Ohio's Flag

 Today I drove from West Virginia, through Maryland a little bit, back to West Virginia, through Ohio and into Indiana. While stopped at a rest stop in Ohio I noticed the three flags on the flagpole. The American flag was at the top. The POW flag was in the middle, and an unusually shaped flag at the bottom. Ohio is the only state in the union that does not have a triangular flag. This flag was designed in 1902 and I really like the looks of it.

 

Catoctin Mountain

 This morning Offspring #1's family and I took off for Catoctin Mountain Park in Maryland. The drive was just over a half mile south, past Gettysburg. We hiked to a local overlook where we could see the town of Thurmont, Maryland. The hike was one of those where most of the time you have your eyes on the ground in front of you because of the numerous tripping hazards. There were more rocks to watch out for than roots. We had a good hike. The temperature was about 50 degrees but the wind was gusty and cold. Later we went to a playground in Thurmont so the kids could get rid of excess energy. I had to excess energy after hiking 3 difficult miles. I did try the see saw and found that was more fun than I expected.

Wolf Trap National Park For The Performing Arts

Yesterday, after visiting the Potomac Falls, we drove 15 minutes to Wolf Trap National Park For The Performing Arts. I didn't know we had any national parks for the performing arts. Here we are behind the stage. We had about 30 people listening to the park ranger's explanations,

After he opened the stage curtain we could see where the audience sits. We saw the lights and the sound equipment. There are permanent seats for about 800 people but another 800 can sit on the lawn too. The outside audience gets their own sound system.

Here is the stage curtain before he opened it. Performance run from mid May until mid September. Performers here include Mary Chapin Carpenter, BB King, Dolly Parton, the National Symphony Orchestra, River Dance, ballets and operas. The largest performing group was the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

The Wolf Trap logo is attached to the wall.

This is a dressing room for a larger group of people. We got to hang out in the lounge and the dining area. Some of the people in our group have been to this building to see performances. They had many questions and our tour went longer than planned. Out in the woods they have a children's theater. From mid June through August adults perform theater from children ages six through fifteen. I am not going to be here this summer but it would be fun to see a play in the woods as long as it wasn't raining.

 

Potomac Falls National Park

Today we drove a couple of hours south to Potomac Falls National Park. I didn't realize the Potomac River had falls.

We got there after 11 a.m. and we had a couple of hours to walk around before out next appointment. We had lunch at a picnic table.

When I walked over to the trash can to throw orange peels away I heard frogs. I heard wood frogs. We heard hundreds of wood frogs singing "keck a heck, keck a heck." These two frogs were on the path. We picked them up and set them in the grass so they wouldn't get stepped on.

 

Glen Echo

Within walking distance of the Clara Barton house is the Glen Echo Amusement Park. Much of it is closed until summer. This photo shows the very old carousal.  They had bumper cars. In the ballroom 30 couples were dancing the waltz. The art studio was open. A cafe was open. The swimming pool was closed. The puppet theater was closed but it was open this morning when we were at the air and space museum. The children's playground was open and the grand girls enjoyed spinning around and getting rid of their extra energy. There was a glass studio with things for sale and classes. They have acting classes and music classes too. I imagine this place is very different during the summer season. 

 

Clara Barton

Yesterday after our trip to the air and space museum we went to the Clara Barton National Historic Site in Maryland. I knew she was a nurse during the Civil War. I didn't know she started the first public school in the state of New Jersey. When New Jersey decided public schools were good and went to hire a principal, they chose a man over Clara. So Clara decided to leave New Jersey and start a school elsewhere. Once the war started she went into nursing. She nursed whomever was injured no matter which side of the war they fought for. After the Civil War she went to France to rest and recover. There she learned about the Red Cross. When she came back to this country she started the American Red Cross. She was a successful leader of the Red Cross but not good at keeping records. She ran the Red Cross until she was 83 years old. This house was given to her by two brothers who invented the egg beater. They wanted a famous person to live near their amusement park. The Red Cross wanted the house once she retired but found it it didn't belong to the organization, the house belonged to Clara. Through her work with the Red Cross we now have guidelines for natural disasters such as fires and floods and tornadoes. Clara Barton was a remarkable woman whose patriotic work benefitted millions of Americans.

 

Monocasy

On our way back to Pennsylvania from Williamsburg, Virginia, we stopped in Maryland at the Monocasy National Battlefield. We were greeted by our national bird. According to what a lady photographer told me, this eagle sits in this tree almost every day. The nest is on a local farm.

This battlefield is near Frederick, Virginia. The Confederate army was marching north and their intent was to take Washington, D.C.  which is 44 miles away. Although the Union Army didn't technically win this battle, they did manage to stall the Confederate Army until Washington, D.C. could be fortified with more soldiers.

We walked the 3 mile loop around the farm. We declined to take the 1 hour auto tour.

 

Maryland

 

I realize that Minnesota has a weird shape with a curvy east border and a chimney on top but what about Maryland? What is up with Maryland? Maryland looks like a caulk gun with caulk dripping. Today we left the eastern border of West Virginia and drove into Kentucky. To get to Kentucky we had to go through Maryland again. To get anywhere out here we need to go to Maryland. There is a stretch of Maryland that is only a mile wide. Why? There is a part of western Maryland that is so far west the water drains into the Mississippi instead of the Chesapeake bay. Maryland has to be the oddest shaped state in our union.