Day 6: July 6, 2006 Into Pennsylvania

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The rain was gone and the weather glorious as I retraced yesterday's high speed escape route. I was soon back on track and found this at the top of a hill. It's the Town Hill Bed and Breakfast in the middle of the Green Ridge State Forest and the marvelous overlook is right across the road. The last picture shows the west bound road heading down from the parking lot's edge. The east bound road does the same thing at the other end.

I'm on the signed byway (MD-144 at this point) and see a sign indicating the "Old National Road" branched off to the left. Even though there was a Gilpin Road sign at the intersection, I made the turn and this was my reward.

A quick pass through Cumberland just so I could say I drove by the original National Road start point and then up through the Narrows. This is the same path I followed last Saturday on the train.

The La Vale Toll House & Museum is open on Saturdays and not many other days. Last Friday and Saturday nights I stayed, without realizing it, less than a mile up the road. After the train ride, I could have visited it just by turning left instead of right. Today it was closed so I had to make do with walking around the outside and taking a picture of the old gate posts.

Even before I realized that the house and barn were the ones I photographed in 2001, I was struck by the amount of paved surface visible at one time. I-68 and an exit ramp is on the left with US-40 separating barn and house. I guess I somehow missed all that asphalt five years ago.

There are theories that the bridge was built extra high to accommodate boats of the C & O Canal should they ever reach here. That could be but the fact that the bridge was built twelve years before the first shovel of dirt was moved for the canal makes it at least a little suspect. In the last photo, its replacement, the green metal bridge, is in the middle with the latest of the set, the I-68 bridge, visible in the background.

Adjacent to the bridge is Penn Alps Restaurant and the Spruce Mountain artists colony. You could spend some time and some money here.

This is the Casselman Inn where I stayed last night. The picture was taken this morning before I backtracked to pickup where I had bolted for the expressway but I've put it here in the correct geographic sequence. Built in 1824, it has been updated considerably but not to excess. The restaurant serves good food at very reasonable prices and rooms are also available in the Casselman Motor Inn if you'd like more modern accommodations. I thought those in the historic inn were quite modern enough. You can peek at my room here.

Where the National Road crosses into Pennsylvania, there is a Mason-Dixon marker, a mile marker, and a church known officially as the State Line Methodist Church. There is also a road named Pig Ear but that name may have little to do with the boundary.

The focus of Fort Necessity National Battlefield is the battle that took place there in 1754 but, because of its proximity, Washington Tavern is included and the museum includes several National Road exhibits. At the fort, a "soldier" did a good job of explaining the events of July 3, 1754 and placing them in history. This is commonly considered the start of the French and Indian War.

Braddock's Grave is part of the Fort Necessity park although it is about a mile and a half from the fort. The tall monument that marks the current burial site is easily seen from the US-40. Behind the monument is a short section of the original "road" with Braddock's original burial site marked. He was buried in the middle of the road to hide the body from pursuers.

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