Today was the annual Kelly Clan trip to Knoebel's. Natalie and I spent the day in Harper's Ferry. It was great. First, we took the ranger's advice and hiked the Murphy farm trail. It was OK but not very scenic, at least not until we got close to the Shenandoah river. Also, an ambulance came through while we were there and they were cutting the grass and planting trees, just a lot of commotion. You walk along a gravel road in the middle of a field to the river and then come back along the edge of the woods to where you began - it's not a really loop. All the information signs were laying on the ground, stripped of their plaques, so we didn't know what we were looking at. I guess we saw the Murphy family's farmhouse (complete with vinyl siding)and the foundation of John Brown's Fort (The Armory Engine House). It had been moved there from town in the late 1800's. It was moved back to it's original location in 1968. We should have tried one of the other trails.
After our hike, we took the park's shuttle bus into town. We walked down Shenandoah street and listened to a park guide giving a little talk on the raid in front of John Brown's Fort. We took the footpath on a train bridge over the Potomac and walked along the dry C&O canal bed. A train ran on another bridge over our heads into a mountain tunnel. The train bridge that has the footpath on it is still in use but we didn't see any trains on that. Lots of ruins everywhere. We saw a lot of tubers and kayakers in the rivers, most of them came down the Shenandoah. I jumped down and walked on the canal bed for a while.
We ate lunch at The Armory Pub on Potomac Street, facing the train station. We just had appetizers to eat, Avacado Salza and Skewered Shrimp, but the best thing about the place was the beer - draft from The Frederick Brewing Company. That was Natalie's favorite part of the day. By then it was about 4 o'clock and the park closes at 5, so we hit a few exhibits on our way back down the hill to Shenandoah Street. Natalie went shopping and bought an iron rooster while I checked out the John Brown museum and the house across the street. This house had been excavated inside, showing that it had once been two houses, with an alley between them, built right on the bedrock. After 5 o'clock we walked along the Shenandoah river and saw the ruins of several mills with intricate water tunnels and raceways. We caught the bus back to the national park's visitor center and headed out to Charlestown Races & Slots.
Each of us started with $20.00 at Charlestown and did pretty good. We stayed for a couple of hours, played a lot of slots, bet on two races and still came out $5.00 ahead! For dinner, we ate at the food court. We both got something Italian from the Tuscan place. It was good and reasonable priced. We left after we ate. It took about an hour and a half to get home.
After our hike, we took the park's shuttle bus into town. We walked down Shenandoah street and listened to a park guide giving a little talk on the raid in front of John Brown's Fort. We took the footpath on a train bridge over the Potomac and walked along the dry C&O canal bed. A train ran on another bridge over our heads into a mountain tunnel. The train bridge that has the footpath on it is still in use but we didn't see any trains on that. Lots of ruins everywhere. We saw a lot of tubers and kayakers in the rivers, most of them came down the Shenandoah. I jumped down and walked on the canal bed for a while.
We ate lunch at The Armory Pub on Potomac Street, facing the train station. We just had appetizers to eat, Avacado Salza and Skewered Shrimp, but the best thing about the place was the beer - draft from The Frederick Brewing Company. That was Natalie's favorite part of the day. By then it was about 4 o'clock and the park closes at 5, so we hit a few exhibits on our way back down the hill to Shenandoah Street. Natalie went shopping and bought an iron rooster while I checked out the John Brown museum and the house across the street. This house had been excavated inside, showing that it had once been two houses, with an alley between them, built right on the bedrock. After 5 o'clock we walked along the Shenandoah river and saw the ruins of several mills with intricate water tunnels and raceways. We caught the bus back to the national park's visitor center and headed out to Charlestown Races & Slots.
Each of us started with $20.00 at Charlestown and did pretty good. We stayed for a couple of hours, played a lot of slots, bet on two races and still came out $5.00 ahead! For dinner, we ate at the food court. We both got something Italian from the Tuscan place. It was good and reasonable priced. We left after we ate. It took about an hour and a half to get home.
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