What began with one planned event, a 90 minute tour, turned into a day long adventure. My husband, Bobby, and I took a long weekend to visit my Aunt Kim and Uncle Jay in Pennsylvania near the Maryland State border. It was one of our favorite ways to go — impromptu — no set plans. Well, that isn’t exactly true. Bobby did schedule us for a tour in Sharpsburg, Maryland, but that was it.
Except that wasn’t it at all. Here is a brief overview of our day. We will be writing more about each adventure later, but this is to whet your appetite (and maybe, for a brief second, let you appreciate how tired we are after our day).
- Sharpsburg Civil War Ghost Tour — Thanks to the wonderful storytelling ability of Mark Brugh we were enthralled for 90 minutes by history of the area and several ghost stories. Even with a little bit of light rain, I didn’t want our tour to end.
- The Big Spring — After Mark left us, we took the Spring Alley to see the fresh water spring that had supplied the town with water for years before public works was put into place.
- Lock 38 — Another site Mark suggested was Lock 38, a remnant of a lock from the C&O Canal. This took us just yards from the Potomac River.
- Devonshire Arms Cafe and Pub — After our tour in Sharpsburg and the short walk at the Lock, we were hungry. We were minutes away from West Virginia and after a brief search Bobby found an English Pub where we could have lunch in Shepherdstown, W.Va.
- Nutter’s Ice Cream — When we were waiting for our ghost tour, we perused Sharpsburg, in which we found an ice cream parlor called Nutter’s. We were there around 10 a.m. so they weren’t open. However, a sign on their door indicated they would be open at 1 p.m. I had decided then and there we would be going back. I’m glad we did! Let’s just say, you get your money’s worth there.
- Antietam Battlefield — We wrapped up our day at the Antietam National Battlefield, which is part of the National Park System. Not only did we listen to the park ranger give a talk of the sites to see and what occurred in September 1862, but we also watched their 27 minute film and took a private tour with a certified tour guide.
Phew! I hope you were able to catch your breath. It took me a little bit to do so. To say I’m exhausted, is an understatement. However, I’m glad we did everything we did. I hope as our blog posts unfold you’ll enjoy reading about the things we did as much as we enjoyed doing them. For now, let me just say, “I’m tired and I’m going to bed.” Until next time!
