Antietam Muster Side-Trip(s) - Thursday Early Arrivals

Ok. In the Official Muster thread it says this:

"Friday, October 8th​: (optional)

James N. We will be at Harpers Ferry but I will be back at the hotel to check people in for the Official Start! I have tons of maps and goody bags to give out!"

So you will not be at Harpers Ferry on Friday morning?
I just printed that map. The right side is Thursday and the left side is Friday morning. Got it.
I hope that's settled - I for one wasn't certain either!
 
I too am confused by @NH Civil War Gal Tina's schedule for Friday and thought she was going to decide about that and let me/us know. Since the original plan is to go there Friday afternoon after the Official Start, I had originally suggested going to Shepherdstown Friday morning instead. Tina?
From the map, it looks like there are 5 stops(in the yellow squares) in the vicinity of Shepherdstown on the unofficial Friday morning itinerary.

"The secondary side trip at left to Shepherdstown would visit several sites that are quite close together for the time allotted: The small battlefield and Boteler's Ford, about which I (or someone else) can describe pretty quickly there (this battle marked the end of the Antietam Campaign); the town cemetery containing more of the Confederate dead from Antietam, plus graves of Stonewall Jackson's aide and biographer Henry Kyd Douglas and at least a couple of Confederate Generals; just across the Potomac, Douglas' family estate Ferry Hill, an accessible NPS site; and a little up the road Grove Farm where Lincoln visited McClellan and they were photographed (a private residence - view at a distance from the road only); and a little farther in the outskirts of Sharpsburg, the site of Lee's headquarters for Antietam."
 
Hey y’all don’t let all the side trips spread us out too far for meeting as a group. Not everyone will want to or perhaps can’t make every spot. Tina has a lot on her hands trying to corral all of us. 😊
Regards
David
The way I'm interpreting the discussion is that folks wanna know about the side trips because they(I) wanna hang together.
 
I too am confused by @NH Civil War Gal Tina's schedule for Friday and thought she was going to decide about that and let me/us know. Since the original plan is to go there Friday afternoon after the Official Start, I had originally suggested going to Shepherdstown Friday morning instead. Tina?
Sorry - this is my billing cycle for the water precinct and tagging all the non-payers - I’ve been very busy.

Friday afternoon, as soon as everyone is checked in, we go to Harpers Ferry.

IF *I* can do Sherpherdstown on Friday morning, I’d like to but I DO NOT WANT TO BE LATE GETTING BACK TO THE HOTEL.

So if this cramps anyone‘s style, I simply won’t go on Friday morning. Maybe Clark and I can do it Sunday afternoon together and anyone else who is staying a bit later.
 
IF *I* can do Sherpherdstown on Friday morning, I’d like to but I DO NOT WANT TO BE LATE GETTING BACK TO THE HOTEL.
Just let us know as soon as you can please. I don't wanna fly outta here without a plan for Friday morning. Time on the ground is at a premium.
 
IF *I* can do Sherpherdstown on Friday morning, I’d like to but I DO NOT WANT TO BE LATE GETTING BACK TO THE HOTEL.
I might add that the Muster Committee is historically only responsible for the noon Friday - noon Sunday itinerary. Anything else is a bonus so no worries. Just let us know as soon as you can. Btw, we'd love for you to be with us on Friday morning wherever we go. Some of us have never gotten to hang with you in person.
 
I might add that the Muster Committee is historically only responsible for the noon Friday - noon Sunday itinerary. Anything else is a bonus so no worries. Just let us know as soon as you can. Btw, we'd love for you to be with us on Friday morning wherever we go. Some of us have never gotten to hang with you in person.
So do we meet at the hotel for the Friday morning trip ? What time? Sorry if it s been covered already
 
Just let us know as soon as you can please. I don't wanna fly outta here without a plan for Friday morning. Time on the ground is at a premium.
So do we meet at the hotel for the Friday morning trip ? What time? Sorry if it s been covered already
I might add that the Muster Committee is historically only responsible for the noon Friday - noon Sunday itinerary. Anything else is a bonus so no worries. Just let us know as soon as you can. Btw, we'd love for you to be with us on Friday morning wherever we go. Some of us have never gotten to hang with you in person.
It looks like those of us who are present Friday morning will need to decide where we want to go; I'm perfectly agreeable to a morning tour of Shepherdstown and think it will be possible to do that and get back to the hotel by noon-ish. If anyone else has other ideas please say so - otherwise I'll simply plan on us going there. I'd prefer to get as early a start as possible, like we should Thursday in order to meet the ranger at 10am at Gapland. Friday we won't have to worry about anything other than getting back in time.
 
