Four States in a Day

Day 23, and today we would drive in the footsteps of history. But first we shared the Sleep Inn breakfast room with groups of road crews. It continued to surprise me, but it shouldn't have, that we would turn in at night and with few cars in the hotel lots, and in the morning the lots would be full. When Bonnie and I checked out, the desk clerk spoke at amazing length about Bela Lugosi and Anna and the King. He and his mother were movie buffs.


We got on 81N, which kept us entertained with pretty homes, cattle, and even a Texas Longhorn. We crossed into West Virginia and headed for Charles Town, and the Charles Town Racing & Slots. What should we find but a buffet. It was close enough to lunch, but we still could get in under the breakfast prices. While we waited in line to pay the cashier, Bonnie and Clyde overheard the cashier's conversation with the customers in front of them.


cashier - "How many in your party?"
customers - "Two"
cashier - "Will you all be sitting together?"

The breakfast and lunch foods were excellent, and the meal was a good time. We spent an enjoyable hour or so, and were on the road again at noon time.


We stopped in Harper's Ferry, and found the town and its buildings as beautiful as they were historic. We parked at the train station, in an area steeped in history, and were brought right back to the present when an Amtrak express train went zipping by. The Potomac and Shenendoah Rivers meet in Harper's Ferry and the Appalachian Trail passes directly through the town.

Our next state of the day was Virginia, and then, five minutes later, Maryland. We stopped to see a golden statue of Mary at Mount Saint Mary's University. We seemed to keep finding golden statues...

We reached Pennsylvania at 2:00, and then we were off for more history at Gettysburg. We

had all toured Gettysburg in the past, and this time we decided to do the self-tour in the GM.

There were many other tourists out and about. Gettysburg was as solemn and beautiful as I remembered.




After Gettysburg, we stopped for gas at a Sheetz station. One of the other customers was a woman on a motorcycle. There was a trailer attached to the bike, and in the trailer was a dog, part shepherd, part wolf, wearing goggles. He looked like he was happy being a biker dog.

We checked in to the Sleep Inn, Ronks PA, then headed out for supper. It would be our last buffet of the vacation, and we wanted to make it count, so we went to the Bird-in-Hand Family Restaurant on Route 340. The buffet had everything we could want, starting with fantastic soups and breads, and ending with a large selection of desserts, including Shoo Fly Pie, my favorite. Amish food is unequaled. We made the most of the meal, then Clyde drove us around the back roads of Bird-in-Hand and Ronks so we could really enjoy the farms, cattle, and people. I have been to Amish country four times, and have yet to get a clear photo of Amish people. This is partly because of lack of skill, and partly because I know it's rude to photograph people without their consent. I would try to be subtle and snap from the back seat of the car, thinking it was less rude if I wasn't being obvious. Conscience won out every time, and all I got was blurs. It became a joke between Bonnie and me every time we saw an Amish man, woman, or child, walking, riding in a buggy, or on a scooter, because we would get our cameras ready and then start to laugh because we knew there wasn't any chance that we would get a good shot. After a while we gave up. Getting a good shot of a farm would be enough. Well, maybe next time...

The night was uneventful with the exception of a child in the next room screaming at its full volume. I gave the parents two minutes to restore order, and when that did not happen, I took the advice of the desk clerk in Russellville, AR, and called the front desk. The nice desk clerk who answered could hear the screaming over the phone while we spoke. He thanked me, I thanked him, he got the child to stop screaming, and everyone got to sleep. I won't ever hesitate to call a front desk now.