Thread: Potomac Chapter Fun Day, Sunday July 11 (first five thumbnail pictures- more follow)

Our chapter has a spring tour and a fall tour, usually three days/two nights. Occasionally we throw in a day trip or two. Yesterday was one of those.
One of our members, Mark Myers, is a park ranger at the C&O Canal National Historic Park at Potomac Maryland (10 miles from Washington,DC). For several years he has wanted to host an event at the park. This year it happened and it couldn't have been better.
Background- the C&O Canal was started in 1828 with the objective of connecting Washington, DC and Pittsburgh, PA with water transit. It followed the Potomac River which isn't navigable due to falls, rocks and such. The B&O railroad ended up beating it to the the objective so the Canal was ended at Cumberland, MD. Even so it remained in operation until 1924 when a flood caused so much damage that it was decided to terminate service. It ultimately became part of the national park system and the park included the entire property from Washington to Cumberland. Parts of it have been restored and the tow path is usable for the entire length. The part of the Park we visited is at the Great Falls of the Potomac and includes an original tavern, a number of locks, an authentic canal packet boat and the mule teams to pull it. Nearly all park people dress in period costume and the boat ride includes going through a lock (all manual) and cruising the canal for an hour with a two mule power tug. A narrator accompanies the tour. Mark is in charge of the mules.
With Mark setting up the meet we were able to park on the lawn of the tavern (public has to park some distance away and walk to the tavern and the boat ride). He also provided us with free passage on the boat (usually $5 each). He also took some of us to the second story balcony of the tavern (not open to the public) so we could get a bird's eye view and pictures. After the ride he let the Veit twins sit on the mules (also not available to the public). Mark also made up a nice display and had handouts for the public explaining the canal history and Studebaker history.
We had a beautiful clear day, about 90, but lots of shade and a decent breeze. Such a day brought out a huge number of visitors and we had incredible exposure (to get to the boat everyone had to come by the cars). We heard the usual comments and questions, but we also had two brothers whose dad was a Studebaker dealer near Toledo, Ohio. They were blown away by the cars. If I had a nickel for every picture taken of the cars I wouldn't need a Powerball ticket. We had eleven Studebakers (including George Hamlin's horse-drawn Trap) and 22 members. Cars ranged from Morgan's stunning '47 Champion convertible to Ron Hoff's '65 Daytona