Day  7 Trip east At Woodbine MD

It was very windy today after that heavy rainstorm last night. It stayed in the 25-35 mph range with gusts up to 60 mph until supper time this evening when it started to quiet down . Still breezy but not like the day.

We did not intentionally seek birds today and our daily list went from a meager 17 yesterday to a paltry 7 today. Without trying that is still very few birds. I can do better in my backyard!!!~

So instead, we visited the historical town of Westminster just north of here about 30 miles.  IT was established in 1784 by William Winchester.  We are still in Carrol County MD . So as I said yesterday planning doesn’t always work out what was expected..

Because of the building of the B and O RR (Baltimore and Ohio for those o you that haven’t played monopoly lately) here in 1891 Westminster became the “jumping off” place for folks heading west. The main street with its still operating hotels is a testament to that boom time. The German immigrants brought with them that sturdy brick architecture  seen still in  Main St
architecture. An Opera House was built before the Civil War and the name B.F Shriver will be mentioned again here besides his canning company of the 19th century. (see later for comments about the Union and Confederate troops marching through near here in the same 24 hour period. They were that close to each other on their way to Gettysburg.

The old row houses in Wincester, MD

 We stopped at the City Hall at the Visitors Center.  IT was originally the home of John R Longwell and at it’s building was declared the most beautiful home in America. He was the publisher of the Newspaper that lives yet today.  In those days newspapers were very biased and were “owned “usually by a political party. There were over 100 newspaper from the mid 1800’s to the present in Carrol County. Most were weekly and didn’t last but a few years.

 

 

 

 

 We don’t always stop at visitor’s centers but this seemed a good idea as the road system was  not laid out by an engineer but by the original  trails.The visitor Center was directed by Diane who shared with us some highlights of the area. Birding was not on the agenda, but… Barns were, when Ruth spotted a brochure on “Quilt Barns of Carrol County”. That was it for the day, a good day for moving with the truck from Barn to Barn.

Before the first barn visit,  we saw a huge crowd at a garden/plant sale at a Grist Mill that we wanted to visit. It is an annual sale of the Foundation at the house where B.F Shriver and  his brother divided loyalties during the Civil War  (see one photo)  did house the Confederates on one night and the union soldiers on the next night on their grounds, His brother lived across the street. The garden sale covered three large building and the lawn with a barbecue pit running for lunch. (No…we had packed a lunch, remember?

Carroll County has about …no …EXACTLY…34 barns with the quilt designs on them. This has been done by the County Community as a joint project  since 2013.  The pattern each farm chooses is their own and comes from  classic quilt patterns of the past and some that retell the story of their farm family experience. Hence we have here a “Barn Quilt Trail” of sorts that one can follow throughout the county. Ruth and I managed to visit 4 of them today and added 3 other barns that she spotted along the way.   One, we could not find, (wrong address in the brochure) but I found it later on Google earth.   (Isn’t that a great creation?)  (See photos)  It was a fun experience and gave me a chance to solidify somewhat, the roads of Carrol County.

B.F. Shriver's Manor House

 

 

 

 

 

Stars and Bars Quilt pattern

We headed for the trailer in mid-afternoon and even though we talked about stopping for a DQ, we did not see one, and I hesitated to look for one on the phone.  (Ruth has a rue about eating anything after 3;00 PM before supper.

Log Cabin Quilt design

 Churn Dish 

 

 

 Carpenter's Wheel Quilt Design

 

 

 

It was a good day in spite of the wind.