Beware the Snallygaster

Coming to you from home after 13 days away. We missed the snow. We froze for a day at Harper’s Ferry but weather was mostly clear for our entire journey.

Tyrone, Pa.

Our first night we stayed in Tyrone, Pa. mostly because it was part way to our next destination, Elkton, WV. Our lodgings, on a second floor over a tax office, were comfortable but a little noisy with truck and train traffic. A fine spot for a night after winding down Route 219 through the middle of Pennsylvania. We had a great, and cheap, breakfast at Jamie’s Diner.

Elkton, Va.

On the drive to Elkton, we stopped at Berkley Springs, admired George Washington’s bathtub and grabbed a gallon of springwater after donating $1 to the historical society for the jug. We encountered a Bills fan from Wheatfield. Then we bombed around Shenandoah for a couple days.

Our lodgings in Elkton were very nice on a quiet country road in a dwelling converted from a horse barn with a kind, talkative host who wore Jesus on his sleeve.

We had great Korean BBQ in a place that seemed to have 5 restaurants sharing common space. The proprietor discounted us 5% for cash and served our Bulgogi in takeout containers in a heated plastic bubble on an outside patio. Great food, simply presented in an intimate setting.

Front Royal seemed like a nice town but everything was closed on Wednesday, even, disappointingly, the bookstore.

At Shenandoah’s Front Royal entrance we were greeted by a stern, formidable, uniformed ranger at the gate.

“No charge today because we can’t charge during the government shutdown,” she said. I wondered why she was there as she handed me a map. It saved us $50, the first good thing President Trump ever did for us. We saved $20 at Harper’s Ferry, too.

Over a couple days in the northern part we hiked Bear Fence, Hawksbill and a random segment of the Appalachian trail that was among our favorites because we saw no one.

The Hemlock and Oaks were so lichen-covered they almost looked like sycamore.

Shenandoah was always a bucket list place for me since singing a really pretty song in high school chorale and also loving the John Denver hit Country Roads.

In Elkton, we hit a coffee shop with the sweetest, whitest Christian girl ever. She glistened with kindness under fluorescent lights at Good Day Cafe, Southern hospitality personified. Jesus is proud.

We also stopped in a store that drew us in with a “sale today, everything must go!” sign or some such nonsense. Everything was $1. The proprietress called from the back of the store “welcome y’all.” There were 15 tables or so filled with everything from charging cables to phone cases, laundry bags, bungee cords and anything else you might find at Dollar General.

The customers were rooting through things like hogs in a barnyard each searching for a golden ticket. We left without spending a buck but with a “have a nice day y’all” hollered from the back.

Later in the day, after hiking, we stopped at Elkton Brewing and shared a beer with a pensive man who said his name was JB. He was a forester until recently when he decided DOGE, shutdowns and furloughs were too much so he walked away sooner than he might have if we lived in sane times.

We talked a bit about “Country Roads”. JB said people don’t realize as the song was written, it was about Western Virginia but making Western “West” made the lyric flow better and become a state anthem.

Hunting is banned in the national forest. There were squirrels, and acorns and hickory nuts everywhere. Skyline Drive through the park twists and turns in a way reminiscent of Sequoia National Forest in California but not as vicious.

We stopped at an Mennonite Grocery near Elkton. Beth found a card to send to a loved one going through a rough time. The young woman waiting on us in the deli smiled shyly. When we made it to the register to check out the owner said “my daughter said you need a stamp. I can sell you one.” How she heard or communicated to her father we will never know.

About our car

We are driving our 2025 Toyota Camry hybrid. I feel safer using the adaptive cruise control all the time. It is a trip hearing the car wind at high RPMs to brake with the motor not the brakes, charging its batteries and saving wear. It’s like a Jake brake on a car only it doesn’t echo off the side of the valley.

The stereo is maddening. 10,000 miles in, we don't know how to change radio stations from the steering wheel.

It’s weird to stop for gas with a quarter tank left and have it take 7.5 gallons. It doesn’t need a big tank because it gets 41.5 mpg even if the sticker lied and said 46. How do they rig that rating?

We saw gas in West Virginia as low as $2.59 per gallon.

Waynesboro

We drove further along Skyline Drive to Waynesboro, an eclectic community where we hit a couple art museums.

We especially loved the Shenandoah Art Center. Give me real art, a print shop rolling out images one hand-cranked impression at a time, or paintings from someone who believes and wants to share how their hand illustrates what they see.

The Art Center was having a special event with vendors and cookies and an eclectic, authentic feel.

Stone Soup Books was also a fun find.

Charlottesville

We moved on to Charlottesville, the home of University of Virginia and Monticello where first Ben then Joe joined us.

Our lodgings were comfortable and quiet just off the main drag.

I am a coffee snob. I’ve learned over time to bring beans, a grinder and a French press because that way I don’t have to deal with the cursed Keurig.

Our Charlottesville host was a coffee aficionado. She had the requisite Keurig. Tucked away was a drip coffee maker. She also had a Borum French Press and, for good measure, a pourover with beans and a grinder. The place even had a bidet, which is unrelated to coffee unless you consider what comes after the 3rd cup.

