Canal Quarters

I had a very nice weekend bike trip to Harpers Ferry and back with Aron and some other folks from work. I brought my camera, but I have no pictures to show because I forgot my memory card at home. D'oh. Justin organized, and he grew up in Harpers Ferry, so with his help we avoided the surprisingly bad food in town and ate at a cool place in nearby Shepherdstown, WV.

Almost the entire bike trip was along the C&O Canal towpath. In order to get from sea level to Cumberland, MD, the canal had 74 locks. Back in the day, someone had to man each lock 24/7, so each lock had a house where the lock keeper and his family lived. They were sturdily built of stone, and many of them are still standing. The C&O Canal Trust has recently renovated a few and made them available for people to stay in under the Canal Quarters program. This seems pretty awesome -- they have period furnishings (only one has plumbing), and the canal tends to feel pretty isolated, even though much of it is quite close to modern development. I think we're going to try to get a group together to spend a weekend at one this winter (one that has heat) or in the spring.