When we lived in Maryland we visited this wonderful place and always wanted to come back. The town and the park are located at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers, and the C & O canal runs parallel. There is a restoration of the Civil War era town, with educational exhibits about John Brown, the raid, and area battles. I'm not big on the battles, but I love the interesting dioramas describing the way people lived. When there are docents in period costume, staying in character, I am especially interested. So Harper's Ferry is my kind of museum.
The park was pretty empty, except for a group of boy scouts from Ohio, and some middle-school-aged kids from New York, so the docents were eager to have an audience. We saw a musket-loading demonstration at the Provost Marshall (or is it Marshal, like Fire Marshal?), and talked with the proprietor of the dry goods store. Although yesterday's weather was cool and fresh, today turned hot and humid, which zapped out our energy level. After a nice light lunch of fruit and cheese on a patio that allowed dogs. We took Doogie for a swim in the Potomac (necessitating a little shower complete with doggie shampoo when we returned to the campsite), got our 2:00 PM coffee, and headed home (the trailer, that is).
One impressive sight was the two young people who were in charge of about 30 middle-schoolers, and had them completely under control. When the leader wanted to get their attention, she shouted (or even whispered) "Now Listen Up!". The kids, in unison either shouted or whispered "Now Listen Up", which was instantly followed by dead silence. At the end of whatever instruction the leader communicated, she shouted or whispered "Copy?", and the kids, in unison, repeated "Copy!", again instantly followed by dead silence. It was quite amazing to see them settle down immediately into absolute quiet as they entered the John Brown Museum from the whisper of "Now Listen UP"!
We are enjoying our stay here. We met some nice young neighbors who gave us some RVing pointers and showed us a couple of great things we have to buy for our rig. Steve enjoyed a few glasses of wine with them and they invited us to see a movie they had brought. You campers, check this out: They have a home theater projector-camera thingy with them, and they hang a bed sheet over a truck, and project the movie. Under the stars. With some-mores. These folks know how to camp!
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