Sometub's cruise on the C. & O. canal : $b The narrative of a motorboat vacation in the heart of MarylandCowan, John Pryor
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Sometub's cruise on the C. & O. canal : $b The narrative of a motorboat vacation in the heart of Maryland
Cowan, John Pryor
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (Md. and Washington, D.C.); Potomac River Valley -- Description and travel
Thursday dawned clear and hot. Our neighbors, the fishermen, were out
before sunrise and had breakfasted on their catch of perch, catfish
and "sunnies" before we were stirring. Old Sol drank up the dew within
a few minutes after his appearance over the Virginia hills and we
made an excursion into a blackberry thicket where we picked a dish
of luscious fruit for breakfast. It was our last berry feast of the
season. After reciprocating photographs of our respective "camps," we
headed for Seneca lock and were lowered through it by members of a
troop of Washington Boy Scouts who volunteered their assistance to the
lockmaster.
At noon we reached Great Falls. Here are 13 locks in a series of two,
seven chambers in the first and six in the second. The actual time in
making the descent was considerably less than two hours. We stopped
at the first lock, and upon payment of a small fee to the lockmaster,
were admitted to the private park surrounding the Great Falls of the
Potomac. Crossing a swinging bridge to an island in the river we
obtained a magnificent view of the cataract. The stream was at flood
stage and the scene rivaled the rapids of the lower Niagara.
In the late summer and autumn of 1861 the Union and Confederate pickets
frequently exchanged compliments at short range from behind the rocks
and boulders along this stretch of the Potomac. If you have any friends
among the survivors of the Pennsylvania Reserves, ask them to tell
you of their experiences during the open season for snipers in those
exciting days.
In the middle of the afternoon we passed Cabin John bridge and moored
"Sometub" at the lock at the foot of Glen Echo park. In the shade of
the trees everything looked cool and refreshing and we decided to
spend the evening with friends in Washington, but a few minutes after
we stepped off the boat we realized that it was the hottest day of
the summer. The lockmaster's wife invited us to go into her house and
assigned us "spare rooms" to change our clothes. Going to Washington
by trolley, we found the heat in the city almost intolerable after
our fortnight in the open air of the mountains. After dinner in town
against the protests of friends we returned to the boat and were lulled
to slumber by the music in the dancing pavilion of the park.
* * * * *
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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