Harper's Ferry, West Virginia 7-8-9

We had a long but spectacular drive through West Virginia's Appalachian Mountains today. East on Hwy 50 from Clarksville. It would have been wonderful in a convertible Miata, but it was slow in a Sportmobile. The lanes were narrow and the drop-off was steep, so we mostly ignored the 55 mph sign and went about 45 so we could stay on the road. We had a couple of stops at odd old-fashioned general stores. Reed was impressed to find assault rifles among the horde of hunting supplies! It was interesting to see items like bottles of medicinal Turpentine, Spirit Oil, and Sweet Oil in the drug section right next to Pepto Bismol and aspirin.

In early afternoon we arrived in Harper's Ferry and stayed with Betsy and Steve in their beautiful Victorian-style home. Betsy runs the Harper's Ferry Historic Town Foundation, so she was the perfect guide to this fascinating historic town. HistoricHarpersFerry.com We walked down their street through the cemetery and saw gravestones for John and Robert Harper. Then we walked the Appalachian Trail along the Shenandoah River, an area once surveyed by George Washington, and stopping at Jefferson Rock. Truly a beautiful spot.

Thomas Jefferson visited Harpers Ferry in 1783 and wrote "The passage of the Patowmac through the Blue Ridge is perhaps one of the most stupendous scenes in Nature."

We went through the town, down the famous stone steps, saw John Brown's fort, and crossed the Potomac River to Maryland where we walked along the C & O Canal, Reed is here at Lock 33. Then the boys played in the Potomac.
Lots of state-shifting today due to rivers and winding roads through interesting topography. We went like this: WV-MD-WV-VA-WV-MD-WV-VA-MD-VA-WV. Partly due to walking back and forth across the Potomac bridge, then driving back with the tubes for water play.