So a handful of elderly gentlemen (who really ought to know better) have resolved to ride the Great American Rail Trail (which, strictly speaking, isn’t one RT but a whole bunch of RTs more or less strung together).
The GART actually goes all the way from Washington, D.C. to the Pacific Coast of Washington State. But since we are a bunch of elderly gentlemen (who really ought to know better) we have decided to take it in small bites.
Hence, this expedition will jump off from D.C. and end up on the Mississippi River some 20-odd days hence.
At least, that’s the plan. Don’t get me started on great expectations.
In the meantime, myself and one of the other EGs (Walt Barry) overnighted in Williamsburg (where Walt’s daughter lives) and had a delightful ride that took us from Colonial Williamsburg to the historic Jamestown Settlement and back.
The core of old Williamsburg (which is to say that part that hasn’t given way to typical autoAmerican suburban dreck) is quite bike friendly. Street speeds are 25 mph, there are lots of bike lanes and paths. And once you get into colonial territory the streets are mostly off limits to cars and reserved for people.
Not to mention other forms of non-motorized mobilization.
There’s a whole lot of street theater going on in Colonial Williamsburg. Because what else are they gonna do with all that history?
And they do not shy away the colony’s racist history. (Hope nobody tells The Great DeSanitizer.)
We saw a reenactment of two slaves “jumping the broom,” which is to say get married.
Immediately after the ceremony a very angry slave owner appeared and told the groom that getting married isn’t going to keep him from being hauled off to Richmond the next day.
William and Mary College is an amazingly beautiful campus.
With a rich history.
And a bridge to die for.
In which I attempt, without success, to talk some sense into Thomas Jefferson.
“Dude,” I said. “How ‘bout you write ‘The pursuit of happiness and cheap thrills.” I might as well have been talking to a tree stump.
But elderly gentlemen cannot live on history alone. So we took ourselves off to Billsburg Brewery (which would be the town’s name if they’d called King William ‘King Bill’) there to lunch at the Hungry Pug.
We saved the best for last. A short spin on the Virginia Capital Trail, which runs for 52-miles from Jamestown Settlement to Richmond.
It’s an amazingly beautiful trail that winds it way past green fields and through woods and wetlands. Alas, I still had miles to go (and in a car, dammit) to get to D.C.
On Sunday we depart from the Capital Steps to pick up the C&O Canal Trail and points north. We’re having a rainy weekend and the C&O is unpaved. So it figures to be a muddy mess.
But I believe I’ve already demonstrated that we are a band of elderly gentlemen who really ought to know better. So I’ll report in from time to time. That is, if we don’t vanish into a swamp or something.
FreeGNV 