A Night at the Museum (GeoTour continued)

The second half of our Smithsonian Adventure found us leaving bustling downtown DC and heading to the mountains of Maryland. The dashboard reads 76 degrees and the sun is shining into the car. Unlike home, everything here is lush and in bloom. I really wish I know what those purple flowering trees are -- they are all over the mountains and DC.

MARYLAND

By Sunday, we had completed five Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area Geotrail geocaches. That leaves eight to leisurely retrieve on Easter morning. We realized there was no rush as the Frederick Visitor Center is closed for the holiday (but later TaGeez pointed out we could pickup our coins in Antietam, too).  

First stop is the Point of Rocks Train Depot. "Built built in 1875 by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O)–the charming Victorian station is on the National Register of Historic Places." (National Parks). POR found itself in the middle of a battle during the Civil War.

Photographing into the sun

Luckily, the HCWHA puzzle was easy, and we had the smiley in hand. Also in this same parking lot were two traditionals (one is my 7500th find and the other was our first DNF).

Can't keep a good man down!

History, history everywhere on this trail...

Monocacy National Battlefield is much quieter these days

Confederate Graves at Mt Olivet Cemetery

Parents of Francis Scott Key - Mt Olivet Cemetery

The view from Historic Middleton

Much to our surprise we found a Michigan Historical Marker in a Maryland field!

Fox's Gap

Stepping away from the historic marker and a nearby memorial, we headed to the HCWHA - Fox's Gap GC6NP7M where we discovered....

HOLY SMOKES WE FOUND THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL!

This was a first for all three of us. Each of us had to pose with the sign and the white blaze.

I could walk the Appalachian Trail. 528 feet at a time!

This was the first of 3 instances our toes touched the magnificent trail, and Shelley met some Trail Hikers! She also explained "Trail Magic" -- random acts of kindness for through hikers so we kept granola bars on hand.

FINALLY!

Our second AT touch was at historic Dahlgren Chapel, located at the summit of Turner's Gap in western Maryland between Middletown and Boonsboro. The AT runs right next to it.

Dahlgren Chapel GCV4Q2

We wound our way down and completed the HCWHA in Antietam. After a delightful conversation with a ranger at our final cache at the Newcomer House, we headed to the visitor center to seek our rewards.

Antietam Battleground Visitor Center

Unlike many geotrails, you do have to pay for the commemorative geocoins, but we felt $10 each was minor for such an awesome souvenir! We paid for them in the gift shop as well as new hiker medallions for our walking sticks. If you go, don't forget to bring your National Park passport for stamping.

Front and back of the HCWHA geocoins plus commemorative path tag

AND WE'RE AT IT AGAIN

Funny thing happened here. We were pulling out of the Antietam Visitor Center and heading towards town when I pulled up the geocaching app - DOH! There was a cache INSIDE the Visitor Center! Shelley did a quick turnaround, and I headed in to the desk. 

What's this? Another code word?

HEY! Another geotrail! Twenty caches will earn another coin and path tag after completing the Washington County Geotrail. We have a day left of vacation... a full tank of gas... it's bright out. Let's go! The only down side - bummer - the caches are located in the same towns we've been driving through over the last day.

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For future finders, if you are in town for one of these geotrails, try to do all three as they're in the same area: Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area, Washington County Geotrail, and the Hagerstown City Parks geotrail. You can pick up your geocoins and path tags for all three at the Hagerstown Visitor Center.

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The WCG, like the HCWHA, featured vineyards, general stores, potteries, historical centers, bridges, heritage museums and cemeteries. By now, historical markers were like dandelions -- they are so abundant you forget to notice them after awhile.

Devil's Backbone GC4EFW1

Look what we found again!

Okay. For all cache hiders, let's talk about terrain. Rule of thumb: if you expect finders to hike 800 feet up hill on the side of a mountain and then hike .2 down a mountain, locate & sign a cache while precariously balancing on an incline like a billy goat... that is not a 1.5 terrain.

Luckily the view from the Washington Monument in Washington Monument State Park was worth it!

Setting sun made it impossible for a great picture

Power down and go outdoors

That final night we went to dinner and grabbed some WVTim caches in Martinsburg. We had intended to hunt for more, but the taste of the geotrail had gripped us. 

The final day of our adventure dawned a gray, drizzly day. That didn't deter us. We headed up, up, up!

