Monday, 7/7/97

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            We got a late start this morning, just because.  We chose to drive East on US Rt. 40 to Frostburg without a purpose in mind.  We drove through Frostburg State University without a purpose in mind. Back in the downtown area we spotted a "Guitar Outlet Store” on Main Street.  Just as we were parking at a meter, we spotted a small sign in the window saying they were only open 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Mondays.  So we decided to go elsewhere and try to get back by 5 p.m... 

            The map showed a Maryland state park ten miles south of Frostburg called Dan's Mountain.  A visit would bring my count of un-visited Maryland State Parks down to nine.  The name sounded familiar to Brennan because it was one of the summer training locations he had with the DeMatha Cross Country Team.  In fact one part of the park called Dan's Rock is an overlook at the top of the mountain, with a three mile access road that is all uphill.  That long continuous uphill is the last training run of their summer camp.  Brennan was proud to recall that he was the first to reach the top last year.   So we drove up to Dan's Rock which has a nice view but you have to ignore the vast array of antenna towers that clutter up the rock. 

            We drove back down the road and then further south to the road up to the main public area of Dan's Mountain State Park.  It is very strange to find an Olympic size swimming pool on top of a mountain, but that is what makes Dan's Mountain State Park famous.  Other than some picnic grounds and some trails, there is not much else there.

            To show how inefficient we could be, we drove back through Frostburg so we could proceed to Cumberland via State Rt. 38 through the "Narrows".  I had remembered that the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad ran Steam Engine tourist ride along that route from Cumberland, and thought we might get lucky and see one going by.  Just as we were leaving the northern edge of Frostburg, we encountered a Train Depot with old time cabooses and railroad cars sitting outside and a Carriage Museum across the road.  After parking in the nearly empty parking lot, we found that they were closed on Mondays.  So we kept following Rt. 38 through the "Narrows" with out spotting a train... Well, Duh!   If the Depot in Frostburg is closed on Mondays, then the train doesn't run on Mondays.  We picked up on that real slow like.

            All of a sudden, we were in Cumberland with traffic and traffic lights and confusing intersections and no detailed map of Cumberland.  Bob's instinct took over from Brennan's navigating and we started following "SCENIC ROUTE" signs.  They guided us to the Cumberland Depot of the same train excursion line that goes to Frostburg.  That spot is also the Western terminus of the C&O Canal, the Eastern start of the National Road, and the original location of Fort Cumberland.  That was the fall back point for Lt. Col. George Washington and his troops after the battle at Fort Necessity. 

            We visited the Information Center and got maps and tourist flyers.  The time had already passed noon, so the first order was to find lunch at the Cumberland Mall, a few blocks away.  The Mall consists of a few streets closed to motor vehicles and lined with trendy shops.  After lunch, we walked down to the end of the C&O Canal, then walked the historic trail, about a mile or two long, that traces the outline of where Ft. Cumberland used to be.  We managed to find a tiny little log cabin that was George Washington's Headquarters on his first military assignment and, much later, his last.  A return to the Train Depot got us information on the rates, schedules, etc. on the tourist train with the possibility that we may chose to return the next day for the ride. 

            Back in the car, we drove East out of Cumberland on Rt. 51 to try to find where our map hinted at another C&O Canal exhibit that featured an authentic canal boat. 

            P.S.  Don't ask a mailman how to get to someplace other than on his delivery route.

            Eventually, we found the exhibit of a dry docked canal boat that probably has a Park Ranger presentation on weekends because there was a ingeniously designed rolling stairway that could be moved over to the side of the boat to allow access, but the stairway was padlocked ten feet away, and there was no one else around.  After not getting onto the canal boat, we did walk up to the canal to see a couple of locks.

            Our ultimate plan for the rest of the day was to get back to Frostburg by 5 p.m. to visit the Guitar Outlet store when they opened.  We got there at 4:30 p.m. and parked at a metered space across the street.  The barely legible label inside the meter said you got one hour for each dime.  There was 5 minutes remaining from someone else's money, so I put in a dime, and the meter jumped up to 20 minutes on the dial!  A second dime bumped it up another 15 minutes.  What a rip off!!!  But 35 minutes would be enough time to find out if the store really did open at 5 p.m. and decide if it was worth staying around. 

            It would also allow us time to find a pay phone and call the mechanic to see how the repairs were going.  We knew what the answer would be.  He said the part won't be in until tomorrow afternoon and the work will not be finished before Wednesday sometime.

            After that gloomy news, eagle-eye Brennan spotted another Guitar/Sound Systems store on the next block.  It was already open, so we visited it but it was exclusively Peavey Brand and did not cause much excitement for Brennan.  Then we walked up the street and found a restaurant for some needed cool drinks.

            Finally, 5 o'clock rolled around and we went in the Guitar Outlet store.  What a joy.  The proprietor seemed happy to have anybody in the store and invited us to try any instruments that tickled our fancies, in his words, "Do any thing you want to do ...  as long as I can still hear."  We stayed there 45 minutes.  Brennan is now in love with an Ibanez guitar with a hand hold cutout in the sound board and a fingerboard that is easy to play at all 24 frets.  When we got back to the car, we suddenly remembered the meter that only showed 35 minutes on it even though we expected to have paid for over two hours.  Guess what?  There was still about an hour left on it.

So the rate was about an hour per dime, the dial was just completely wacko.

            Back at camp, that evening, we had ham and cheese sandwiches with carrot sticks and banana pudding for desert.  After dinner we called Judy in South Carolina and found that Ann had already driven home today.  I called Ann, who was quite proud that she had completed her trip without incident.  Then we got much needed showers.