A Change of Scenery, Day One and Two

Ward and I are spending several days at a cabin in WV for a change of scenery to hopefully refresh from what is turning out to be a very long year. The cabin, courtesy of Miss Landers, is in the Allegheny Mountains of eastern WV.  If you want, you can follow along with our getaway.

 

On Sunday we drove to the cabin that is nestled in the woods and has all of the comforts of home.

It is located above the valley (The Trough) of the South Branch of the Potomac River. The river provides rich farmlands. We're looking down from a mountainside and the blankets of green that you see in the picture are cornfields.

On Monday, we took a walking tour of the nearby town of Romney. I'll show you a few of the 20 sites we visited. 

The earliest evidence we saw of people in the area was a Hopewell Indian burial mound--the small hill on the far side of the gravestones. This one has never been opened, but research from similar ones suggest that it was constructed sometime between 500-1000 CE. Other graves in this cemetery range from 1700's to present day.

Taking a huge leap in time, on the outskirts of town, we saw a replica of a stockade that Joseph Edwards built in 1755 to protect his farm during the French and Indian War. The real stockade is close by and undergoing an archaeological dig.

A few years later the first house in town was built circa 1760 just before the town was incorporated in 1762.

The Romney Literary Society was formed in 1819 and by 1850 was a large public library. Unfortunately, it was destroyed in 1862 during the Civil War.

And speaking of the Civil War, Romney changed hands between the Union and Confederate Forces 56 times from 1861-1865. In 1863 it became part of the new state of WV. This house built in 1850 served as Stonewall Jackson's headquarters for a time.

On a nearby hill, the Union forces built the Fort Mill Ridge Trenches. Present day, these are located in a beautiful hardwood forest.

Built in 1846 as the Romney Classical Institute, this became the state's school for the deaf and blind in 1870. Classes were in session while we explored the grounds.

And speaking of present day, we saw several of the Little Free Libraries around town. They had food, books, and one was even dedicated to hygiene products. 

The last stop of the day was the Dairy Queen for a Oreo Blizzard. Recently I discovered McFlurries from McDonalds and wanted to compare them to DQ Blizzards. You know, all for collecting data in the name of science. With two data points in, Ward and I both prefer the Blizzard.

(Monday and Tuesday, September 13,14, 2020.)