I left my room to enjoy a wonderful breakfast served by and accompanied by
delightful conversation with inn owner Megin Harrington.
I grabbed a few more pictures around the inn before I hit the road. Inside
pictures include the well worn stone that connects the old (1788) and new
(1794) sections of the building and the dining room. Megin told me that
the first thing she checked when she was allowed to return after the fire
was the rubble covered stone. I ate my dinner at the four-top set for two
(it was set for one last night). I was told that a bathtub from the second
floor occupied that spot following the fire.
Outside the flowers of summer have just started to fade. Megin planned to
be tending to them for much of the day. Note the National Road mile marker
(it's fiberglass) in the inn's backyard.
This National Road S-bridge is about six miles west of Washington, PA. I
suspect that this particular style of bridge fell out of favor because of
the amount of mowing required.
Another day and another Madonna. This Pennsylvania gal is looking good.
The Wheeling Suspension Bridge has been closed since September of 2019.
The closure was triggered by people continuing to ignore weight limits.
That's something I really don't understand. If I encountered a walkway
with a 100 pound limit posted, I sure wouldn't want to put my 200+ on it
even if it was only an inch or two off the ground. What is the thought
process that results in someone violating the weight limit of surface
hanging more than a hundred feet above a river?
Although signs are confusing, the south walkway is open across the river.
I did not cross all the way but several others did on foot and on bicycles
while I puttered around taking pictures. Locals told me that a new beam
has been buried to improve the cable anchor and that drilling to improve
it further is underway. Even so, some still doubt whether it will ever
return to being a bridge for vehicles or just become a very safe
pedestrian bridge. The north side cables have been exposed but they saved
all the pieces. I assume that's where the anchoring beam has been
installed and I assume the cable covering will eventually be reassembled.
It sure would be cool if this 173 year old structure could once again
become part of the road west.
I used another bridge to get to Ohio then stopped to visit the oldest
standing bridge in the state. The Blaine Hill 'S' Bridge was built in 1828
and remained in use until 1994.
Once in Ohio, I started doing some figuring. My plans were to stick with
the National Road to its original end in Springfield. Although the road
existed in some form beyond that, Springfield is where federal financed
construction ceased. I even had vague thoughts of visiting a museum there
in the 1839 Pennsylvania House; a place once called ""The Inn at the
End of the Pike". My departure from the Century Inn had not been
particularly early and I'd not exactly hurried since then. I began
thinking it was unlikely that the Pennsylvania House would even be open
when I reached it. I've since learned that it's only open on Weekends and
I could not have entered on Friday no matter what time I arrived. Even
without that knowledge, I started wondering if I should continue on along
the National Road or take a more direct and quicker route home. Hitting
rain near Zanesville ended my wondering and my wandering.
