Saturday afternoon we gathered our belongings in preparation for an early Sunday morning departure from Sharpsburg. We were both amazed at how quickly the month went by and somewhat melancholy because we had such a great time. There was one more item on the agenda before settling in for the night.
We hopped in the Silver Bullet and made the short drive to downtown Sharpsburg for one last visit to Nutter's Ice Cream. We've learned by now that if Nutter's is open there is going to be a line, but Saturdays line was really impressive. We estimated it to be about 60 people deep when we got there. Undeterred we took our position at the back of the line. We only held our position at the rear of the line for a minute or so before a nice family took our place at the tail end. Of course, this influx of newcomers continued at a faster pace than folks exited with their mounds of ice cream. When we got our frozen delight the line looked close to twice as long as it was when we got there.
Western Maryland and the surrounding areas of West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Virginia were amazing. I've blogged about many of our adventures and it's close to time to wrap this adventure up but here's a little bit on four more day trips we enjoyed during our stay.
Greenbrier State Park-Boonsboro, Maryland. Greenbrier is a multiuse (camping, hiking, swimming, fishing, picnicking, etc.) park located in Maryland's Appalachian Mountains. The centerpiece of Greenbrier is the 42 acre man made lake and two white sandy beaches. It was early in our stay that we went to Greenbrier and it was unseasonably warm. We didn't venture out on any of their numerous trails but we did enjoy a nice swim in the lake until an afternoon thunderstorm brought the party to an early end. As we left we talked about going back for a second visit. Little did we know how much we would find to keep us occupied and we never made it back.
Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. Berkley Springs is a small town of around 1,000 residents, located about 30 miles from us, with a long history and some notable guests through the years. Evidence of Native Americans inhabiting the area dates back several thousand years. The area became a popular settlement for early European immigrants as they ventured inland and was even visited by George Washington. The big attraction to the area, the mineral rich spring water. In 1853 a local physician named Dr. William Burke proclaimed boldly that simply by soaking in the water "the nervous system generally would be tranquilized, the feeling of wretchedness and fear of impending evil would be removed, and the whole man restored to gaiety and hopefulness". With such magical water, it's no wonder Berkeley Springs is known as "The Country's First Spa". We didn't get to completely soak in the magical waters, but we did sit for a while with our feet soaking while small minnows gave us a "fish pedicure". I was concerned about the long term health of the fish that were nibbling on my feet. I'm pleased to report that as we left I did a quick glance back and didn't see any floaters!
There is a spa that offers the opportunity to soak privately in the magical waters as well as other spa services. We were interested in trying the soaking, but they were booked for the day. If you go to Berkeley Springs and are interested in soaking the wretchedness out of your body, book it in advance.
Johnstown, Pennsylvania. We were looking for a place to meet Ben on one of his days off and Johnstown was the perfect meeting point. The drive was very close to two hours for both of us. Additionally, Johnstown had an interesting, although mostly tragic, history.
On Friday, May 31 1889 the South Fork Dam which was located fourteen miles upstream from Johnstown collapsed. This released a wall of water estimated to be 37 feet high into the small, narrow valley killing 2,209 men, women and children. There is museum in the downtown area that details the events of not only the tragedy, but the events leading up to it as well as the recovery and rebuilding efforts. Shortly after the flood a funicular was built to evacuate residents in the event that another flood occurred. While it is now a tourist attraction, it was used for evacuation for several additional but smaller floods. The funicular is currently undergoing renovations but it's an easy drive to the upper station which gives you a great view of the entire valley.
Another interesting flood related site to visit if you go to Johnstown is the Grandview Cemetery. The cemetery is near the funicular upper station. The cemetery has a section referred to as the "Unknown Plot" which contains the bodies of 777 flood victims that could not be identified. As we drove through the cemetery we spotted numerous graves with the date of death listed as May 31, 1889, the date of the flood.
Shenandoah National Park, Virginia Shenandoah National Park is over 200,000 acres of protected land running northward along the Blue Ridge Mountains from Waynesboro, Va. to Fort Royal, Va. The featured attraction of Shenandoah National Park is the 105 mile long drive (Skyline Drive) between the two entrances.
Most of the trails within the park are listed as moderate to difficult but the ranger did point us to a trail (Lands Run Fire Road) that he said was scenic and fairly flat. He was half way right, it was scenic but his definition of "fairly flat" is a little different than ours. We did enjoy the hike, but did the rest of our exploring of Shenandoah from the comfortable confines of our car.
All four of these adventures were easy day trips from our base in Sharpsburg and helped make this adventure such a memorable time.
As we made our way back to Ben's house on Sunday we had two stops. First up was Deep Creek Lake State Park. Deep Creek Lake has over 69 miles of shoreline, making it the largest inland body of water in Maryland. The state park has over 1,800 acres near the southern end of the lake. Much like Greenbrier (see above) it is a multiuse park that is popular with both campers and day visitors. One of the most surprising things we learned was that during the winter months the entire lake freezes over with ice so thick that ice fishing becomes a popular activity.
We also stopped at a place we had visited previously, Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania. Ohiopyle is a beautiful area with a name that at first appears quite unique, but is actually very practical. The name Ohiopyle is a combination of Native American words which mean "white, frothy water". This is an accurate description of the Youghiogheny River as it flows through the area.
