nl7501's Diary

We had a really nice camp site at the My Old Kentucky Home State Park our last night in May. Even though it was close to a road, the traffic didn’t seem to bother us. That evening, Cynthia and I were writing a bit and making a few calls when it dawned on me just how enslaved we are to electronic gadgets. Here it was a beautiful evening and normally people would be sitting around a camp fire shooting the breeze as were a number of campers. Well, here we were sitting around a power pole with all our electronic do-dads plugged in. I think it would have made a great cartoon depicting families camping in a “before and after” the dawn of the electronic age.

We got our usual early start Sunday, June 1 with a quick shopping trip to the local Walmart to pick up supplies. We were headed east once again and we decided to take some more secondary roads to enjoy the drive. We exited Bardstown on US 150 and held onto that road all the way to Mount Vernon at the intersection of I-75. What a nice road US 150 is. It was all of 120 miles or so and it went fast. Not because we were going fast but because there is so much to look at and with light traffic, the miles went by before we knew it. This was definitely horse country and it was farm after farm we passed by. We got on I-75 south for a small piece and exited onto another beautiful road, US 25E heading south. This road took us to our next stop at Cumberland Gap National Historical Park.

The Cumberland Gap National Historical Park encompasses the actual Cumberland Gap through the Appalachian Mountains, one of the few “gaps” in that chain. This and the local surrounds were a major early American route used by pioneers to settle the Kentucky Bluegrass region and Ohio Valley before the advent of trains and canals. It marked spot for the very first great wave of western migration. Used by bison and Native Americans for longer than anyone knows, it was Daniel Boone who, with 30 men, marked out the Wilderness Trail from Long Island (not THAT one) on the Holston River (Kingsport TN) through the Cumberland Gap into Kentucky. We travelled almost the exact route through the gap except modern technology has provided us with a tunnel through the lowest mountain next to the gap itself. For a better view of all this, we opted to ride up to the Pinnacle Overlook. Be forewarned though, the road is narrow and has almost 180 degree turns that are STEEP! It was first gear action on a couple of them but even though we were pulling a trailer, I would think most all bikes would be in first gear too. The sign did say, “No trailers allowed” but I figured they meant THOSE trailers! We were rewarded with a great view of three states (Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia) that come together just across the Gap at Tristate Peak State Park. If you want to, you can trace the original Wilderness Road by taking US 58 off of US 25E towards Bristol. Another part travels through Middleboro, KY. The whole area is really nice and we had a wonderful day to explore there.

We decided that since the Great Smoky Mountains NP was only about 100 miles away, we’d go back there like we planned. That’s what we tried to do anyway. I never really liked entering the park from the north, through Sevierville and Pigeon Forge, and now I know why- the traffic was horrible! The short 30 or so miles from I-40 to the park entrance took about an hour and an untold number of traffic lights which I mostly got red. The road is lined with Dollywood-like amusements, hotels, eateries and a whole host of establishments designed to take your money. We got into the park with intentions of camping on the opposite side at Longmont again but once we crossed Newfound Gap, it was clear (not the right word) that we weren’t going THAT way! The skies were terribly ominous for as far as we could see! We decided that was a bad idea and facing the struggle yet again, we made our way back out of the park on US 441 and TN 66 to I-40 and the relative freedom from traffic. The park will definitely have to wait. We stopped briefly for supper since it was getting late and we thought we’d put on a few miles to lessen our burden on Monday when we head into Baltimore. Cranking open the throttle to a full 80+ mph, we put in at Wytheville, VA, after a 475 mile day, leaving about 300 miles for Monday.

It was a beautiful day for driving on Monday. We left at 7:30 and were in Baltimore by 1:00. We did about 300 miles. A few more than I estimated. It may be because we took a slightly longer route so we could stop at Manassas National Battlefield Park in Manassas, VA. This park is the site of the opening battle (after the bombardment of Fort Sumter) of the Civil War (July 21, 1861) and a subsequent battle on August 9, 1862. Both battles were Union defeats. The park is nice but is surrounded by development. That’s just the way it is around the ‘burbs of Washington, DC. We did a quick ride about and left for Baltimore shortly after. While in the visitor’s center, it became apparent to us that we have been to just about all the major battlefields of the Civil War except two- Pea Ridge in northwestern Arkansas and Walnut Creek, Kansas. We will be visiting these after our return from Newfoundland. It has been quite an accomplishment since they are so spread out and take a commitment to visit them all. But, that’s what we’re doing!

It was good to be back at my mother’s. We can always relax and regroup. We spent the first four days doing just that. Well, we were doing some planning too. We figured it would be a good time, since the weather was so nice, that we would visit Philadelphia and Washington, DC as day trips. Since the “City of Brotherly Love” is only 90 miles away and DC is about 50. We stashed the trailer away in the garage down the street again, did some shopping, sprayed the tent again with silicone and did a general round-up of the things in the trailer to be sure we had everything we needed for when we head to Newfoundland. In addition, we organized all the export documents once I got them from Mike at BMW of Las Vegas. We’re now ready for that leg later in the week.

