Thursday, October 26
57 degrees this morning as we leave Delaware and head to Beth's sister's in Hanover, PA. Nice drive and traffic wasn't too terrible going around Baltimore. Lots of waterways and bridges.
We get to Hanover a little early, so go to a Jiffy Lube for an oil change. Anita and Kevin are tied up, so we have lunch at an Arby's across the street before heading to their house. They are in the midst of having a house built and trying to sell the existing one, so pretty busy right now.
We plug in and have some electrical issue - the Trek apparently works on non-GFI circuit, but not the GFI one. Kevin talks to a buddy and they agree that it is a common problem and Kevin bypasses the GFI and all is well.
We run a few errands with them. Kevin has bought some more Pennsylvania Copper and we meet the seller at a mall area for the exchange - feels like a drug deal haha! We drive around Gettysburg a bit and end up at Sachs Covered Bridge which was built in 1852. Quite a historical bridge which saw both Union and Confederate troops during the days of the battle at Gettysburg - July 1-3, 1863. Can you imagine?!
It served as the execution site for at least 3 Southern soldiers and is said to be the most haunted bridge in America, with visitors claiming to see full bodied apparitions and experience strange touching and hair pulling, etc. We were there with plenty of daylight and saw only a few real live fishermen-
and these clowns!
The bridge crosses Marsh Creek and we stopped further along for some nice Fall pictures.
Anita has made reservations for a Ghost Walk in Gettysburg this evening. We meet the tour guide at the drummer boy statue in Unity Park, dedicated to the Civil War musicians. (Can't find the picture!)
Our guide is Kendra, who is dressed in a witch's outfit. She is very animated at times... says she has been doing this for 14 years. Things are complicated, perhaps by the addition of a family with several young children, as she seems to address them most of the night.
We walk one of the main streets and she points out several places that are reputedly haunted. They all existed during the Civil War. One is now an ice cream shop where spilled ice cream appears regularly during closed hours - hungry ghosts? We stand by a huge old tree called the Witness Tree, which she says is where Abraham Lincoln passed on his way to give his address (she shows a photo with a much smaller tree).
Several other houses, the Sweeney House, the Pierce and Schiver houses, have stories attached and are considered haunted and/or cursed.
There is a church called the Church of Doors, whose doors were removed and used for surgery tables during the war.
Afterwards we walk to Sweney's Tavern for some dinner. Nice, old building and the food was pretty good too.
The history around here really is remarkable - can you imagine who may have eaten in this tavern over the past 150+ years!? What a party that would be to have them all together!
Fun for Anita and I to stay up way too late and catch up with each others' lives!
Friday, October 27
This morning we go to look at the progress on their new house. Cody happily comes with us. He's a sweetheart.
It is a pre-fab house that is being built in Lancaster then moved to this location. The basement has been excavated and walled and the two halves of the house have been delivered, but not put into place yet.
The building behind is is their rock shop.
Pretty amazing process! We are able to go inside the halves and look around as all the cabinets, moldings, etc. are in place. The next few weeks will see plumbing, electrical, grading, and more finishing. Painters will do the interior walls too.
I think it has ended up being a lot more complicated than they expected, and is taking a longer time. But they should be all settled before Christmas. Their current house had a contract but it was on a contingency plan and the sellers haven't been able to sell their existing home.
We take a drive to the Clark Shoe Outlet and Beth is able to find some short boots to replace the ones she got here a few years ago.
Then we go back to their house. Kevin has some things he needs to do, so Anita, Greg and I drive down to nearby Codorus State Park where we hike around the lake (which is extremely low),
and then find some gorgeous Fall foliage in another area! To the people that live here, this is probably pretty nice but they see it often. To us it is fabulous!
For dinner tonight we drive south over the Maryland border to an Italian/Seafood place called Fratelli's. We've been here once before and think it is superb! We all have crab cakes in some form or fashion. Kevin and Greg have Chicken Chesapeake which is a huge boneless chicken breast topped with a huge crab cake and lemon cream sauce over pasta. Beth just had a single crab cake but it is the size of a softball - and delicious - with roasted potatoes and asparagus. We all got take-home boxes for tomorrow's dinner!
On the way home, we stop in a town called Manchester and have a quick visit with Anita's daughter Vanessa who works as a Paramedic at the fire station there. Good to see her!
Another late night gab fest - so thankful that Greg almost always drives, since we'll be starting the long haul back to Texas tomorrow and I can nap!
