After checking the Pony Swim off our bucket list, it was time to pack up and head west, leaving the Atlantic Ocean behind for a while.
We crossed back over the Chesapeake Bay at the north end, on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge (no tunnel this time, and no toll westbound 
The bridge dropped us off in Annapolis, and as expected, traffic picked up quite a bit. We weren’t sure what to expect as we travelled I-97/MD-32 about halfway between Baltimore and Washington DC, but it wasn’t bad at all, and soon we were on I-70 headed west toward Hagerstown, our destination for the next two days.
It seemed funny to see mountains up ahead -- didn’t really expect that in Maryland!
We were staying at the Hagerstown/Antietam Battlefield KOA (that’s a first for us – we don’t usually frequent KOA’s, but we’ve got a couple more on our itinerary for the fall, so we even signed up for the KOA membership to save 10%).
The campground sits along the Conocheague Creek . . . which looked more like a river to us . . . it was very high!
The “big rig” directions took us on a narrow road along that swollen creek, and we hoped we were going the right way! There were signs to keep us on the right path (and off another one-lane bridge!), and other than a narrow, uphill, gravel drive into the the campground which looked really scary, we made it just fine!
The park was pretty typical for what we expect from a KOA – tight spaces, lots of kids, and big $$, -- but it was the best option in the area and will do for 2 nights.
Rain was predicted for Friday afternoon, so we set out to do some exploring right after breakfast. We stopped in for a quick visit at the C & O Canal National Park Visitor Center,
and picked up maps for Antietam Battlefield and Harpers Ferry.
It was a beautiful day for a drive through the countryside.
We followed the Antietam Creek, and stopped at a little roadside park.
This creek was quite high, as well.
There’s a little bridge across the creek, and we took a walk out there for a couple of pictures.
From there, our drive took us through the little town of Boonsboro, home to author Nora Roberts. That was pretty cool – I love her books, including the Inn at Boonsboro trilogy that are centered around her little hometown, featuring the Inn at Boonsboro,
and the Vesta Pizzeria, where we had a yummy lunch.
I may have to re-read that trilogy now!
Before lunch, we walked around the cute little town,
and stopped in at Nora Roberts’ Bookstore.
Pretty cool!
Tom thought this shop looked interesting! We passed on that one for lunch, and went for the pizza instead! We were glad we did . . . and not really in the market for a gun right now!
Just a few miles from Boonsboro, we reached the little town of Sharpsburg, where the Antietam Battlefield National Park is located.
We stopped in at the Visitor Center to watch the video on this 1-day Civil War battle, the bloodiest single day in American history.
The Battle of Antietam
September 17, 1862
The view from the Visitor Center is so peaceful – it’s hard to believe that so many were injured or died here.
They have some ranger-guided tours,
but we opted to just take a self-guided driving tour, so we could view the battlefield at our own pace (Tom, the history buff, didn’t want to have to listen too much!
Fortunately, it didn’t take anywhere near the length of time we spent in Gettysburg!
So, if I’ve got my facts straight from the video, the Union Army was hanging out here at a local farmhouse, and along the north woods.
Similar to Gettysburg, there are Memorials for many of the various groups of soldiers that were involved in the battle.
There was also a Memorial to Clara Barton, a nurse who tended to many of the wounded soldiers from this battle, and later founded the organization that went on to become the Red Cross.
We followed the path of the Union Army as they advanced on the Confederate Army,
and eventually reached the Sunken Road, or Bloody Lane, as it came to be known.
The Confederates were laying in that ditch, and as the Union soldiers approached over the hill they were right out in the open, charging to their death . . . but never stopping. There were massive losses on both sides, and the battle just continued around the fallen soldiers.
One of the more disturbing facts I remembered from the video was that a year later, when the armies passed through this area on their way to Gettysburg, the lane was still filled with the skeletons of the the soldiers who had died there . . . just rotting away, out in the open.
From the observation tower in the photo below you could see the entire battlefield.