We hit the road as early as we could on Saturday, June 7 and with easy access to the Baltimore Beltway and I-95, we were on our way to Philadelphia quickly. Interstate 95 can seem like a race track sometimes and Saturday was no exception. Some cars doing 90 mph and others doing 55 (the limit in some places). All that variation causes accidents just like the one right out of the toll booth in Delaware. It must have happened a few moments in front of us (but I didn’t see it happen). Although a small car didn’t look like it hit anything, it was upside down in the left lane. Lots of cars were pulling over to help as we approached and I made a wide berth to miss any debris that might be in the roadway. I can’t explain that one but I will tell you that texting while driving HAS to stop. We’ve seen SO much distracted driving its terrible. We can always tell when it is going on and we make sure we stay as far away from them as possible!

We were in Philadelphia in about 1 ½ hours and the good thing about visiting Philly is that the historical spots are mostly right off I-95 because the downtown is right on the Delaware River. We easily found a parking spot on the street (that’s an upside of riding a motorcycle) one block from Independence Hall. I recommend first stopping at the visitor’s center because, for one thing, you’ll need a ticket to get into Independence Hall (it is free, as is all the other popular sites) and you can get oriented to what’s around. We weren’t able to wait for the next available tour so that’s why I am recommending visiting the center first. Tickets go fast. Fortunately, the Liberty Bell doe not require a ticket, only a wait in line that wasn’t too bad. We had a few places on our agenda so we got the stamps from the visitor’s center and headed to the Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial after Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell and the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial.

Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial is the home of Thaddeus Kosciuszko, a Revolutionary War hero and brilliant military engineer who designed successful fortifications for us during the American Revolution. By 1783, Kosciuszko was appointed Brigadier General and was awarded the Cincinnati Order Medal by General George Washington. Washington also presented Kosciuszko with two pistols and a sword as gifts for his outstanding service to America. He even has a town in Mississippi named after him right along the Natchez Trace Parkway (though not spelled exactly the same)!

After exploring the history around Kosciuszko, we decided to check out the Edgar Allan Poe National Historical Site. Though Edgar spent a fair amount of time in Baltimore, and is buried there, Philadelphia has the National Historical Site. I think most of us have read some of his work and if you haven’t, you are really missing out. Though most of his work is well over a hundred years old, it has a timelessness that only great works can possess.

We got quite a few stamps in Philadelphia (9) but wanted to move on to Valley Forge National Park. We plan to visit Philly again but spend much more time since the city is rich in history. Maybe on our way back from Newfoundland we’ll do that. It is an easy drive to Valley Forge from downtown (about 30 miles). We’ve found that one of the benefits of exploring Revolutionary and Civil War sites is that in those days, the significant things that happened, aren’t really that far apart by today’s standards. We arrived in Valley Forge at about 1:00 pm with plenty of time left in the day. Hopefully everyone reading this is aware of Valley Forge and the brutal winter that Washington spent there with the Continental Army. What you might not know if you haven’t been is just how big an area the National Park encompasses. In addition to its size, the park has an abundance of trails for biking, hiking and exploring. There is also a bike rental service in the parking lot for those that want to exit the car and take in some fresh air! Even though there were no battles fought there, Valley Forge is a great place to visit and take the time to imagine for yourself the hardship these soldiers must have endured in order to secure our freedom.

Off to another early American historical site, we drove further west to Hopewell Furnace National Historical Site, not too far from Lancaster, PA. Situated not far from Elverson, PA, Hopewell Furnace is a well preserved example of a colonial period foundry that are so prevalent in this area of Pennsylvania because of its rich mineral resource. Built in 1771, Hopewell Furnace and others like it were producing one seventh of the world’s iron at the onset of the Revolutionary War. As you might imagine, these foundries also played a crucial role in supplying our new nation’s army. The film on how to make charcoal, molds for castings, pouring the molds, the whole process, was fascinating! We had a pretty nice visit to Hopewell Furnace and were surprised at just how significant this industry was in the late 1700’s. Even though it is a little out of the way, we highly recommend a visit. You can’t find this sort of stuff just anywhere!

We spied a community cookout a few miles before we got to Hopewell so we decided to head back there for a late lunch/early dinner. It turned out to be a blast! The whole community of Elverson puts on a blues cookout. There were at least five blues bands slated to play, lots of BBQ and my personal favorite, pulled pork sandwiches! Beer was on tap, though we couldn’t enjoy any of it, and folks from all around brought their tents, chairs and coolers to enjoy an afternoon of blues and food at Wyndsor Farm. We have found during this trip that to ‘dig into’ the local flair can produce some pretty awesome experiences and this was no different. We stayed a few hours then decided it was time to head back to Baltimore on some very rural roads. These took us through Lancaster County, famous for their Amish and Mennonite communities. If you haven’t been, be sure to keep an eye on the roads for cow and horse droppings because they are quite slippery! We felt we were back down south when we crossed over the Susquehanna River and south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

Washington, DC is at least a two week vacation in and of itself. Seeing all the historical sites and museums and all the other things it has to offer was just not in the cards for us this trip. So we planned to visit four or so sites that were all related- Ford’s Theatre, Fort Stevens, Fort Washington and Lincoln’s Cottage at Soldiers Home.

