They Didn't Know Either

Ashland RV Park
Marietta, Ohio
Pull Thru Site # 21

Bill and I pulled out of Follansbee around 9 am and headed south to Wheeling and then crossed the Ohio River into Ohio and followed route 7 along the river to Marietta, Ohio.  

After lunch we decided to do a tour of Blennerhassett Island Historical State Park since it is closed on Monday's.  You take a paddle wheel boat ride from Parkersburg to reach the Island in the middle of the Ohio River.  

After a lengthy walk caused by no signs and a lot of confusion around the area we finally found the place to buy the tickets.  There were many other people in the same situation. We were lucky as today was senior Sunday and we received a discount on our ticket.  ($9)

Since it was such a nice day, we rode on the upper deck.  I think we both had too much sun, but didn't realize it with the wind blowing during the boat ride. 

According to the brochure:  'Harman Blennerhassett, a wealthy Irish aristocrat, and his wife, Margaret, settled on the island in 1798 and began building a magnificent mansion and estate.  However, he became entangled in a mysterious military enterprise with Aaron Burr in 1806.  As a result, President Thomas Jefferson accused both men of plotting treason in attempting to establish  an empire in the Southwest.

Blennerhassett fled the island, but was captured and imprisoned in the Virginia State Penitentiary."  

The mansion burnt to the ground in 1811 leaving little behind until archaeologists in 1973 rediscovered the foundation.  The mansion has been recreated and some of the original furnishings have been recovered.    

Today they had a re-enactment of the civil war and we could hear the cannons while we were waiting to board the sternwheeler.  

We knew our time was limited as the last boat off the island was at 5:30.  We elected to do the mansion tour first and then decide what to do next.  

I don't know if it was the re-enactment or the beautiful day but the island was packed. Our tour of the mansion took more time than we expected.  We skipped the outside part of it to go see the re-enactment.  When we got over on that section of the island, they had just completed the show.  

All the re-enactors were packing up and heading to the boat.  We looked at all the people and decided to take the next boat back instead of the followning one which was the last one.   

By the time we got off the boat, Bill said if you want to skip the Blennerhassett Museum, it was OK with him.  You mean really skip a museum?  Why of course, I said I'd had enough. 
I think the sun and wind on the boat ride really hit us.  The temps are in the upper 70's but we both had had enough.  

I also think, because we had such a busy and fun day Saturday, we were more tired than we realized.  So what did we do on Saturday, you ask?  Nothing, I say.  

Daughter, Misty, came for a visit in the morning.  She helped put the finishing touches on the greyhounds.  While she was here, Taylor stopped by to show us and her mom her new surprise.  

A brand new Ford Focus!  She was so excited.  She didn't stay too long, as she needed to drive over to show all her friends.


I had seen a sign advertising a bar-b-cue restaurant right by the store where Misty works.  The sign has been there all month and every time we drive past it I get a vision in my head.  I asked Misty, "what are reuben skins?"  I know she's been to all the restaurants in Wellsburg but she didn't know.  While we were laughing about that, Shay came to the door.  
The first thing I asked her was about the reuben skins.  She didn't know.  We laughed and had a good time with Misty and Shay and then there was a knock at the door.  It was Doug.  He didn't know what reuben skins were either.  

 We all went down to Vito's for dinner and Shay received a call from Jenna who was coming back from Morgantown that she was going to stop.  No sooner than we all got back to the coach, Jenna and Garrett stopped by.  They didn't know what reuben skins were either.  A little while later, Courtney and her friend Nikki joined the party.  They didn't know what reuben skins were either.  

Nikki took this great photo of all of us.

 Bottom row:  Misty, Courtney, Jenna
Back row:  Shay, Doug, Garrett, Jan (me), Bill

The grandkids started leaving around 10:30 and Misty, Shay and Doug stayed for a while longer.  Misty gave a Bill an early birthday present, a WVU Moutaineer shirt.  Doug and Shay had going away gifts bags for both Bill and I.  Inside were  WVU shirts, cookies, old fashioned root beer barrels and some light sticks.  (I already have an idea for the light sticks.)

So that's why we are so tired today.  

We hadn't hitched up for a month and even when we are home, we hitch up more than that.  We doubled checked everything today which had caused us to have a restless night.  

As we were driving through Wellsburg, I noticed they changed the "reuben skins" sign today.  Must be time to leave town.  

We did leave today, but the memories will stay with us for ever.  We enjoyed all of the kids and were very glad we stayed long enough for Olivia's play.  

I have so many Blennerhassett photos that I'm going to put them here in a smaller size which you can make larger by clicking on them if you want to.  

Turtle Safely.........