Saturday morning, the rest of the family slept in. By the time all were awake and had eaten their breakfast bagels, it was almost 11am! Rob went to wrangle the car from its luxury and we headed out to Maryland. He and the girls joined me in the information center, where I picked up the book The C&O Canal Companion by Mike High.
The family left, and I took off heading down the towpath along the canal. Rob and I had done this walk once when we lived in MD, taking a bus out to Potomac and then the metro back home from DC. It is a really nice flat, scenic walk. The first obstacle was the breach in the canal. I guess water from one of the hurricanes knocked out the wall of the canal, washing the towpath into the Potomac River. I was worried that the detour was going to add miles to the trip, but it just added a few feet, as the detour trail was just on the other side of the canal.
I got to see herons, a hawk, a snake and lots of other wildlife along the way. The trail isn’t very remote; I never went ten minutes without meeting a biker or runner or hiker. It is quite a surreal experience to step off the trail in Georgetown. Grimy from a day on the trail, you step right up into a world of Dolce & Gabbana, overly perfumed people wearing large sunglasses and carrying designer purses. Culture shock.
Rob and the girls stopped at Glen Echo after dropping me off and spent much of the day there. They went to a puppet show and then some of the artists’ workshops. Chloe really enjoyed watching the pottery making and didn’t want to leave.
There’s a famous and wonderful contra dance at Glen Echo weekly, maybe even several times per weekend. I know it’s not your thing, but if you’re ever there on a weekend evening, peek in.