Another fact that I thought was strange, and I remember hearing the same thing when we visited Kennesaw Battlefield in Georgia, was that each day at the end of fighting the leaders from each side would shake hands and declare a truce for overnight . . . and then the soldiers would eat together and pass the time as if there was no war going on. That really drives home that this war was brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor.
We continued our tour at Burnside Bridge,
where the north was finally able to advance on the south, and then the site of the Final Attack,
where reinforcements arrived from Harpers Ferry, ending the north’s progress, and ultimately ending the battle.
The final stop on our tour was the Antietam National Cemetery,
where many of the dead from this battle were eventually laid to rest – Union soldiers only, though. At the time the cemetery was established, the war was still going on and Maryland would not allow the south’s soldiers to be buried here. They were moved to several nearby Confederate cemeteries.
“Not for themselves, but for their country”
Our tour brought us back to downtown Sharpsburg, where we were in need of a little something to cool off with – Nutty’s Ice Cream Shop seemed like just the right place!
Their prices were good – just $2.50 for a medium cone – which turned out to be a triple scoop tower! My phone was charging in the Jeep, or I would have taken a picture of Tom’s cone! I changed my order to a small, which for $2.00 was still a lot of ice cream! It’s not often we can get two giant cones for less than $5!
We enjoyed our ice cream while chatting with a woman and her mom from Italy. The Mom was originally from Italy, but married a US Navy man and eventually moved to the US. The daughter was also born in Italy, but on the US Navy base. They live in nearby Shepherdstown, West Virginia, and told us we just had to take the drive down to Harpers Ferry.
It wasn’t raining yet, and just a short drive, so we went. We crossed the Potomac River into Shepherdstown, West Virginia, which is a really cute little town on its own, and then followed the river down to Harpers Ferry.
Now, we knew there was a town of Harpers Ferry, and the Harpers Ferry National Park . . . what we didn’t know was that they were one and the same. We bypassed the turn into the National Park, thinking we were just going to drive into town, and the next thing we knew, we had crossed over the Shenandoah River and were back in Virginia!
Hmmm . . . so I looked at the National Park map, and determined that we needed to go into the park afterall.
We entered the park and showed our Volunteer Pass (Tom is always happy to show that one!), and found out from the Ranger that from the Visitor Center (where we were) you can only ride a shuttle bus down into town; you can’t drive your own car. If we wanted to take the Jeep we had to take the back way into town and look for a place to park at the train station.
We weren’t sure how long we were going to stay, so we opted to drive the Jeep down the back way.
You start at the top of a hill, and drive down to the town which is at the base of the hill, where the Shenandoah River flows into the Potomac River.
As we found a parking spot at the train station, ugly black clouds were moving in so we figured we had better go look at the outside stuff first. We walked out to “The Point”, where the Shenandoah River and Potomac River converge.
The railroad bridge crosses the Potomac,
and there is a pedestrian pathway, even though it is an active railroad track. We didn’t walk out too far, because a storm was clearly on its way.
You can almost read the advertisement that is etched into the rock wall above the track.
Beautiful view – probably even better on a clear day!
The Potomac River – making its way down through Washington DC, and eventually into the Chesapeake Bay.
Harpers Ferry was the site of a US Armory, and in 1859, abolitionist John Brown tried to lead a rebellion against slavery and take over the Armory. He was unsuccessful and hung for his efforts.
John Brown’s Fort (the Armory Firehouse) remains at the site.
The storm was getting closer, so I just got a couple quick pictures of town before we headed towards the shops.
St. Peter’s Catholic Church
We figured we’d walk through a few of the shops until the rain started . . . we only got through 3 of 4 before the downpour began.
We hung out inside while the rain poured, and when it slowed down enough to go outside, we made our way back to the Jeep and headed home.
It was a whirlwind day of exploring – 3 National Parks, several little towns, and miles of country roads – it was fun, and we were ready for the next leg of our journey.
That was quite the Whirlwind Day. Lots of beautiful scenery and history to boot.
ReplyDeleteIt's sad when History shows a waste of Humanity when it did not have to happen.
Be Safe and Enjoy!
It's about time.