Back to 1940 in Winchester, Virginia!
1 October 2023
89 miles
We stayed at the Staybridge Suites near the Pittsburgh airport last night and were on the road by 10:30 to drive to the Flight 93 Memorial in Stoystown, Pennsylvania. We got in a long traffic back-up on I-76 (Pennsylvania Turnpike). There was a major accident; it took 45 minutes to go 4 miles. Despite the delay, we got to the memorial before 1:00. The site is simply beautiful, and the Visitor Center is a lovely tribute to the 40 heroes – 33 passengers and 7 crew – that died on September 11, 2001. Like Ground Zero, it is a very emotional place to visit. I was in tears leaving the Visitor Center.
The grounds (a U.S. National Park) are comprised of the Visitor Center, which represents the flight path; the Memorial Plaza, with the Wall of Names, which is comprised of 40 granite panels (one for each passenger and crew member); and a large boulder that marks the impact site. (https://www.nps.gov/flni/index.htm).
We left the memorial and headed east toward Uniontown. We passed through Somerset on the way, which is where my Grandmother Brant’s family was originally from. We are staying at the Lodge at Chalk Hill tonight – it is a motel style lodge with about 60 suites. We have a small kitchen with a fridge, stove, and microwave. Nearly all the comforts of home. We had pulled pork sandwiches with coleslaw for dinner and spent the balance of the night watching sports (football) and surfing.
2 October 2023
134 miles
This morning, we headed to Fallingwater (Frank Lloyd Wright designed home), where we had reservations for entry at 11:00. It was a beautiful drive through the Laurel Highlands and the Ohio Pyle State Park (we may try to camp at the park in the future). It goes without saying that Fallingwater is stunning. The surrounding landscape is gorgeous on its own, but the house is so perfectly integrated that it is beyond words. It was a beautifully sunny day; we spent about 90 minutes touring the grounds and taking pictures.
We left the house and hit the road to Winchester, Virginia. Our route took us through rural parts of Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia. We arrived at the hotel (George Washington) around 3:00 and got checked in. We have a beautiful suite – very spacious. And we love the hotel – so historic with many features preserved (including the mailbox in the lobby!). The hotel is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. We went to the bar for dinner, where we shared shrimp and crab dip, a burger, and a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. All was delicious!
We were in bed by 10:30 – couldn’t even watch the end of Monday Night Football!
3 October 2023
99 miles
We walked from the hotel to the Winchester First Baptist Church this morning to take pictures. My grandparents eloped and were married in that church on July 30, 1940, by E. T. Clarke. It was so amazing to retrace their footsteps as they started out their life together – to walk through the same doors and down the iconic front steps! ♥️
After the church, we walked to the library (my grandmother sent a postcard with a picture of the library to a family friend on her wedding day, more than 83 years ago). The building is gorgeous, and the architectural design is dazzling. We spent about 30 minutes touring the building before heading back to our hotel to check out. Of course, I also had to buy postcards in the library gift shop – one of which I sent to my mother as a tribute to the memory of my wonderful grandparents! 😊
We checked out of the hotel, and walked down to Old Winchester, part of which is a pedestrian zone. There really wasn’t very much going on; only one café was open at 11:00. So, instead of hanging around Winchester for the afternoon, we decided to get on the road and head out to Todd Lake in the George Washington National Forest. It turns out that the forest is in the middle of nowhere, but this meant that there were only two other campsites occupied, which was awesome. We settled in quickly and then realized that we had forgotten to buy firewood! We foraged around to other campsites (so many were vacant) and the surrounding woods, and came up with enough wood to have a fire for a few hours.
Footnote: My mother told me that she thinks she and my father were married in the same church in Winchester! I never knew this!