I like a man in uniform:
Towel boys:
Seasonal pleasures:
Your blogger took some time off
a couple of days ago
to hike a portion of an old Indian path,
known as the Carolina Road,
that stretches from Frederick, MD,
south through Virginia
to the North Carolina border.
Much of it follows the route of present-day
U.S Route 15, but
this never-paved portion running south
of Rt. 50 in Loudoun County
entranced me as I realized
that I was hiking where
Algonquin and Iroquois Indians
traded and migrated centuries ago.
I started my walk behind
the stone wall of a cemetery
for Mt. Zion Church (1851, Baptist),
which had been used as
a barracks, Confederate headquarters,
prison and hospital during
Civil War skirmishes.
Women entered through the door on the right,
men on the left, and the sexes remained
segregated during worship.
Blacks (both free and enslaved)
had to enter from a side door
and were relegated to the balcony.
During the Battle of Mt. Zion (July 6, 1864)
Mosby's Raiders routed the Union forces.
My high school logo was
an image of Col. Mosby on horseback,
and our football team was called the Raiders.
This particular portion of the Carolina Road
had been home to William West's Ordinary
(from the French word ordinaire,
for their fixed-price meals);
in other words, a tavern,
long since vanished.
It was a splendid autumn day,
a welcome respite from the
toxic political aura
centered a short distance away.
Just 36 miles east of here Rt. 50 (Constitution Ave.)
borders both the White House south lawn (Ellipse)
and the recently reopened Washington Monument.
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