Wandering America
May 2007 - Part I
| A Walking
Tour of Front Royal, Virginia While we were still in Virginia we took the walking tour of Front Royal which was founded in the 1750's and is noted in history as the opening battle of General Stonewall Jackson's famous Valley Campaign. Front Royal played a prominent roll in the Valley Campaign due to its strategic "cross-roads town" location. It linked Laury and the upper Shenandoah Valley in the South with Winchester and Harpers Ferry in the north as well as eastern Virginia with roads and railroads through the Chester and Manassas Gaps. An interesting side note: we later learned that Darrell's great-great grandfather, George Washington Riley, served with the 1st Maine Calvary which fought against Jackson's troops in that Campaign during the spring and summer of 1862.  Our tour began with a walk down Chester street which is the oldest street in Front Royal. At the start there's a gazebo located in the village commons at the corner of Main and Chester where the "Royal Oak" tree stood that was instrumental in the naming of the town. During the colonial times the pioneer militia drilled beneath the oak tree and the drillmaster would command the troops to "Front the Royal Oak" hence the town name of Front Royal.  Belle Boyd was a renowned Southern Spy who used Front Royal as a base of operations. Her aunt owned the Strickler Hotel and cottages behind the hotel where Col. Kenly's headquarters was located. Belle hid in a closet and listened while the Federals planned an attack on the confederates, then she slipped out to convey the information to "Stonewall" Jackson.  This log house located at 123 Chester Street was constructed in 1788 which makes it one of the oldest in Front Royal. It was restored in 1976. Notice the air conditioner in the top floor window. Do you suppose that was used to keep a lot of the colonials cool on a hot summer's night?  Here is a picture of Main Street in downtown Front Royal which was the end of our tour. It was a very pleasant day with temperatures in the 80's and we enjoyed the walk around the town.  Visiting Relatives in Cape Cod, Massachusetts We arrived at Cape Cod where we set up camp at Uncle Clyde's and Aunt Marge's house in Falmouth. It was one of the best campsites ever and we enjoyed spending four days with them. It had been about a year and a half since we had seen them last which is way too long. Darrell's mom had five brothers and four sisters and Clyde has always been his favorite uncle. Aunt Marge's hobby is genealogy and that's how we found out that Darrell's great-great grandfather served in the Civil War. Thanks Clyde and Marge for all of your hospitality, sure makes us look forward to returning soon.   While on the Cape we visited
some of the beaches located around Falmouth. Surf Beach overlooks Martha's
Vineyard which is the land that you can barely see across the water. Darrell
served in the Coast Guard and was pleased to snap this picture of a 210 Class CG
Cutter going through the Cape Cod Canal from Buzzards
Bay.
 On our last evening on the Cape
we drove to Chapoquoit Beach in West Falmouth to watch the sunset. It is still
a little cool on the Cape to see many people out walking the beaches but there
were a few hardy souls. The sunset over Buzzards Bay was pretty none-the-less
and we enjoyed it - only a lobster roll and an ice cream cone could have made
it any better ;).
    A Day Trip to Plymouth, Massachusetts During our stay on Cape Cod we took a day trip to Plymouth, Massachusetts to be tourists and do some sightseeing beginning with Plymouth Rock. Most people know the story of the Pilgrims landing in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620, but many do not know the history of the "Rock" itself. The following is an except from the "About" website (this site is copywrited but allows non commercial use of its material): Plymouth Rock! What's the most visited rock in
According to legend, Plymouth Rock is the
boulder upon which the Pilgrims landed when they arrived at the location of
their permanent settlement in For starters, the well intentioned residents of
Souvenir seekers who desired to bring home
a "piece of the rock" caused further deterioration until Plymouth Rock was moved
to safety inside an iron fence at the Remember the bottom part of the rock that
was left behind at the waterfront? The Pilgrim Society acquired the other half
of Plymouth Rock in 1859, and in 1867, a Plymouth Rock canopy structure was
completed at the waterfront to house it. Unfortunately, the canopy was not
large enough to hold the whole rock, so a few pieces had to be hacked off and
sold as souvenirs. Finally, in 1880, the upper chunk was
united with the lower piece of Plymouth Rock--cement did the trick! And "1620,"
the date of the Pilgrims' arrival in Plymouth Rock was moved for the last time
during the celebration of Plymouth
Rock, though a bit battered by time, remains a powerful tribute to the courage
of the 102 Mayflower passengers who founded the land we know as
   The Mayflower II is a well
researched replica of the original Mayflower. It was built in Brixham, England
using the same Devon oak for construction and sailed to Plymouth, Massachusetts
as a good will project in 1957. The ship is mainly a display owned by the
Plimouth Plantation, however; it went on a brief sail in 1964, led a procession
of Tall Ships through the Cape Cod Canal in 1992, and later in 1992 it went on
tour cruise to Florida and back.
 These two houses, that are
located between Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower II, are typical of the type of
houses that would have been built in the 1620's. They are the basis for today's
Cape Cod homes that are built throughout New England.