Sunday, June 8 brought another great day and we started early again since we had tour tickets for Ford’s Theatre at 9:00. We had no trouble finding parking on 10th Street NW since it was so early. It was free too! Since we arrived so early, we had a long wait till the first tour began. The museum was really good with lots of Lincoln displays and after we spent about 45 minutes in there, we went into the theatre to hear the story of that fateful night told by the Park Ranger with some theatre history thrown in. Ford’s Theatre today is not the original. Sold to the military soon after Lincoln’s assassination, it served as a warehouse and an office space. Not until the 1950’s was it restored to its original configuration. Today, it is a working theatre. The box where Lincoln was shot is draped in the American flag. We found it to be a moving experience nonetheless. Across the street is the Petersen House where Lincoln died at 7:22 am April 15, 1865. You can tour this building also.

We left there and headed a few miles north in DC to Lincoln’s Cottage at Soldiers Home. Lincoln spent a lot of time living at this cottage at Soldiers Home during the Civil War. The site is a National Historical Site but the cottage is a National Trust property. We didn’t take the (expensive) tour of the cottage ($15 per person) but looked around the home quietly since there was a wedding going on while we were there. It would be a good idea to look it up on the internet if you are interested in this piece of history.

Close to Soldiers Home is the re-constructed Fort Stevens. This is the site of the fort that was attacked by Confederate Lieutenant General Jubal Early with 14,000 troops. Though repulsed, it did send a scare into the residents of the Capital. On July 12, 1864, President Lincoln visited the fort while it was under attack and barely escaped a sharpshooter’s bullet. I think this may have been the only time a sitting president has been fired upon by an enemy force and consequently Lincoln being the only president to have been so. Fort Stevens is only part of a vast fort network built during the Civil War. A total of 68 forts, 93 gun batteries, 20 miles of rifle pits and 32 miles of military roads around the capital were built under the supervision of Major General John Barnard, a respected expert on the construction of coastal forts. Not all forts today are accessible but it was pretty cool to see the map of these forts and place them in present day. Little known is the fact that only one fort protected our Capital in 1861 and that was Fort Washington.

That was our next stop, Fort Washington National Park. Started in 1808 as Fort Warburton, it is situated across from and slightly upriver on the Potomac from Mount Vernon. Fort Washington has a commanding view of the Potomac River. The fort’s construction was primarily finished under Lt. Col. Walker Armistead in 1824. However, by the 1840’s, it underwent yet another remodeling. For a time it was the only defensive fort protecting Washington so at the onset of hostilities in 1861, the orders were given to Major Barnard to construct an additional 68 forts. We were really surprised at how few people were visiting the park, and it was Sunday! Maybe not a lot of folks know about it. It is a great place to visit and the views are hard to beat! Easy to get to, it is just a few miles off I-95 just into Maryland off the Woodrow Wilson Bridge from Alexandria, VA. Take the Indian Head Highway south.

While we were there we learned about Piscataway Park, property purchased by the National Park Service to protect the view across river from Mount Vernon. In addition to this area, we saw Fort Foote, another fort upriver towards Washington providing additional protection. We were also surprised to find out that a lot of the eastern shore (Maryland side) of this part of the Potomac River is so much protected parkland, even though some property is privately owned. It is nice to know that the sprawl from Washington will not adversely affect the view that even George Washington would recognize if he were alive today. All these places are worth a visit and we think it is great that they remain as they were in what we might call, their heyday.

It was a pretty easy Sunday. We did about 150 miles and were back by 1:00 or so. Looking back, maybe a more extensive search for the old forts would have been fun but you must be careful in some places in DC. You might find yourself in a not so great neighborhood before you know it. Besides, the traffic can be intimidating if you are not accustomed to it or have not experienced it. While driving in New York Avenue, I remembered those days of working in Georgetown and it taking about 1 ½ hours to go 24 or so miles to work. It was ALWAYS an adventure! Back on I-95 to get home, we hit one of those ‘phantom backups’ as I like to call them. Once the traffic breaks free, you wonder what caused it because you don’t see anything. I can’t explain them! Anyway, it wasn’t too warm so the slow-down wasn’t too hateful!

We took a break from June 8-13, gearing up for our next leg of the trip. Our plan is to head north into New Jersey and then continue up the Hudson River Valley. Lots of Revolutionary War sites up that way! Then we think it’ll be over into Vermont and New Hampshire, entering Maine about mid-state. We hope to do some coastal Maine travel and cross into New Brunswick at Calais, ME.

We hope you stay with us as our adventure leaves the country to Canada and some parts not usually explored by us Americans (especially Newfoundland!) Stay tuned for the next installment of our National Parks Tour! Greg & Cynthia.