Hallowed Grounds

     

    When I saw that the area where we are starting our West Virginia adventure referred to as a "panhandle," I was initially confused.  As I considered the map, however, I came to better understand why they claim to be the only state with not one but TWO panhandles.  Alas, we will only be exploring the Eastern panhandle, the one proudly declared the "panhandle of paradise" on this trip.

    Tuesday had been set aside to explore Shepherdstown, where we are staying, along with neighboring Charles Town, as well as to take the short trek over the Potomac into Sharpsburg, Maryland to visit Antietam.  With Maddie needing a spot for an interview at 2:00, we opted to spend the first part of the day doing the former and to save what was sure to be a sometimes somber trek through the bloodiest battle fields of the Civil War for later in the afternoon.

    We started off our day in a classic diner so beloved by Daniel called Mountain View Diner in Charles Town.  While their name belied their location just off the "highway" (which is nothing like those we call by such names in south Florida), the coffee was hot, the food delicious and the service friendly.  Charles Town was named for George Washington's brother, who settled here and encouraged many of his family members to do so, as well.  Apparently George was a frequent visitor to "Happy Retreat," his brother's family estate, which is still untouched, though the purchase to facilitate opening the home to the public as a historic site has not yet been completed.   Upon his death, Charles donated the land that provides the charming town center.  

Happy Retreat - Charles Washington's estate

    Before WWII, Charles Town was the only place, in the very same charming courthouse, to host TWO trials for treason.  One centered around a coal miner's strike, but the one that brought us to the court house steps was John Brown's trial.  It was here where he was found guilty, and just a few blocks away where he - and all of the men arrested alongside him - would be hanged for committing treason when they attacked the armory in Harper's Ferry.  Apparently, Brown sat atop his own coffin with his hands tied as he travelled by wagon from his prison cell to the hanging site.  Brown's final words - "I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away, but with blood" - were all too prophetic.

The courthouse where Brown lost his trial

The field where Brown lost his life

The house was built at a later time 

    When we weren't tooling around town finding the spots of historic significance, we were just taking in the trees, which are so abundant, flowering, green, that I just can't stop raving about them, the beautiful architecture and the quaint shops.  My favorite of these was Bushel and Peck, a local grocer that truly earns that title.  Everything they sell comes from a farm no more than 50 miles away, the grand majority of their goods come from farms within the county. 

    Next stop was back in Shepherdstown to visit O'Hurley's General Store, in operation by the same family for over 100 years, and everything you would hope from such a place.  In one room, completed puzzles line the walls, and the family told me that they complete at least one each year to add to that wall.  It's that kind of shop.  When the little cafe I had planned for our afternoon drink/Maddie's interview spot was closed for mysterious reasons (there were several men in orange vests in their patio), we punted to Shepherdstown Sweet Shop, which served an admirable substitute, though Maddie did have to contend with far more street noise than we would have imagined the previous silent evening!

 Maddie insisted we fit the interview into our day.  She even opted to find a spot on the street rather than be deposited at the nearby inn.  :) You can sorta see her on the left, behind the glass.

 

    The afternoon we spent exploring the various sites of the Antietam battles in Sharpsburg, MD, where 22,000 Americans died, thus making it the bloodiest Civil War battle.  For some reason, whenever I'd think of a battle "field" such as this one, I imagined all of the action and fighting and dying taking place in one concentrated area.  While there were, of course, spots where such battles occurred, there were actually multiple spots, making the area of consecrated land far greater than I had ever realized.  Dana had found an auto audio tour, which was a wonderful addition, as the visitor's center is closed for revitalization.  Between the audio tour, which provided a dramatic retelling of the day's events, and the monuments at each of the several locations where we stopped to walk and read and reflect, I have a far fuller understanding of Antietam, where the Union's victory was necessary for Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation and keep England and France from legitimizing the Confederacy.   

    The thought of thousands of young men, brothers figuratively if not literally, fighting and dying in these corn fields, on these bridges, in these woods, is almost too much to fully comprehend.  "A nation torn asunder" took on a much deeper meaning for me, as I stood on these hallowed grounds, crossed Burnside's bridge, where Union soldiers, who far outnumbered their Confederate counterparts, could nevertheless initially not overtake the tactical advantage and superior position the Confederate soldiers had to shoot them as they crossed the bridge, which would later be renamed to honor their General, who eventually did lead his troops to victory.  

    Though the afternoon was understandably solemn as we contemplated our nation's history, we did find time for the occasional smiling selfie, especially after we'd all walked to the top of the observation tower, where we found ourselves blissfully alone, and wondered how much less powerful and pleasant an exploration such as this one would be if hundreds of tourists were simultaneously climbing up those stairs. 

    We shared a late afternoon ice cream at Nutters, a cute little Sharpsburg shop recommended by the Welcome Center in Shepherdstown, before returning "home," where we closed our evening out with another (and final) dip in our Infinity pool, followed by a late dinner in our own lovely Bavarian Inn.  This has been a profound and lovely start to our trip.  Today we will leave the panhandle behind, as we take more of the George Washington Heritage Trail, this time toward Morgantown, our next West Virginian home away from home.