As a
full-timer, I don’t really notice the date that much. We worry a bit about
weekends because the locals come out and campsites are more difficult to find.
But I totally didn’t remember that Memorial Day was coming. By the Monday
before, I started to look for a campsite and everything was full in several states. We tried for
a walk-in site (no reservations), but they filled up too. We ended up staying
one night in a Walmart and two at a casino.
There
is a Charleston and a Charles Town in West Virginia. Charles Town is named
after Charles Washington who founded this town and is also the younger brother
of George Washington. It’s an interesting town with a mixture of history and a
big casino. The cemetery is full of Washingtons.
This courthouse
is the site of the John Brown trial. In case you don’t remember the history of
this (me too), abolitionist John Brown along with other raiders tried to seize
a federal armory to start a fight against slavery in 1859. Many of the raiders
were killed during the raid while he and several raiders were hung after a
trial. Some Northerners considered John Brown a martyr. Only a few years later
the Civil War was fought.
This is
the site of the actual hanging. A house was built soon after the hanging. It’s
a gorgeous house, but it would be so weird to know hangings occurred in your
backyard plus having tourists staring at your house all the time.
Nearby
is Harpers Ferry National Park. This is where the armory was located. The park
is full of museums on several topics plus has the Appalachian Trail running through it.
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