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Henry and Harpers Ferry



My brother came for an all too rare visit this past week. Thursday was a nice crisp fall day and so we headed out to Harpers Ferry, WV. I figured I'd give the Brooklyn boy a drive in the country, a glimpse at some early fall foliage, and a taste of the Civil War history that is so pervasive in our area.

Our first stop in town was the historic confectionery shop. It's not just a candy store; it's a candy museum! The place has candy arranged by historic era and was staffed by a VERY enthusiastic woman who was happy to (couldn't have been prevented from?) tell us the history of candy as class struggle, international trade force, etc. Henry bought some bourbon chocolates. I like a museum where you can eat the exhibits.

From there we wandered up through town, continuing uphill towards Bolivar. Beyond the historic park area it's a pretty little town with some nice old houses. But hilly. When we had had enough of strolling uphill we started back down, stopping at an overlook with a commanding view of the town and the confluence of the rivers. The overlook sits between two shuttered hotels, a decaying grand building and well maintained motel-like structure. I can understand that there isn't much business for such places (I think these days people would rather stay at the nearby chain hotels) but they sure would make cool destination hotels - a yoga retreat center overlooking the Potomac, or something like that. Another idea to file away for when I win the lottery ...


It was close to lunch time when we made it back into the commercial part of town, but we decided to soldier on with our hiking. We crossed the bridge over to Maryland and started up the C&O Canal towpath with the intention of hiking at least part of the Maryland Heights trail. As we hiked the towpath we saw a number of groundhogs scurrying about - they're kind of cute, and didn't seem to mind seeing their shadows.

We made up to the base of the Maryland Heights climb but decided that, having already hiked up and down some hills on the other side of the river, we were more in the mood for lunch than climbing another trail. I came up with the idea that to make up for not hiking, when we left we'd walk back to the car rather than taking the shuttle bus. Heh.


Back in town we had a nice lunch outside at a restaurant, then went a few doors up and had some amazing caramel pretzel ice cream. Then we began the walk back to the car. And we walked. And we walked. The trail back to the car was almost two miles, ending with a long climb up stone stairs. Coming on top of the walking we had already done it seemed like a very long trek, and we were happy to settle into the car for the drive home.
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Location: Harpers Ferry, WV, USA

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