Almost Heaven, West Virginia...

Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River...

Okay, John Denver's dead, and a lot of his songs seem pretty dated now. But I suspect that Country Roads, along with Rocky Mountain High, are going to live on, if only because the states of West Virginia and Colorado have dined off of them for so long. But Country Roads was a good theme for this trip, in the Eastern Panhandle, the only part of West Virginia where the Blue Ridge and the Shenandoah are found (the rest of them are in Virginia proper, before the secessionist Wheeling Entity broke away...)

Anyhow, Sarah likes Country Roads., having heard it for the first time on this West Virginia expedition. Denver didn't write it; Bill and Taffy Danoff, a local DC couple (then, I think they're divorced long since) who played at the old Cellar Door in Georgetown (now unfortunately a cheesesteak chain place) did. The Cellar Door, and Desperados across the street, are written up widely on the Web by nostalgic DC music buffs; two of the greatest music venues of all time are now routine restaurants. But I don't think either's a Starbucks yet.

I have my doubts about some of Denver's stuff (dated, sentimental, pc) but I still love Country Roads. Partly memories of my youth, partly my own Ozark heritage. Some of the lyrics don't fit together real well: "Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River" point to the Eastern Panhandle, while "Miner's Lady" and "dark and dusty, painted on the sky" seem to point to the coal mining country, which is farther south and west. (This is of course assuming the Danoffs had ever been in West Virginia, which I don't know for certain.) And "misty taste of moonshine, teardrop in my eye" is curious, since certainly moonshine can produce teardrops (if not overt bleeding from the eyes) but "misty" is not the usual adjective one applies to mountain busthead, though perhaps neither the Danoffs nor Denver ever tasted any. Actually I've only tasted homemade once that I know of, over 40 years ago (not counting a brief chemistry experiment in high school when the nuns weren't looking), but I've had legally produced raw corn liquor other times -- you can buy it in Virginia ("Virginia Lightning, guaranteed aged less than 30 days" and bottled near Culpeper) and most other southern states, legally made with the tax stamp -- and I'd suggest that West Virginia's other motto "Wild and Wonderful" might fit, as might "Wheee-haw!," but I'd keep "misty" for your Creme de Menthe and orange liqueurs.

Now, where was I? Oh, yeah, the third day of our trip. We left Martinsburg, drove over the mountains to Berkeley Springs, WV, a place Sarah has been several times. One of the country's oldest hot spring spas, staked out by George Washington, Sarah loves the fact that she can wade in the springs and pools and catch crayfish, minnows, tadpoles. Etc. The park in the middle of town is a state park, and she insisted on eating again at Maria's Garden and Inn, a place that really gives meaning to the phrase "more Catholic than the Pope," since it is covered in religious icons of various kinds, pictures of Padre Pio and other Catholic figures, and enough statues to start a museum. As Sarah put it, "whoever started this place must be religious." As I put it, "This place would make the average Southern Baptist's head explode."

And the food's good.

We then headed home. If you've been paying attention (and there will be a quiz) we don't like Interstates. We headed down to Winchester, VA, stopped at the Virginia Farm Market near Winchester to stock up, then headed home via the Snickersville Turnpike, now Virginia 734, an old, narrow road across Loudon County that is much nicer than any other route home, with one-lane bridges and narrow passages under lowering trees.

For much of the final part of the trip we were playing a CD of gospel music (Alison Krauss, Elvis, Elvis and the "Million Dollar Quartet" (Elvis jamming with Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins at Sun Studios in Memphis), Tennessee Ernie, Al Green and others, while Sarah watched "Duck Soup" on the DVD player (I told you we're raising her right!). Almost heaven indeed with the afternoon sun going down over the Virginia Piedmont.

I'll post more on my reflections on this weekend but these last three posts have been intended to ensure the basic chronology is remembered.

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