I went here when I was a brownie
, 6.05.2011
I came to the C&O Canal as a girl scout. My girl scout troop, number #1456 (just kidding, I don't remember our troop number) came out here, learned some history stuff, dressed in historical dresses, learned some history songs and dances, and watched historical boats cross the canal through historical locks. And in return for my services rendered as a visiting brownie, I got a BADGE! Right away my mom hot-glued it onto my brownie-sash.
C&O was one of many awesome things my troop did, along with a culture night about Thailand where we all gave mini presentations on Thai culture, language, and food, and then went out to eat at a real Thai Restaurant. That was the first restaurant I'd been to that had buttermints sitting in a bowl as you left. (Those are the ones that look like little squares of chalk but when you put them in your mouth they melt into minty ecstasy.) I thought for a long time that buttermints were from Thailand. They're not.
Another brownie-scout memory: Girl Scout Camp. It was real camping, with real fires that we made ourselves, real fire-cooked meals, real mess kits that we really washed ourselves and hung from tree branches in home made mesh bags to dry as we went on real hikes through real woods with real bears. And the first year I threw up all night long after day 1. And also: ticks.
But back to the C&O Canal. Sam and I went there today. We visited the cool old Tavern, where a Park ranger gave us the unabridged history of the canal. It took a while but if you ask I can tell you a lot about this canal. We watched as a boat made the cool trip across the elevator locks, and hiked to the Potomac Gorge outlook to see the 70-foot drop. Photographic evidence below.
There were about a dozen herons fishing along the rapids while we were there.
This is the lock right in front of the Tavern. After they closed off one side of the lock, they slightly opened the other gate, letting the lock fill up, raising the level where the boat is sitting about 8 feet in just a couple minutes. Then they opened up the gate all the way, and a pair of mules pulled the boat down the canal.
Staring into the bright sky made my face do weird stuff.
Staring into the bright sky made my face do weird stuff.
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