North

 3/29- Blue Ridge Barrel Brewery, Arrington VA

   It was another chilly one this morning as we had to break the rv out of glacier that surrounded it. I exaggerate a bit but I was glad I was not in a tent like the folks behind us. 

    We quickly passed into Virginia and the road rolled up and down the hills. We passed a lot of pasture and hay fields. Some of the grass was already knee high. We passed through a bunch of small towns and almost without fail the downtowns were all but deserted. In fact one town I didn’t see a single open business on the whole strip. This is actually pretty common all across the country that most town centers have moved out of town. 

   As we had a relatively short way to go today we were looking for something interesting to stop at. Sure enough we found it at Appomattox. This is where RE Lee surrendered to US Grant to end the Civil War. It’s interesting that it was so well recorded that they know right where everyone stood in the room. What’s even more fascinating is that once the documents were signed people started taking mementos from the house. They were taking just about anything not tied down. I bet if they’d had eBay the stuff would have showed up within the day. 

   The actual house was dismantled and brought to Washington to be displayed but the company went bankrupt. It wasn’t until 1941 that they brought the house back and reassembled it here. So while it might feel like we were standing in these two general’s footsteps it probably isn’t the case. 

   The campsite tonight is a brewery and restaurant which sits in a big clearing on the top of a hill. We have a fantastic view of the Blue Ridge Mountains out our windows as well as a fine selection of craft beers to choose from. This is another fine Harvest Host site. 

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