Almost Heaven, West Virginia

I made a short post-election, pre-holidays getaway to Berkeley Springs, WV (less than two hours from the DC Area), yesterday and today. I left work early on Friday afternoon and arrived to have an early dinner at Maria's Garden & Inn, a nice restaurant with fine food, a friendly attitude, and an atmosphere that includes Catholic spirituality.

I timed this trip to coincide with the public star party at the Morgan County Observatory Friday evening. In spite of sporadic cloudiness (and a little adventure involving my car getting stuck in mud outside the observatory), the group that gathered had an exciting evening viewing celestial objects in the starry mountain country skies.

This morning included a short but healthy hike at Cacapon State Park and lunch at Tari's Cafe before returning home.