Country Roads

"Almost heaven, West Virginia
Blue ridge mountains, Shenandoah river
Life is old there, older than the trees
Younger than the mountains, blowing like a breeze

Country roads, take me home
To the place I belong
West Virginia
Mountain mamma, take me home
Country roads."

We may have only been in West Virginia for a few hours today, but we blurted out this John Denver classic multiple times, and I must say that after being amongst the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Shenandoah Valley, I understand why he sang about a place of such beauty.

Hoping to see and do something in each state, we went to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia after leaving Shenandoah. The drive was lovely: mostly a two-lane highway through a valley with rolling fields, big barns and silos, huge estates where horses roamed the well-kept fields, and the mountains in the distance.

I knew very little about Harpers Ferry, but it sounded like an interesting place to visit. There were many miles of surrounding trails that I’m confident would have been lovely, but the looming threats of rain kept us close to the town.

Harpers Ferry is in West Virgina on the border of Maryland and Virginia, at a point where the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers meet. George Washington realized what a beneficial spot this would be due to the location. It soon became an armory and arsenal that supplied much of the US army.

One of the reasons it is most famous is for John Brown’s Raid that occurred in 1859, many believe sparking the Civil War. John Brown adamantly opposed slavery. He and 21 other men attacked and captured Harpers Ferry in hopes of using the store of weapons to start a slave rebellion. This lasted only about 36 hours though, as the support he assumed would come did not, and he and his small contingency met the strength of the US army.

Because of the location of the railroad and the rivers, Harpers Ferry exchanges sides eight times during the Civil War, and was the site of a Confederate Victory.

Today Harpers Ferry is really just a small town (population less than 300) with glimpses of the past shining through. There are shops, restaurants, museums, and ice cream shops (our favorite). There is also a lovely viewpoint up a short hike that Thomas Jefferson once stood on and declared it to be beautiful enough to cross the Atlantic to see. 

Life is old in this spot, but it’s still incredibly beautiful.