Vineyard down below

Our twentieth find was in Historic (are you getting tired of that word yet?) Rose Hill Cemetery. A good puzzle, another smiley, and lo! The rain finally stopped!

We completed another!
Scrapcat, TaGeez and ShelleyJean

The ladies at the Hagerstown Visitor Center were absolutely lovely. They left such a friendly final impression. We bought our coins, collected our complimentary path tags, and stocked up on candy for the ride home. 

Washington County GeoTrail geocoin and path tag

FLIGHT 93 MEMORIAL - SHANKSVILLE, PA

We had considered stopping at the Flight 93 9/11 Memorial on the way into DC, but then saved it for the last day. 

The rock in the middle of the field was the final crash sight

I've been to many memorials but never so moved. It was so personal because I remember where I was the first time Katie Couric interrupted the normal segment on the Today Show in a shocked, confused voice saying a plane had crashed into one of the Twin Towers. To hear it broadcasted again in the Visitor Center rocked me.

Very moving exhibit in the Visitor Center

To re-live the crash investigation, the conspiracy theories. To see the makeshift memorials reconstructed from those first days and hearing about those amazingly brave people who stayed calm and stood up to tyranny.  

Every facet of this memorial was brilliantly thought out. As ShelleyJean said, it gives great comfort that there were so many people visiting today, not letting this be forgotten. We left the Visitor Center, passed the burgeoning orchard, and went down to the crash site. The debris field was enormous.

The wall of names on the left
Visitor Center up on the hill

I think God wanted to extract us from our solemn mood. Right before hitting the freeway towards home, we crossed paths (finally) with one of the Muffler Men! This one in Kittanning, PA! We swerved to take a picture for our good friend, SCOOK, back home.

INDIANA UNIV, PA

Final detour on our adventure led us to a webcam and a Virtual in Indiana, PA.  Fitting to the rest of the trip, the large rock before us in the picture was a memorial for 9/11. Directly behind it (out of frame) is a piece of the debris from the World Trade Center.

And after finding our Pooka in the town center, we turned to home. Another amazing memory in the books.

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Only official GeoTours are listed on Geocaching.com. If you are looking for Geotrails with Rewards there is now a Facebook group for that!

Icarus has Risen!

Classify this as there is always hope...

Found Icarus in pieces and a torn bag in a geotrail cache in Maryland this weekend. Curious, as his TB page read that he's been in a Mississippi Cemetery for the last 5 years! He's all spruced up and ready to travel again!

Not quite as miraculous but we found George Jones (missing 3 years) on the same trip!

Never give up hope!

The Great DC Adventure: Heading Home AKA The End

Leaving DC our intent was to return home via Philadelphia. But after dealing with the coastal traffic and tolls the day before, we decided another plan was in order. And this unexpected change in our journey was some of the most fun!

First stop: National Harbor!

We were here the other night for the "Awakening" Virtual, but it was mad! It reminded me of the Vegas strip, throngs of overdressed, undersober tourists blocking the roads in front of overpriced restaurants and shops. Today? We parked at the top of the stairs leading down to the beach.

Cool beach and AWESOME Virtual!

Titanic Memorial

Located across the National Harbor, we decided to make one last stop before heading out of town. We saw its counterpart while touring the other Memorials in town a few days earlier. 

Burke Lake Park

Yes, an oldie - December 2000! We've completed our JASMERs, but how can you pass up a granddaddy cache? LOVELY park, beautiful lake, and lots and lots of logs to hide things under! We were lucky twice - free park entry and the appearance of Rsoxfan8 and 2bjPN. Tricky hide - so glad we had so many eyes looking for it!

scrapcat, 2bjPN, TaGeez and Rsoxfan8

Antietam National Battlefield and Cemetery

Day is passing and this time we're really heading to home. We pulled off the highway in Maryland for an amazing gadget cache and found ourselves passing Antietam (after driving over a very big mountain - EEK!). Admittedly, we never considered thisAntietam as a stop on our adventure, but, now that we are here... Moving. Beautiful. Again, sounds like a cliche, but geocaching takes you to some wondrous places.

After Antietam, we turned to home. We spent most of the ride signing classics (like The Man Song, Bohemian Rhapsody, The Scotsman, King of the Road) while weaving in and out of the Appalachians and Allegheny Mountains. 

Another amazing adventure in the books. I'm just so glad I have TaGeez to share in these experiences. 

