Day 9 – Rocky Gap

Today’s Blog Entry

Cindy and I enjoyed a relaxed start at the winery in Chalk Hill PA before hitching up the rig and heading east along I-68. Today’s drive included a crossing of the Eastern Continental Divide, which is fortunately nowhere near as high as its western counterpart that we’ve crossed so many times in Colorado!

We made the very hilly but otherwise easy one hour drive east to the 1812 Farm Brewery, another Harvest Host participant. This historic farm is located just north of Cumberland MD and down a narrow, winding country road. Did I mention that the road was narrow and winding???

We checked in with the surprisingly young owner at 1812, set up camp, and headed out for the day’s outing – a visit to nearby Rocky Gap State Park. Rocky Gap’s main attraction (if you ignore the casino and the golf course, anyway!) is Lake Habeeb so we found the Lakeside Loop Trail and headed out.

The six mile circuit around the lake gave us a good chance to check out all of the park’s amenities. These amenities included a very nice campground that would be a great place to base for further exploration of this area so we’ve already made tentative reservations for a visit next May.

Cumberland was our next destination after completing the hike. We wanted to check out the historic downtown area and top off the diesel – we didn’t really need fuel but with all the press about the pipeline shutdown we decided that it was a good idea. We also had one of the propane tanks for the Airstream refilled as the cold nights at Ohiopyle had taken their toll.

After our return to 1812 we wandered over to the pavilion to sample some of their craft beer – specifically the Helles Lager. We sat on the outdoor terrace enjoying a fried pretzel with beer cheese while chatting with another RV couple that was staying on the property that evening. By this time a bluegrass band had set up and started to play, so we ordered a couple of burgers from the food truck along with another round of craft brews and sat back to enjoy the show.

Today’s Map

Today’s Photos