Date: 2017-06-28
From: Harpers Ferry, West Virginia 

To: Harpers Ferry, West Virginia 
Miles today: 0.0

6/28Harpers Ferry, West Virginia to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia0.0 miles Total miles:  1023.7For no apparent reason, I awoke early and was up and ready for some serious touristing by 6:00.  I was the first customer of the day in the little cafe on the second floor of the Town's Inn.  James, the new chef, quickly whipped me up a breakfast of eggs, toast, and country ham.  James, who is originally from Mississippi, told me he was in West Virginia due to losing a bet.  A friend bet him he would like it better here and told him to come visit for two weeks.  After two weeks he was ready to return home but his car broke down. He got a job to get the money to fix his car.  That was over three years ago, and he is still here.  He said he really does like Harpers Ferry and was enjoying his new job.  He certainly did a fine job preparing my breakfast. I was joined by U-Turn, a hiker I met yesterday.  It turns out that she is from Kansas City.  A retired educator like I am, she has previously hiked the Colorado Trail and is making good time on the AT, having started in late April.  Mechanic joined us a bit later, and we all hung around chatting with James for awhile.  It was then time for me to head out into town.  My first destination was the Visitors Center.  I got my Civil War geek on big time this morning at the Center. I met Bill, an amateur historian who volunteers at the center.  He gave me a tour of the museum and we got into a fascinating discussion about Harpers Ferry and its role in the Civil War.  I thought I was there about thirty minutes. Upon checking my watch, I realized I had been talking with Bill for nearly two hours.  Afterwards, I went to look at John Brown's Fort and the armory grounds as well as the confluence of the Potomac and the Shenandoah Rivers.  From there, it was a short walk to the Almost Heaven Bar and Grill for lunch. I ran into Yard Sale there. She was just getting her fish and chips and invited me to join her.  Her lunch looked so good that I ordered the same thing.  We've met before a few times along the trail.  The first thing I noticed about her was her purple Philmont shirt.  I also own a purple Philmont shirt from when I hiked there with my son, Greg, in 1999. Yard Sale hiked there with her Venture Crew in 2012, and that trek sparked her love of backpacking. We discussed our hiking philosophies and what we like best along the trail. We agreed that it was the quality of people we keep meeting along the way.  She planned on hiking out after she visited the outfitters, and I don't hit the trail again until tomorrow morning. Hopefully, we'll meet again. After lunch, I stopped by Scoops and purchased what turned out to be a huge two scoops of black raspberry ice cream in a waffle cone.  I ran into Dutch again, whom I haven't seen in weeks. We caught up with each other and swapped phone numbers.  I then took the rest of my ice cream cone   back to the hostel and finished it there. I was sitting outside letting lunch settle and watching the people when Debbie stopped by.  I first met Debbie when she came by last evening to check on the towels in my room. I come from a large family (I am the second of nine), but Debbie is "eighth from the bottom" of a family of fourteen.  She is very proud of her family, many of whom have served in the military.  She is particularly proud of her granddaughter, Haley, who has recently enlisted in the Air Force. She promised me last night she would bring a photo of her by to show me today.  Haley looks to be a beautiful young woman who is making her grandmother justifiably very proud. Next on my must-do agenda was to visit the John Brown Wax Museum just down the street from the Town's Inn. I was disappointed when I saw the Closed sign at on the door. I was turning away when Miss Alyssa saw me and promised that she would be back to reopen in ten minutes. I spent the time hurrying over to the train station because I heard a train coming.  I actually got to witness two long freights pass each other on parallel tracks. There have been a large number of trains though town today, including passenger trains, which made this train lover very happy.  I then walked back to the museum and observed the life of John Brown brought to life through wax. The museum tells the story of Brown"s turbulent life through the use of eighty-seven life-sized wax statues.  It was a lot of fun and featured several buttons to push to provide narration and sound effects.  I haven't been to a wax museum since I visited Madame Tussauds in London.  I had a great time looking at each scene and feel it was seven dollars well spent.  I chatted with Alyssa afterwards. She highly recommended the ghost tour, but, unfortunately, I won't be able to fit that in before I head out.  Perhaps this is a reason to return to Harpers Ferry in the future. Believe it or not, I felt like going for a walk, so I headed up High Street back to the ATC headquarters.  I spent some time there chatting with hikers and the staff and took the opportunuty to actually use the "privy."  I then strolled back to my room, took a brief nap, and then met U-Turn and Blood Mountain for dinner.  I met Blood Mountain several days ago.  He actually met Mike first at the hostel Mike stayed in the night before he met us. Blood Mountain made it to Harpers Ferry today and plans to take the train to Washington D.C. and spend a few days there. We ate dinner at the Potomac Grill. I decided to mix it up and had a chicken parmesan sandwich, chips, and a pickle, washed down with an Amber ale. It was a great way to wind down my tourist day. I returned to my room, packed some things for tomorrow, and called some family members.  I then went to bed to get a good night's sleep before heading back onto the trail tomorrow.  Gravity and his friend Ralph, who will be joining us for a few days, will be meeting me tomorrow at 8:00.  We'll have a brief hike through Harpers Ferry,  before crossing the Potomoc River on the Byron Memorial Footbridge. We'll then be in Maryland. The first part of the trail tomorrow follows the C&O Canal Towpath which should provide some very easy hiking.  But that's for tomorrow,  and I'm heading back to bed now.  Today was a great zero day, and I am ready to be back on the trail.