 Leyden
Street is the oldest street in Plymouth and the site of the first house built by
the Pilgrims (it was located where the last house on the right sits). Leyden
street is not very long; it starts at the first Church and runs down the hill to
the water which is approximately four blocks.
 At
the head of Leyden Street is this stone church which is the fourth church to
occupy the site with the first church being erected in 1648. Before that time
church services were held in the Fort Meeting House at the top of Burial Hill.
The church is home to the oldest continually active congregation in the
country.
 Burial Hill is located up a
stone stairway behind the First Church and was the site for first fort which had
mounted cannons for protection of the entrance to the harbor. William Bradford
was the leader of the Pilgrims in Plymouth Colony and he was the governor of the
colony for its first thirty years. He died in 1657 and is buried on Burial
Hill. A statue of him is erected at the bottom of Leyden Street on the
waterfront.
  Just down the hill from the
First Church is the 1749 Courthouse which was build before the revolutionary war
and served Plymouth County.
 The National Monument to the
Forefathers commemorates the Mayflower Pilgrims and honors their ideals.
The cornerstone was laid in 1859
and the monument was completed in 1889. It is the tallest solid granite
monument in the United States being 81 feet tall. We were told by the clerk at
the visitors center that the Statue of Liberty was patterned after this
monument.
 "Live Free or Die", Visiting the Granite State We "camped" at Seven Maples Campground in Hancock, New Hampshire while visiting Lola Mae and her parents in Peterborough. Judy enjoyed the "new baby smell" and holding her new grand-daughter. Lola has grown like a weed since we saw her last in Tennessee. As usual we did our short day trips. This time we set out to visit the town of Washington, New Hampshire and then the Anheuser-Busch Brewery in Merrimack, New Hampshire. On our way to Washington we unexpectedly came across President Franklin Pierce's childhood home in Hillsborough, New Hampshire. It is a museum but it is only open during the summer months of July and August.   Washington, New Hampshire is "tooted" as having the prettiest town common in New England. Being that we have not seen all of them yet, we will withhold judgement. But we can say that it is probably the "quaintest" being that it has been well preserved in its original state with dirt streets and all. This was the first town incorporated under the name of George Washington and we were told that the town common is the highest above sea level in New England. It had a population or 545 during the first census taken in 1790, today the population is around 1050 making it a really quiet little town as well.   "This Bud's For You" We learned that one of the Anheuser-Busch Breweries was located in Merrimack, New Hampshire, so off we went for a free tour. Not only did we get a tour of the brewery with some free samples but we, also, got to see the stables and the Clydesdale horses. Big Scott the Clydesdale welcomed us at the beginning of the tour just outside the visitor's center. This gave us a photo op which we took advantage. As you can see, the grounds are very well landscaped and immaculate.     The tour was very interesting
however we were not allowed to take any photographs in the production areas.
Barley and rice are cooked with water in separate vats and then the mash is
strained and mixed together. Next hops and yeast are added which begins the
fermentation process and then the "wort" is chilled for a period of eight days.
Finally the beer is aged with beachwood, a process that only Anheuser-Busch
utilizes. The beer is then bottled or canned, labeled, and packaged through
maize of conveyors which was very interesting to watch and then it is ready for
distribution. They only maintain a two day
backlog througout the "assembly" process in order to maintain the freshness.
Anheuser-Busch utilizes the
"Born On" date which is stamped on each container to ensure that we get the
freshest beer possible. The plant is kept extremely clean throughout the entire
process as you can well imagine. This is a very good tour and we recommend it
if you are ever near one of their facilities.
After the tour we were treated to two beers and some snacks. You can choose which two beers you want try and they give you about a 7 oz. glass of each. They also have non-alcohol drinks available as well.   After the tour we visited the
horse stables which are very beautiful and extremely clean. This was an
absolute treat as the Clydesdales are big, beautiful, and gentle horses.
The
original Anheuser-Busch clydesdales were a gift to August A. Busch, Sr. from his
son in 1933 and were first used to commemorate the repeal of prohibition by
pulling the first post-prohibition case of beer down the street in St. Louis,
Missouri.
 Anheuser-Busch maintains a herd of around 250 clydesdales throughout the United States to support their teams. A team is made up of eight horses, one dalamatian, one driver, and a Studebaker wagon. It takes about five hours to "hitch-up the wagon" and ready the team for a demonstration. In the early days of brewing the dalmatians were trained to protect the horses and guard the wagon while the driver was making the beer deliveries. We didn't see any of the dalmatians while we were at the stables.   Clydesdales originated near the Clyde River in Scotland. When full grown a horse is about six feet tall at the shoulder and weighs in at around 2000 pounds. That's a lot of horse! Our tour guide told us how much a horse will eat each day but we are both having one of those senior moments and don't remember, but it's a lot! Each horse is bathed once a week which takes about forty-five minutes and we arrived at the stables in time to see King finish his bath and be groomed. Then we tour the rest of the stables and pasture area.   
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