Well, on Wednesday, I was supposed to be making a trip to Maryland with my Mom and two sisters, where we were going to take a trip on the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad. That didn’t happen. There were mechanical issues with the train, and we found out the trip had been canceled after we made the four hour trip to Cumberland, Maryland.
Don’t feel bad for us. First, the trees were stunning, especially in Ohio, on our trip. We weren’t counting out the gorgeous colors because of the drought. But, Ohio was breathtaking. Then, we decided to make the best of our trip.
Wednesday night we went to dinner, and then played pinochle as we do in the evenings when we’re together.
Thursday was supposed to be the train trip. Instead, we did a couple things we wouldn’t have done otherwise. We went to Fort Necessity National Battlefield in Farmington, Pennsylvania. My family has been to a number of battlefields, but we’ve been to Revolutionary and Civil War ones. Fort Necessity was from the French and Indian War, and I had no background about this one. This was the first battle of the war, really just a fifteen minute skirmish, and the only time George Washington ever surrendered. But, it kicked off the war. There are fascinating stories, including the one that Washington signed the surrender document that was written in French, and his translator, who was Dutch, translated it wrong. When he signed it, Washington admitted he was responsible for the assassination of a French officer, and he didn’t know he was making that admission.
Fort Necessity was much smaller than I expected. It was hastily built and the fort within the fence is quite small, really just a building for storing supples.
We also went through the Mount Washington Tavern. It had been a large, active tavern on the National Road. It’s a fully furnished museum, with a self-guided tour.
From there, we went to a collection of shops with over 100 local artisans. Those are the kind of shops that have been lost over the years, especially during COVID. But, we bought some very nice pieces, and enjoyed our time there.
It is a four hour drive back to Columbus, though, so we arrived back at my sister Linda’s house about 5:30, where her husband had dinner for us. Her son came over, and we played UNO afterwards. Mom and Christie stayed overnight at my place Thursday night, and we went to breakfast Friday before they headed home.
No, we didn’t take the train trip. We did get credits for next season, because this one is over. But, really? We probably enjoyed our time together more with our alternate plans. (And, in my family, history and battlefields are always interesting.) The trip was wonderful because we were together and enjoyed our conversations and laughter.
Lesa, it doesn’t seem to matter what you end up doing; you always make it sound like you learn things wherever you go and that you have a whole heap of fun along the way! It all sounds perfect. I love your pictures too. Thanks for posting about your trip.
So true, Lindy. Just how my family is. We try to make the best of it.
Glad you had fun.
If John Wayne had been there, that train would have known to behave.
You’re right, Kevin. The guy at the hotel said he wished he could help, and I said, unless he could fix the train, there wasn’t anything.
I’m glad you four had such a good time, Lesa. It’s great that you have such a close, loving relationship with your mother and sisters and that you have so much fun together. By the way, that’s a pretty sad-looking fort! Can’t imagine it holding up to much of an attack.
It was a sad looking fort. No wonder they had to surrender after only 15 minutes.
Glad you had a good time. We’ve looked into doing that train trip but it’s five hours from us. Maybe in the future when we can get away for a week.
Too late this season, anyways, Sandy. So, maybe you’ll have time in the future to get away for a while.
Bummer about the train but sounds like a fun trip, especially the fort and battle stories. I know a little about the French & Indian War but not a lot, and I certainly never heard that “surrender” story. Good one.
An aside, if it isn’t too personal – when you go on these family trips, does one person drive or do you alternate drivers? I always wonder about that with trips friends take, because Jackie doesn’t drive so I do it all. My cousin and his wife drive to Florida faster than we do, but they have two drivers available, though he does most of the driving.
Just curious.
I never heard that story, either, Jeff.
We usually take my car. I drove all the way there, but split it with one of my sisters coming back. We both have Hondas, so everything is easy to switch. But my youngest sister has driven, too. So we really can switch between three of us. She had driven 2 and 1/2 hours down to Columbus because she drives Mom’s car when they’re together.
Great to hear about your trip ended up to be. I didn’t know that George Washington ever surrendered, that must have been a very good reason. Will look that up.
Educational trip, Carol. It was a lot of fun.
It sounds like you enjoyed the changed trip events just as much as you would have liked the train ride, so all is well. It is good that all of your family enjoys history and battlefields.
We did, Tracy. Yes, we went on vacation for a month at a time several times when we were young, and we went to a lot of battlefields and historical sites – presidents’ homes, museums, etc. We all enjoy it.