Oh, Viper asked me about lunch on Thursday. What are we doing about that James? Bringing sandwiches from the surrounding area? He’d like to meet us at lunch somewhere and I said I didn’t know what that plan was.
 
Oh, Viper asked me about lunch on Thursday. What are we doing about that James? Bringing sandwiches from the surrounding area? He’d like to meet us at lunch somewhere and I said I didn’t know what that plan was.
Ranger Robertson told me there's a convenience store at Middletown he's used before that's good. If we meet him at 10 am it'll probably be around noon before we finish at Keedysville hospital sites after seeing Crampton's Gap. We can each get what we want there in Middletown and spend the rest of the afternoon at Fox's, Turner's, and Washington Monument. I still haven't remembered to call South Mountain Inn for dinner reservations though.
 
It looks like those of us who are present Friday morning will need to decide where we want to go; I'm perfectly agreeable to a morning tour of Shepherdstown and think it will be possible to do that and get back to the hotel by noon-ish. If anyone else has other ideas please say so - otherwise I'll simply plan on us going there. I'd prefer to get as early a start as possible, like we should Thursday in order to meet the ranger at 10am at Gapland. Friday we won't have to worry about anything other than getting back in time.
Sounds good to me. I'd love to roll out early Friday morning and hit the sites on the left side of the map in the OP although I know little about them. I assume we'd start at the northernmost site and work our way south to be as close to Charlestown as possible when we finish.
 
Here's a link to the Civil War Tour of Elmwood Cemetery in Shepherdstown. Click on "Here" and there is a short writeup for each of the gentlemen buried at the 10 numbered plots on the map. I printed the map and wrote down the name of each person at the numbered plots.

http://elmwoodcemeteryshepwv.org/html/tour_map.html

So much more to see there too it looks like. I could spend all morning there. Y'all might have to drag me outta there. :D

https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/78288/elmwood-cemetery/photo
 
Ranger Robertson told me there's a convenience store at Middletown he's used before that's good. If we meet him at 10 am it'll probably be around noon before we finish at Keedysville hospital sites after seeing Crampton's Gap. We can each get what we want there in Middletown and spend the rest of the afternoon at Fox's, Turner's, and Washington Monument. I still haven't remembered to call South Mountain Inn for dinner reservations though.
There's a great little sit down restaurant in Middletown called The Main Cup. They have outdoor seating. Its an option for curbside pickup for lunch and/or dinner Friday just in case the South Mountain Inn can't accommodate us for dinner. I had the best hamburger I've ever eaten there.... and I've eaten a lot of hamburgers in my life. They also have a whole page of pizzas, fish and chips, and fresh hand breaded chicken fingers. Really outstanding.
 
Don't forget when making our dinner plans that some of us have to be back in Harper's Ferry for the 7 pm ghost tour. I guess I m confused. Is the South Mtn Inn Thursday? I thought Friday was on our own. Both restaurants sound fantastic by the way.
Friday is on our own.
 
Ranger Robertson told me there's a convenience store at Middletown he's used before that's good. If we meet him at 10 am it'll probably be around noon before we finish at Keedysville hospital sites after seeing Crampton's Gap. We can each get what we want there in Middletown and spend the rest of the afternoon at Fox's, Turner's, and Washington Monument. I still haven't remembered to call South Mountain Inn for dinner reservations though.
I remembered to call yesterday and there seems to be no problem about accommodating us; however, they would like us to make a regular reservation so they can set things up in advance for the correct number of people. I told them I'd get back to them soon with the number and time though they said if we were a little late there would be no problem about that either. I've never bothered to make a head count before but assume our group will include: Myself, @mkyzzzrdet @NH Civil War Gal @Stone in the wall @bdtex @Rick Featherston @lelliott19 and @Kathy the history sleuth That makes eight but feel like I've left somebody out - Laura, is anyone coming with you this time? Please respond asap so I can call them back and let them have a better idea.

Also, if there's any problem about reservation TIME we might adjust that as well. I know Bobby wants to go to Hagerstown to visit the cemetery there and have no complaints about making that a definite destination. (The fellow at SMI said it's only a fifteen or twenty minute drive from Hagerstown.) That would mean driving back to Charlestown later but it will likely already be dark by then either way.
 
Last edited:
Is there a Visitor Center or gift shop or such along the Thursday route where a person could buy a good Civil War themed cap to wear for the rest of the Muster?
 
Back
Top