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SOME NUMBER FUN

1,615 miles  and $90 in tolls from Detroit and back
4 new state souvenirs: Maryland, Washington DC, Delaware, and New Jersey
65 caches total and 19 benchmarks

• 34 Virtuals, 27 Traditionals, 2 Puzzles/Challenges, and 2 Webcams. 
• The oldest cache was hidden in December 2000!
• Combined, as of this posting, these geocaches have the sum total of 13,908 Favorite Points!
• Find counts: DC (26), Maryland (12), Virginia (8), West Virginia (6), Delaware (6), New Jersey (6), and Pennsylvania (1).

6 days of incredible memories

• Wednesday - Detroit to Maryland to Martinsburg, WV for the WVTim caches
• Thursday - WVTim caches, Arlington National Cemetery, Congressional Cemetery, Old Town Alexandria for a Civil War tunnel & dinner, and ice cream along the riverwalk
• Friday - Metro to the Smithsonian Museums, walking tour around Capital Hill, and dinner at Martin's Tavern in Georgetown
• Saturday - Metro to the White House, tour around the Memorials on the Mall, and our first trip to the National Harbor
• Sunday - Scott Circle webcam, the National Zoo, the National Cathedral, Delaware, New Jersey, Baltimore (Poe's Grave and dinner at G&M Crab Cakes)
• Monday - Mount Vernon drive-by, National Harbor, Titanic Memorial, Burke Lake Park, Antietam National Battlefield & Cemetery, and then home to Detroit

The Great DC Adventure: Webcam to Webcam

I know it seems like I've been talking about this trip forever, but it was amazing - one I love reliving. We're home now, with a family member dealing with some medical issues, so I haven't been to the keyboard as much as I like. I must admit, though, writing this post that these pictures bring back a smile to my face. Because leave it to TaGeez and I to just go off the tourist rails!

First stop on Sunday morning? Webcam! Oh, the parking was horrendous, but we pulled up to a (mostly legit spot) marked "Sunday parking only". We hopped out long enough to clown for the camera.

We grabbed the webcam on the way to the National Zoo. Oh, we almost gave up! It took us almost an hour to get ushered into a zoo lot. And then $22 to park for the 'free' zoo - ouch! All was worth it when we emailed front-row pictures of the pandas back to my Dad in the hospital. 

And nearby is the National Cathedral, another Virtual. What a difference since my last visit! The entire back half is under scaffolding for earthquake damage!

The sign among the wreckage reads, "The limestone pinnacles were damaged in the August 23, 2011 earthquake here. The ground shook for less than a minute but caused the 301-foot central tower of Washington National Cathedral to whip back and forth. Some of the 50-ton pinnacles spun like tops and others fell onto the roof." I look forward to returning when it's repaired. The larger stones will take carvers 32 weeks (costing $60K) to recarve.

Taking this on the road

Ok, traffic congestion and pedestrians are everywhere. Time to head out of the city!

The wonderful thing about going to small states is that you can 'collect' state souvenirs a little easier. With a special ride up the coast on Sunday, we acquired Maryland, Washington DC, Delaware, and New Jersey.

It was a fascinating study on traffic, tolls, and parking toils. As a military wife, I thought I'd experienced these to the max, but it was so bad Sunday night we decided to skip our detour to Philadelphia on Monday to avoid that experience again. 

Even with all of this, the drive was lovely - sky so blue. In Delaware, we met another cacher, nshoopie, at our first Delaware cache. She was celebrating her 100th find and had hoped to find some trackables in the cache to take back to Philadelphia. No luck in the cache, but, luckily, we had a few to trade.

Further up the road was New Jersey - actually, a bit middle class but quite lovely, along the river. As there were no fabulous caches near the Delaware Memorial Bridge, we grabbed our desired 6 caches and turned back around.

Delaware Memorial Bridge

Oh, how we underestimated the traffic! We had assumed, since we had set aside almost a full day, we could make it up to New Jersey and back to Maryland with plenty of time for dinner in Baltimore. We had dinner in Baltimore but around midnight.

One stop was the webcam at Towson University. Such a nice little campus, well groomed with flowers blooming. Too bad for a college town all the restaurants were closed. Onwards to Baltimore passing colleges and Universities and miles and miles of expensive houses in manicured neighborhoods.

We wrapped up the night driving around downtown Baltimore looking for food and parking. We visited Poe's grave, saw the big ships in Baltimore's harbor, and wrapped it up with a late night meal at G&M Crab Cakes.

Exhausted we headed back to the hotel to rest before our journey home...