Want Apple?

Sunday, 18 September

Our weekend getaway to Winchester is over and we're back at the stix & bricks. Today was pretty typical of our Phaeton departure days. We spent the morning relaxing before running our departure checklist to make sure we were all set to leave by the noon check-out deadline. Mui squeezed in a quick trip to Costco before we left Candy Hill Campground, thus saving himself some shopping time when we returned home. The drive back was uneventful, and after a detour to fill up at Fannon Petroleum ($3.84/gallon for diesel), we had the coach back in storage by 3:00p.

Seeing as that short paragraph would be the start and end of a very boring post, I’ll share with you some of the fun stuff we did over the weekend.

Friday …

We made the most of the short time the sun was out Friday afternoon to wander around Old Town Winchester. Once Shawnee Indian camping grounds, the area was settled in 1732 by Pennsylvania Quakers. Surrounded by orchards, the town is appropriately nicknamed the Apple Capital. In fact, it was apples that had brought us here, but that’s a story for a bit later.

It was a quiet Friday afternoon in Old Town. The restaurants, pubs, and sidewalk cafés lining the pedestrian mall were all but deserted; the shops had just a few patrons. We figured the area would be humming once the workday came to an end. In the meantime, we enjoyed the opportunity to have a quiet stroll.

We are in the Apple Capital after all.

It’s not just the cat that curiosity kills. It also kills my time. A click of the shutter button often leads to extensive Googling time when I get home. The apple sitting near the pedestrian mall was no different. I just had to find out why these five men were chosen to decorate the apple. Here’s why “I” think they were chosen:

• Confederate General Jubal Early (far left) – his troops were instrumental in defeating Union defenders in Winchester and opening the Shenandoah Valley to General Robert E. Lee’s forces.
• Judge John Handley (far left) – an Irish immigrant from Pennsylvania, in 1895, he bequeathed $1.6 million to the city for the “education of the poor.”
• George Washington (middle) – came here in the mid-1700s to survey the lands of the Sixth Lord Fairfax; built Fort Loudoun during the French and Indian War; and was elected in Winchester to his first public office as Frederick County’s representative to the House of Burgesses.
• Admiral Richard E. Byrd (top right) – Medal of Honor recipient and polar explorer (claimed that his expeditions were the first to reach the North Pole [not] and the South Pole [true] by air), was born in Winchester.
• Confederate General Stonewall Jackson (bottom right) – following the Battle of First Bull Run, he commanded the Valley District, headquartered in Winchester.

See, this is why my blog posts grow like weeds. Curiosity. It’s a good thing; it’s a bad thing!

The court house (1840), now a civil war museum, was used as a hospital, barracks, and prison by both sides during the War. The statue in front of the building is dedicated “in lasting honor of every confederate soldier from Winchester and Frederick County who faithfully served the south.”

“I went to the court house; the porch was strewed with dead men. Some had papers pinned
to their coats telling who they were. All had the capes of their coats turned over to
hide their still faces; but their poor hands, so pitiful they looked and so helpless.
Soon men carried them away to make room for others who were dying inside.”
Cornelia McDonald, after the First Battle of Kernstown, 23 March 1862.
[from signage near the museum]

A few notes about the collage, which includes two photographs of images from nearby signage. The image on the left depicts James Taylor’s sketch of Confederate prisoners held outside the court house after the Third Battle of Winchester, 19 September 1864. The top right image depicts graffiti inscribed by a Union prisoner on an interior court house wall.

Clocks in tandem.
(Left: Old Court House; right: Rouss city hall)

First Presbyterian Church

Hill’s Keep is an early 19th century building that was relocated here in 2004.

A short outing; lots of fun nonetheless. We liked what little we saw of Winchester; we’ll be making a return visit to further explore the town.

Saturday …

It all started with an apple that a colleague gave me last year. A Golden Delicious to be precise. It was so goooooooood; crisp, and sweet, and juicy. One bite … and I had to have more … a lot more. My colleague told me the apple was from Rinker Orchards in Stephens City, so on a beautiful, blue-sky Saturday, we drove up to pick our own apples. We returned home with 90+ lbs (40+ kg) of the most delicious Goldens, Nittanys, and Yorks. When that same friend brought me another Golden Delicious this year, we decided to combine apple picking with weekend camping.

Oh, Golden Delicious!

We woke up to overcast skies on our apple picking day. We weren’t concerned. After all, there was no rain forecasted. Yeah, right!!!! Just as we were getting ready to leave for the 10-mile (16 km) drive to Stephens City, the skies opened up in a deluge. So we sat back down to wait it out. An hour later, the rain was over and we were on our way.

Finding Idared, and Golden and Red Delicious apples ready for picking, we decided to concentrate on the goldens. Just two bags this time. I’m guessing that’s about 45 lbs (20+ kg); should last us a while.

From trees to bags … plenty of golden deliciousness.

We’re going to try and drive up for the day in a few weeks to pick some Nittanys; they’re our favorite of the Virginia apples. And if we can’t get back to Rinker this year, at least we will have had our fill of the Goldens.

Last year, we concluded our apple picking with a picnic lunch at the orchard. The wet grass and cool temps did not invite us to do so this time. Instead, we returned to the coach for our noon meal. Afterwards, we headed out to the Apple Harvest Festival at the Jim Barnett Park in Winchester. En route, we made a quick stop at the local Loft, one of my favorite clothing stores, so I could take advantage of their 30% off sale. Three pairs of slacks, a blouse, and a sweater later we were on our way to the festival. By the time we arrived, it was after 3:00p and the admission was waived. I’m actually glad that we didn’t pay to get in as we were quite disappointed in what we found. There was no sign of all the antique cars the flyer said would be there … surely the two we saw weren’t the ones the organizers meant! Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

“Apladay” is one of two Whitehouse antique vehicles at the festival.

Despite the ups and downs of the day, we had a good time. We have apples galore to enjoy at home; the apple pie ice cream at the festival was good; I have clothes to see me through the fall-winter season; and the sweet corn we bought from the roadside market on our way back to the coach was a great addition to our barbecue shrimp dinner.