Common Ground on the Hill 2017
Day 1
East to West Virginia
Day 2
Kinda Hilly
Day 3
The Climb to Bald Knob
Day 4
From West to Regular
Day 5
Richmond upon James
Day 6
241 Years Later
Day 7
To the Turret
Day 8
Over & Under the Bay
Day 9
Music Time
Day 10
Let There Be Festival
Day 11
Old Stuff on the Road
July 9, 2017 (day 11)
After stopping by a couple new-to-me spots in Westminster, I set out for
home with mostly revisits of familiar sights along the way.
July 8, 2017 (day 10)
This was the day the trip was basically organized around and it was a
dandy. There was more music than you could shake a tambourine at but you
could try if you wanted.
July 7, 2017 (day 9)
I made it to where I originally set out for and did it in time to catch a
very cool concert.
July 6, 2017 (day 8)
It was a low key and sometimes wet day as I drove the Chesapeake Bay
Bridge-Tunnel for the first time then continued north to the top of
Delaware.
July 5, 2017 (day 7)
I returned to a much quieter Williamsburg and checked out both capitol
and palace. Then I was off to look in on a soaking ship.
July 4, 2017 (day 6)
Celebrating the events of 241 years ago in a place that looked much like
it did then was a pretty cool experience. Interacting with people dressed
and behaving as they would have then -- even cooler.
July 3, 2017 (day 5)
It was a very full day with a friend giving me an excellent tour of his
city. I ended in Williamsburg and even managed a museum visit before
falling asleep.
July 2, 2017 (day 4)
Today I drove from West Virginia to regular Virginia then back and forth
again. I made it to Montpelier but got bumped along the way.
July 1, 2017 (day 3)
I had time to look over some of the operations at Cass Scenic Railroad
before being pulled up the mountain by an eighty-nine year old locomotive.
June 30, 2017 (day 2)
I continued on US routes (60 & 219) into ski country and the cone of
(radio) silence.
June 29, 2017 (day 1)
The trip got underway with a drive on US-50 and US-35 to Charleston, West
Virginia.
Prelude - Jun 28, 2017
Even though the basics for this trip have been in place for several weeks,
it is the day before departure and I'm just now getting around to posting
a prelude. Guess I've been too wrapped up in the Lincoln Highway trip that
ended Monday. The trip's title comes from where it ends and where the
planning started. For several years a friend has been involved in an event
that takes place near Baltimore, Maryland, around the Fourth of July. I've
talked of attending but never quite made it. This year the schedule looked
open and I decided to just do it. I set my sights on the July 8 festival
that concludes the event.
The first thing that got added was the tunnel. Though I've long wanted to, I have never driven the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel and this seemed like a good opportunity to do that. As I added the tunnel to the agenda I was looking for a place to spend the actual Fourth of July. About then a friend reminded me of a steam train he had ridden in West Virginia awhile back and again suggested that it was something I'd like. I agreed and looked into it. The train's home is Cass, West Virginia, and the route from Cass to the bridge-tunnel passes very close to a place that had started to register in my search for an Independence Day home. That place was Colonial Williamsburg which seemed like it might be a near perfect place to spend the day. So that's my trip. A train ride on the first, Declaration of Independence readings in Williamsburg on the fourth, a music and crafts festival on the eighth, and in between a drive through and over Chesapeake Bay and maybe visits to Montpelier (James Madison's home) and/or Highland (James Monroe's home).