Monday, April 22, 2013

We only had 70 miles to go today.  Now you know why we had to leave Florida in March to get to Maine in July.  LOL   It is a lot of fun to take it slow and easy to see this wonderful country of ours.  We left on the Blue Ridge Turnpike.  Rog thought it would be, well a turnpike.  Not so much.  Curvy and narrow.  He said we had to find another way because he just could not handle any more.  I on the other hand thought it was great.  The country is so wonderful.  We passed farms taken out of paintings and pastures of green velvet.  I was so mismerized with it all that I did not even get any knitting done. 

 We arrived in Front Royal, VA  
The origin of the name "Front Royal" remains uncertain. One version holds that, in early decades of European settlement, the area was referred to in French as "le front royal," meaning the British frontier.

However, another legendary version of the origin of the name has it that, during colonial days, a giant oak tree - the "Royal" Tree of England - stood in the public square where Chester and Main Streets now join. It was there that the local militia, composed of raw recruits slow to learn military commands and maneuvers, were drilled. On one occasion, the sorely tired drill sergeant became so exasperated by the clumsy efforts of his troops and their failure to follow his command that he hit upon a phrase that all could understand and shouted, "front the Royal Oak!" Among the spectators was a former professional soldier. He was so amused by the officer's coined order that he and his friends found much sport in telling the story, repeating "front the Royal Oak" until Front  

Royal was the resulting derivation.   

 Still a third account holds that when local militia were stationed around the town during the American Revolution, the sentry would call out "Front", to which the required entry password was to respond "Royal". Eventually their military post became known as "Camp Front Royal"

  We are parked on the banks of the North Fork of the Shenandoah River
The chairs are all set for a relaxing beer by the river.
Nice place
These guys are blooming right by the rig. 
Posted by Picasa

No comments:

Post a Comment