On the way to Gettysburg, we stayed in this lovely Bed and Breakfast called Oaklands Green, just outside a small town called Purcelville, near Leesville, Virginia. A lot of the towns in this area had connections back to the civil war generals. They were quaint little places.
Oaklands Green was a lovely old place with a long history. We stayed in the restored old part of the building and it was wonderful.
The main downstairs lounge of the old log cabin.
View from the rear of the oldest part of the building.
Me sitting on the steps of the newer part of the house.
It was here that I saw my first fireflies. They were like magic little fairy lights twinkling all over the grass and up around the trees as dusk darkened into night. I'd heard of these things. Some people call them fireflies, some call them lightning bugs. They look a bit like those long flying ants we get in the summer time, only their rear ends light up when they take off. I can't even describe how beautiful they were. I stood and watched them for ages. They were the prettiest things I'd ever seen.
Some of the beautiful garden that surrounds Oakland Green. I sure wish I could get my own garden to look like this.
Being spring, all the beautiful flowers were out. I noticed that many people in the area had different colored begonias and geraniums in hanging pots everywhere. It was very pretty.
This was a huge flowering tree. If anyone recognises what it is, please let me know. It was magnificent. I'd love one in my own yard.
I think by now it's fair to say that I've lost count of the days we've been on the road. If I hadn't been writing it all down, I'd have no idea in which order we'd seen what. This has been one amazing tour so far, and still so far to go...!
We drove into Harpers Ferry and found a park a fair way from the main centre of town. This is a very popular tourist destination and being a weekend, Memorial Day Weekend at that - I'm sure it was Saturday - there were people everywhere.
Harpers Ferry is right at the junction of three states. Rather cool. You can walk from West Virginia to Maryland and look over at Virginia. It's where the Potomac and the Shenandoah Rivers converge.
It's a very pretty little town and very hilly. We walked down and had a look around. Harpers Ferry is famous for being a civil war town as well as being the place where John Brown staged his famous raid. A lot of history here, folks. Too much for me to tell, but there's heaps on the internet if you want to look it all up.
The feeling from the locals about John Brown is, even to this day, still divided. Half think of him as a hero. Half think of him as a nut and a murderer. To tell you the truth, after visiting the museums and reading all about him, I can't make up my mind about him either.
The houses at Harpers Ferry are exactly the same as they were during the civil war. Amazing to see.
The mighty Potomac River is an awesome sight as it joins with the Shenandoah.
Take a look at all these lovely old buildings. There were heaps more, but I was in no condition to take more photos.
I'm not sure if it was the humidity or what it was, but I had some sort of attack. I think maybe asthma. Not sure. Geoff even called an ambulance to pick me up. How embarrassing!
I was alright after sitting in the ambulance for a few minutes in the airconditioning.
I'm not sure what happened, but I've not been quite the same since. Some might say I never was quite right anyway. Hahaha!
I just loved all these gorgeous old homes. They were all perched on the sides of the hills with very steep back yards. I don't know how they managed to mow all those lawns.
This was how it looked when John Brown and his abolitionists raided on October 16, 1859.
Apart from the mod-cons, not a lot of the exterior of the buildings has changed in all that time.
Harpers Ferry - a town poised in time.
As I said in the correction to my last blog, I wanted to devote one separate entry to Antietam. As we travelled around Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and later Kentucky, we crossed uncountable numbers of civil war battlefields. They are everywhere out here. You can't travel around over here and not encounter them.
We'd heard about the famous battle at Antietam creek and decided to go there. It was the single most bloody one-day battle in America's history.
"The Army of the Potomac, under the command of George McClellan, mounted a
series of powerful assaults against Robert E. Lee’s forces near
Sharpsburg, Maryland, on September 17, 1862. The morning assault and
vicious Confederate counterattacks swept back and forth through Miller’s
Cornfield and the West Woods."
The old Dunker Church that survived the battle, just on the edge of the west wood.
The people were called Dunkers because they believed in full immersion into the river at baptism.
