When my husband, Bobby, and I took our trip to Pennsylvania, we had in mind some things to do. While I am usually the trip planner, this time Bobby did the planning. But even still, we always seem to do or see additional things on our way to the planned visits. Things that maybe catch our eye or something that someone we meet recommends to us to check out. The trip to Pennsylvania was no different.
While we were waiting for our tour guide, Mark Brugh, in Sharpsburg, Maryland, we walked around the town a little. That’s where we saw Nutter’s Ice Cream. It wasn’t open at 10 am, but we (or I) decided we would make it back after lunch. So we did. Now I was thinking that a Friday afternoon would be the perfect time to visit the ice cream shop. After all, it was April, so the kids were still in school, or so I thought. When we got there right around 2 pm, there was a whole group of people, mostly kids sitting outside enjoying their ice cream. Thankfully inside was not nearly as packed.
The ice cream shop had shelves that lined the wall filled with old-timey memorabilia. There were a few tables to sit and enjoy your ice cream. The ice cream is good, but not made in-house.
I had my standard mint chocolate chip and chocolate ice cream in a bowl. But the real selling point to the place was the size of the servings. We got a “small” which anywhere else would be a large. And don’t think you have to pay out of the nose for it. It was really inexpensive.
Another thing we did in Sharpsburg that was not on our itinerary, was to walk down an alley to see The Big Spring. It was the town’s “watering hole.”
The historical marker stated that there used to be a tin cup that hung on a hook which people could use to get a drink of water. Up until the 1930’s even animals could be brought there to get a drink. What was fascinating was that on the historical marker there was a picture of a group of kids by The Big Spring. Their names were listed under the picture which was taken in 1907.
I had wondered if any of the boys in the picture also fought in World War I. (Sharpsburg has a monument dedicated to the citizens who served in the war.) I took a picture of both the 1907 picture at The Big Spring and the monument. I found that one of the boys did actually serve. It was kind of cool to be able to make the connection.
After we looked at The Big Spring and before we went to Nutter’s, we left Sharpsburg to go see Loc 38 of the C&O Canal (Chesapeake and Ohio). This was also a suggestion from Mark. Loc 38 is a preserved sort of a preserved loc from the canal that was there in the old days. What actually got us there was that Bobby kept seeing signs for this canal and he wanted to know more about it. So when we met with Mark, Bobby asked him about it. Mark suggested we go and check out the park.
Actually I believe it also is converted Rails to Trails path. There appeared to be the ability to walk or ride a bike for miles if you wanted to. Since I did not know what we were going to be seeing I didn’t know what to expect. What I found was that this lock was right near a river of some sort. They had a historical marker there that explains how the Confederate soldiers crossed that River.
After a while I was beginning to wonder if it was the Potomac River. Turned out that it was. And that across the river was West Virginia. (I don’t know if it is obvious to you but geography was never a strong suit of mine.) We ended up going into West Virginia for lunch. You can read about the British pub here.
After lunch we returned to Maryland for ice cream at Nutter’s and then on to our Antietam Battlefield tour. (You can read about that here.) I’m glad that I have learned to be flexible from my time being married to Bobby. Before him, I would make plans and if they didn’t go as expected, I would get frustrated. Now I enjoy taking little side trips like these.
