Notes from the Road, September 5, 2016

As I write this, a brilliant sunset is unfolding over Washington D.C., with clouds left over from the Hurricane Hermine reflecting the dying sun’s colors. No rain, no wind, just a beautiful sunset over the RV site at College Park. Here’s my travels over the last week and how I ended up in the nation’s capital.

Sunset over the Cherry Hill RV Park (Photo by Hunner)

After spending some time at Revolutionary War sites around Philadelphia, I went to Gettysburg National Military Park. I drove the battlefield, rode it again on my bike, and saw videos, cycloramas, and exhibits about the battle. Then I had a tour of the National Cemetery where President Lincoln gave his two minute long Gettysburg Address. Walking where men fought and died, where Lincoln offered his brief remarks about why the Union fought, filled me with solemn thoughts.

Pickett''s Charge at Gettysburg, July 3, 1863 (From cylcorama at Visitors' Center)

As I left the campground near Gettysburg, I met two women from Houston who are visited all 400+ parks. I have met a lot of people who are NPS enthusiasts, and I finally came up for a name for us—parkgonauts.

I then dropped down to Antietam National Battlefield, the battle that happened a year earlier than Gettysburg which ended General Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia’s first invasion of the north. At Antietam, I again drove and rode the grounds and imagined the clash from 1862 which resulted in the largest number of causalities in any one day that Americans have fought anywhere. Ranger Keith Snyder spent over an hour with me explaining the battle and how the NPS interprets and preserves the site while we sat looking out at the battlefield behind the Visitors’ Center.

Bloody Lane at Antietam (Photo by Hunner)

The next day, I descended on Harpers’ Ferry National Historical Park and found out about the multiple histories encompassed at that park—from early transportation and industry to the pre-Civil War raid by John Brown to several Civil War battles to Civil Rights and the creation of the Niagara Movement which led to the NAACP. At Harper’s Ferry, Chief of Interpretation Dennis Frye took me to a porch overlooking the town’s graveyard to discuss the place’s multifaceted histories. I later stood where Thomas Jefferson looked out over the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers.

Firehouse at Harper's Ferry where John Brown was captured (Photo by Hunner)

Members of the Niagara Movement at a meeting at Harper's Ferry which gave rise to the NAACP
(From exhibit at Harper's Ferry NHP)

I also dashed up to Monocacy National Battlefield near Frederick, Maryland to see the place that the Confederates attacked during their third invasion of the north in 1864. I enjoyed some good beer and bar stool companionship at the Smoketown Brew Pub in Brunswick, Maryland.  Several new acquaintances in Brunswick asked for my thoughts on business ventures. While I am flattered, seriously Ken and Karen, you are in serious trouble if you turn to me for such advice.

As I wound my way to D.C., I stopped at the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park visitor’s center in Brunswick and talked with volunteer Karen there about her town where she had served as mayor for the last four years. From there, I went to the Monocacy Aqueduct, an amazing engineering marvel where the C&O Canal traversed over a river.

A coal barge on the C&O Canal (From exhibit at C&O Canal NHP in Brunswick, Md.)

The Aqueduct for the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal NHP (Photo by Hunner)

Once at an RV park near D.C., I took a bike ride with parkgonaut Lisa where we rode along the Washington and Old Dominion railroad bed and then stopped at the house in Leesburg where the Confederate invasion of the north in 1862 was planned. Today, I go to the nation’s pastime, a baseball game between the Washington Nationals and the Atlanta Braves.