Me standing at the edge of the west wood. The little Dunker Church is in front of me.
Oh how deceiving is the peace and beauty of this gently rolling Miller's farmland, cornfields and woodlands.
Who would now guess the horrors these trees saw, and the blood that seeped into this land?
A mock soldiers' camp. This would have been a common sight here.
The sunken roadway nicknamed "Bloody Lane" because of all the bodies and the blood of that dreadful day.
Geoff walks along the other side of the sunken roadway, so peaceful and green now.
View across the battlefield from the Observation Tower.
The extent of this battlefield was astounding.
"Late in the day, the third and final major assault by the Union army
pushed over a bullet-strewn stone bridge at Antietam Creek."
I wonder... if the night is still enough... if the breeze blows in just the right direction... if all is quiet... do you still hear the moans and cries of the wounded and dying...?
We left Wheeling and stayed that night just out of Morgantown. The next morning we headed for Antietam Civil War Battlefields. We then went on to Front Royal, the gateway to the spectacular Blue Ridge Parkway, and the next day went through Luray Caverns.
Remember John Denver's song? "West Virginia, mountain momma, blue ridge mountain, Shenandoah River..." Well, we did the Skyline Drive along the Blue Ridge Mountain trail. Below us in the valley was the Shenandoah River.
Spectacular. But... it just happened to be Memorial Day weekend. That's USA's version of our ANZAC day, only they have a long weekend to remember all the veterans from all their wars past and present. So... us and about 50 million others did the Skyline Drive. Even so, it wasn't too bad.
It was a little hazy that day so the photos don't show it all off as beautiful as it really was.
Yeah, couldn't keep my hands off his muscles.
We stopped the night at Front Royal and drove through pretty little civil war towns out to the Antietam Battlefield. You'll have to see my next blog for details of that.
After Antietam we stayed the night at Luray and the next day went to see the Luray Caverns.
Luray is a small town, but very pretty.
They seem to like their murals here too.
Luray Caverns are really worth seeing. There's also motor museum there, and an American history museum where one of the volunteers gave us a demonstration of how to fire a musket.
I hoped to capture some orbs or plasma flashes inside the caves. When I put the photos onto the computer I did notice a few.
In one part of the caverns they did find some human bones. They turned out to be a native American girl of about 16 years. They think the bones were washed into the cave from an above burial.
Wonderful formations.
Stalactites hang from the roof. Stalagmites grow from the ground. (Just in case you wanted to know.)
Towards the bottom of the photo you can see what looks like two little bright balls.
Those are 2 very bright energy orbs right above the place where the young girl's bones were found.
Besides the caverns, there was a great carriage and motor car museum.
When we finished looking at all the old carriages and cars, we headed over for a quick musket loading and firing demonstration.
After our history lesson, we headed on down to see the mighty Shenandoah River in person.
Yes, I did stick my toes in the water.
Couldn't help myself.
Casting the Stones
Long before the Tarot became synonymous with fortune telling, Gypsies used the natural world around them to help them see into the troubled hearts of those who came seeking knowledge and guidance.
River stones, gems, crystals, sticks, needles and bones were often used by the dunkerer [dukkerer] or palm reader.
I love using my own set of river stones that I personally hand picked and charged with healing energy.
When I read, I'm not so much telling a fortune, as looking into the heart of the energy surrounding the person I'm reading for. I believe this gives a more accurate insight into what is at the heart of a problem or situation and can provide real, down to earth ways of helping people deal with what life sometimes throws at them.
Casting the stones is something I love and I hope to continue with my readings for as long as life will allow.
Láshi Baxt Me Zhav Tute
(May Good Luck from me go with you)
It was here that I saw my first fireflies. They were like magic little fairy lights twinkling all over the grass and up around the trees as dusk darkened into night. I'd heard of these things. Some people call them fireflies, some call them lightning bugs. They look a bit like those long flying ants we get in the summer time, only their rear ends light up when they take off. I can't even describe how beautiful they were. I stood and watched them for ages. They were the prettiest things I'd ever seen.
