more time before we left. :)
After check out we wandered back down the hill. We went back to the AT HQs and M got a shirt. He got me a membership so I could have the bi-monthly publications and a stack of the old ones. The hikers up there crack me up. We spent a small fortune at the NPS bookstore stocking up on study material for our next adventures. Then, we went back to the river to recover our favorite bricks from the water. (M carried them for me in the pack. All those jokes about bricks in my pack and THIS time, there really WERE bricks in my pack!! He is a good sport.) We walked across the footbridge that runs along the train tracks and on the other side, M found a bike route map that runs from somewhere in PA down to Alexandria. He wants to ride the trail. I'm up for anything but he has to break me in. THEN I saw a bicycle built for two. I loved it! M said that means the man does all the work and the woman looks around and talks his ear off. I'm IN!
The drive home was nice. I'm so very happy.