We made it to the Belmont neighborhood for dinner in a nice, Cajun themed place.

On Saturday we walked with Ben to Charlottesville’s IX City Market. It took a couple hours to get through it. It was more extensive and varied than any city market we have ever seen with the possible exception of Ithaca or Sarasota, Fla..

We also bought tickets for a tour of Jefferson’s Monticello, an expensive tour that celebrated not only the Constitution’s main author but his inventions like a 7-day clock and an automatic door he designed as well as his legacy as a slave owner.

It was fun to watch our guide, in a downtime, listen to a peer’s presentation. I do the same thing in Niagara Falls.

Charlottesville has a mall area with a college vibe, sort of like the commons in Ithaca but slummy with the addition of a whole bunch of homeless people sleeping in doorways and panhandling.

We packed up our stuff and dressed for the wedding before heading to the mall so we could watch Bills/Dolphins at South Street Brewing, Bills backers bar. It was surreal, even if they lost.

Montfair

We traveled on to Crozet for the wedding at Montfair Resort. It was an eclectic ceremony officiated by a non clergy person with elements of Judaism and Irish heritage – including the Chuppah, a cloth covering on 4-posts symbolizing a home and Irish prayers and music. After the ceremony, everyone cast a stone into the adjacent pond as a wish for hope and good fortune upon the newlyweds.

The music, guitar, flute and tinwhistle in the majestic Blue Ridge Mountains elicited coyote howls as turkey vultures soared overhead. There may have been symbolism.

It was a beautiful, natural place. We were grateful to have Joe and Ben with us and share brief time with family and strangers. It’s hard to have a real conversation but the food and drinks were good.

Our lodgings were a pleasant but expensive A-frame. We packed up after one night.

Harper’s Ferry

After the wedding, we headed to Harper’s Ferry. Beth has a knack for finding AirBnbs in eclectic settings and also ferreting out the sketchy ones.

For example, Harper’s Ferry had lodgings but reviews said parking was hard to find. She settled on a cottage a mile uphill in a hamlet called Bolivar Heights. The host passed her first test, responding to a simple question congenially and in a timely fashion.

After arriving we walked around the neighborhood. The Barn was closed. So was the Vegan restaurant. Snallygaster’s was open, however.

They greeted us cheerfully and gave us a dinner reservation. We shared a lamb meatball salad, pasta with shrimp and pesto and a brownie Sunday. That’s become our secret to managing budget and waistline. Share.

While at Snallygaster’s we saw (and smelled) a southbound throughhiker dining at the bar but did not get a chance to talk to him,

The Snallygaster is a flying cyclops that haunts the Appalachian forest. It is a nasty, winged creature, half-bird, half reptile. Definitely fiercer than the Mothman or Bigfoot.

The next morning we drove to the Harper’s Ferry visitor’s center and took the shuttle into town on a cold, miserable, windy day, skipping out on a $20 parking fee because of President Trump’s shutdown.

Harper’s Ferry is the scene of a lot of Civil War history, from John Brown’s uprising to how the place changed hands five times during the war. It was a touristy place with good history, mediocre food and the expected souvenirs

We also visited Jefferson’s Rock and walked along the C&O canal pathway that parallels the Potomac after it is joined by the Susquehanna.

Along the pathway I kept seeing red berries on the barren bushes and finally succumbed to the urge to taste one. Spicebush. They taste a bit like apple pie spice, with hints of cinnamon and allspice. I started collecting and over two days had gathered more than two cups. They will find their way into liqueur and baked goods.

We found our favorite hike as well, the Weverton Cliffs hike, a side trail off the white-blazed Appalachian Trail leading to a stunning view of the Potomac.

We headed back and settled in before heading to The Barn for Wednesday night’s open jam with guitars, fiddles and acoustic music.

Thursday morning we had breakfast at the Appalachian Snail, an eclectic farm-to-table cafe with Avett Brothers playing on the stereo. We also grabbed a loaf of olive bread from Bolivar Bakery.

Not one of the 4 small businesses we visited in Bolivar was there 5 years ago and, from the building permit I saw in a window, more is coming.

About Buc-Ees

As we hit the road to drive home, we saw a sign for at Buc-Ees. Give Walmart 100 gas pumps and diesel for trucks. Then fill it with outdoor gear, flannel shirts and chotchkes from China for home. Who doesn’t need a cute Buc-Ees stuffed Christmas bear displayed in a faux-country pick-up.

Add in any kind of junk food you like, from chips to candy, pretzels, sugar-coated popcorn and whatever else you can conjure with all the preservatives and artificial flavor and color added at no charge.

Then add in fried chicken, barbecue, burgers, mac and cheese and whatever other decadence it takes to give you diabetes and keep your cardiologist in business. Call it Buc-Ees or the antithesis of Make America Healthy Again all in one place.

At least they have checkout like Trader Joe’s, one line and four cashiers.

Overall it was a great time away. Hopefully next year we can plan a vacation just for us.