The first day of the trip belongs to the history books. We left home in heavy rain at just before 11 a.m. and arrived in Washington PA at about 3:30. We stopped for lunch in Hancock MD. We had rain most of the way. Sometimes strong, sometimes drizzle. But never a real problem. Never blinding. No wind to speak of. But because it was gray and wet, we didn’t do our usual exploring but stuck to the Interstates (270, 70, 68, and 79). Traffic was less than anticipated everywhere.

We have stopped in Hancock before. We remember going to the local Hancock historical museum and finding much of interest. We don’t remember if we went to any restaurant and nothing looked familiar.

A few things about Hancock. First, it’s a fairly depressing place on a beautiful day. Even more so today, when much seemed to be closed, including the museum and several restaurants.. Some places open on weekends. Some perhaps open never.

Second, we did find a restaurant , the Triangle. It’s friendly and clean and the food was pretty good. We had a fish basket (fried haddock and steak fries) and a Reuben. Very nice waitress. I’d give it a strong B. Why not higher? The place was totally devoid of personality of atmosphere. Just plain boring.

Third, Hancock is small. Only about 1500 and holding.

Fourth, it was not named after John Hancock.

Finally it’s located at the narrowest part of Maryland. The width of Maryland at Hancock is 2 miles, making it the narrowest such place in any state in the country.

Washington PA is a different case. It’s about 10 times the size of Hancock and was at one time twice that size. That means a lot of downtown Washington is vacant.

But there’s a lot of history there, including much concerned with Whiskey Rebellion. This is the home of the rebellion and its leader, David Bradford. Here are some photos of historic Washington.

The Bradford House.

A sample 18th century log cabin.

The three Whiskey Rebels

We decided to get an early dinner and looking on our phones decided on the Union Grill, a downtown restaurant that, in spite of its name, is Italian. Located in an older building, down a half dozen steps so that you are sort of in the basement ,it is quite large, with a bar and several dining rooms. We went in at 5:45, expecting it to be fairly empty. It was packed, with tables of people eating big Italian meals. Our waitress told us it was this way every day. And when we left about 7, tables were still filled and people still coming in. Outside, the tow looked, both at 5:45 and at 7, deserted. Go figure.

The food was pretty good, angel hair pasta primavera, and swordfish with linguini.

We drove around town, saw the campus of Washington and Jefferson University and went back to our hotel.

That’s it for Day 1. Day 2 will be Ohio Day. Bet you can’t wait. I can’t. Because it’s still raining in PA, but it will clear up in Ohio.