Our Civil War education continued this morning at breakfast. The owner of the B&B (Jacob Rohrbach Inn) is a very knowledgeable history buff, hosting a Civil War lecture series each Wednesday evening during the summer in the backyard for anyone interested. The other guest at breakfast was a high school history teacher from Massachusetts. He was also a passionate expert on the Civil War! He was doing a tour of Civil War battlefields and would be seeing Antietam today. When he arrived at the National Cemetery near the battlefield yesterday, he asked a ranger if there was any information about where those killed in the battle had been buried. He was able to find his great great grandfather’s grave. No one in the family knew where he was buried following his death in the battle of Antietam, until yesterday. You could tell it was an emotional moment for him. The breakfast was delicious, and we ate every bite!
Though foggy when we woke up, it soon cleared and we got back on the C&O and started our day. There were initially quite a few mud puddles, but we soon traveled out of that area and we very happy with the condition of the trail for the rest of the ride.
Learning the fascinating history of the C&O (Chesapeake & Ohio) Canal has been most enjoyable. Before the invention and emergence of the railroad, it was thought that canals were the best means of transporting goods over long distances.
Canals like the C&O were hand dug, and relied on a series of lift locks (74 on the C&O) to adjust the water levels for the difference in elevation. It is estimated that 35,000 laborers, mostly European immigrants were employed to build the C&O and its structures. It took 22 years to complete, and when finished it was 184 miles long. It included 11 hand-hewn stone aquaducts and a 3,118 foot tunnel.
It’s ironic that the C&O Canal broke ground on July 4, 1828, the same day that the cornerstone was being laid for the B&O Railroad in Baltimore. The railroad and the canal were in a race to see who could reach the Ohio River first. It was a bold undertaking for the railroad investors, because at that time, there were only 3 other railroads in the U.S., none more than a dozen miles long. We learned from a National Park Service ranger, that there was no viable means to even pull a train when this was undertaken. The early rail cars were pulled by horse or mule, just like the canal boats were. The steam locomotive was invented after the railroads were begun. The railroad won the race to the Ohio River and the rest is history. The railroad was responsible for the eventual demise of canal services. But what remains is an unparalleled biking and hiking adventure that National Geographic Adventurer calls “an American Classic”. The bike path that follows the long ago mule towpath is the best way to see the artifacts left over from the canal era. It truly is a national treasure.
We met more people biking the towpath today than yesterday. Yesterday was drizzly and grey, but today was beautiful with gorgeous blue skies and bright sunshine. We stopped to take a look at Dam 4, and another biker offered to take our picture for us. We enjoyed talking to 2 or 3 other bikers at that spot as they stopped to see the dam as well.
A little further down the trail, we’d stopped to take a look at one of the locks that still had a portion of the gates intact when a guy on a bike approached.
We greeted each other and he started on his way, then stopped and turned around and came back to us. He called out, “Could I ask you something?” We said, sure. He said, “Would you mind taking a picture with me?” That was a bit unusual. I didn’t think we looked famous or anything, and I knew we didn’t look like expert bicyclists, but I couldn’t think of a reason why he would want our picture, but we said, of course! He told us his wife had dropped him off that morning at the Maryland state line, and he planned to ride all day and into the evening. She was worried that he was alone on the trail and had checked in with him by phone a few times, asking if he’d seen anyone yet. He said, “You two are the first ones I’ve seen all day and I want to text our picture to my wife so she won’t worry so much”. We gladly obliged and when he finished snapping his photo, I snapped one of my own with our new trail friend.
We parted, with wishes for a good day as we went our separate ways. Soon the trail took us through the Big Slackwater section of the canal. When the canal was dug, there was a 3 mile section that had to be bypassed because of the stone cliffs so near the edge of the Potomac. Canal engineers knew it would be almost impossible to blast a canal 60 feet wide and 6 feet deep into the limestone cliffs. The builders decided to use the river instead of continuing the canal for that section. The function of Dam 4 was to slow down the swift current in the Potomac River so it could be used as a substitute for the canal. They still had to blast rock, but only for a narrow towpath for the mules right along the river’s edge. Much of that towpath was destroyed by flooding and erosion years ago, but the National Park Service has restored the missing towpath with concrete right over the edge of the river, reestablishing the old towpath alignment. It is a beautiful ride with the river on one side and the sheer granite cliffs dripping with wild raspberries and wildflowers on the other.
We finished our riding and pulled into cute little Williamsport, MD in time for a late lunch.
We asked some other bikers that had pulled off for a rest stop if they knew of a good local place they’d recommend. The suggestions were unanimous, we had to eat at Desert Rose Cafe.
The cafe was a short distance from the trail but up to the top of a steep hill, which Jimmy rode all the way up. I’ll admit, I didn’t even try. I just walked my bike up. We found it easily, right where they said it would be and were glad to see they had outdoor seating. Jimmy went in to grab a menu while I stayed with the bikes. He came back out and said they would come out to us and take our order, which they did in no time at all.
We spotted a bike parked out front, fully loaded with more gear than I’ve ever imagined possible, with 2 cats in crates to boot! The man that owned the bike was biking cross country. He does it every year with his 2 cats. The cats seemed very content to patiently wait for him to finish eating. The owner told us later that he stops by her cafe every year on his cross country trek, which he finances by washing windows. He offers to wash hers for $35 plus a meal. The windows looked really nice and clean and he got a good meal plus $35!
They took great care of us at the little cafe, keeping our ice tea filled and asking about our trip. The owner, Rose kept coming out with refills and was very knowledgeable about the bike trail. She was a delight to talk to and the food was excellent. We seriously considered coming back for dinner, but decided to try the Italian restaurant nearby and come back to the cafe for dessert.
After lunch, we checked in to our cute little B&B (Bay Farm B&B ) in another historic home, dropped off our bikes and gear and took a walk around town before getting cleaned up for dinner. Williamsport is a friendly little town with old buildings, some civil war history, a statue of Douglas, the town mule (of canal fame) and very nice people.
One of the storefronts on the main street had a massive calendar for the month of July that filled the entire store window. On the calendar were listed the names of people in town that had birthdays in July. How awesome is that?
A police officer making rounds stopped us as we walked along and chatted with us a bit. He noticed my bike shirt that listed Bikeworld in Paducah, KY and asked us about our trip. We talked for a few minutes then parted ways. We strolled on down the main street checking out shop windows and killing time. We came to an intersection and were waiting to cross when the same police officer came down the side street in our direction. He’d walked around the block trying to intercept us because he’d forgotten to tell us about Doubleday Hill. Once he pointed it out to us, we could see it from the intersection but would have missed it otherwise. We thanked him and said we’d walk to the hill right then and see the civil war site. It was a beautiful view of the Potomac River and the town from on top of the hill.
After our little walking tour of Williamsport, we headed back to the B&B and were able to meet the owner. When we arrived, she wasn’t in but told us to let ourselves in and to make ourselves at home, she’d be by later. Jessie is a young woman who bought the old house, built in 1835 and restored it, deciding to try her hand at running a B&B. She has done a beautiful job of restoration and it is charming. Our room was super cute and on the top floor of the old home that overlooked Main Street.
We had an excellent dinner at Tony’s Pizza and Italian Restaurant. And after dinner, we walked back to Desert Rose Cafe for dessert. Rose was still there, and after we ordered homemade cookies and a milkshake, she asked about our plans for riding tomorrow. We told her we’d be heading toward Hancock, and weren’t sure if we were going to be able to find a place for lunch since the trail is less populated in that direction. As you may have noticed, much of our trail riding revolves around food! Jimmy asked her if she had anything we could purchase for our lunch tomorrow, mentioning that even a baguette and a chunk of cheese would suit us just fine. She laughed and said she didn’t have that on hand, but was planning to grocery shop in the morning and she’d pick us up a baguette and a nice wedge of cheese. She further said we could take what we wanted of the baguette and cheese wedge, and she’d keep the rest to eat it herself, joining us in our cheese/baguette lunch, if in spirit only. What a sweet gesture! So the plan is that we will meet her back at the cafe at 8:30 am tomorrow morning to pick up our baguette and cheese wedge!
There are good people everywhere you go. We were blessed with the encounters we had today, and we will carry fond memories of each person we met, the guy trying to reassure his wife, the police officer that wanted to make sure we saw everything his little town had to offer, and Rose, the gracious cafe owner who went out of her way to make our trip everything we wanted it to be. If you’ve thought that good people are a thing of the past, just grab a bike and get out there. They’re everywhere!
Deb Cooks and Bikes 