Harpers Ferry John Brown Playlist

Welcome to the April 2026 edition of...
What I'm Into, What I'm Up To
#66

Can you believe we're almost into May?

The weather here, following the typical Baltimore Triangle rollercoaster ride, has been all over the place.

Last week I took a bunch of my tropical houseplants and water-propogated plant starts out onto our sunroom/back porch to get them out of the house, where they've been on the kitchen counter all winter, in everyone's way, under the constant glow of LED lights. The temps rose to 90º F/32º C then plummeted to 32º F/0º C a few days later, so I brought all the plants back inside.

I love weather. That sounds like sarcasm, but I really truly do. There's a line I really like in C. S. Lewis's That Hideous Strength—

Everyone begins as a child by liking Weather. You learn the art of disliking it as you grow up.

I check the weather all the time, think about it, talk about it, write about it in my not-really-a-journal and these newsletters. It's weird. My dad and brother and oldest son are the same way. My dad watches The Weather Channel the way other people watch sports or political commentary.

Anyway, weather aside, I am quietly chipping away on a few projects, as well as some online classes. But none of it is worth talking about right now, so onto my recent reads/watches/listens/vacation destinations.

Destinations...

Spring Break (seems worth capitalizing when you have kids in school) saw us on a short, but still epic road trip out west.

Not The West, just west of where we live.

We stayed a couple nights at a camping spot with these primitive cabins on stilts (which they call treehouses but as my kids pointed out were not in, on, or in any way attached to trees) near Harpers Ferry.

That was the closest our family's been to an actual camping trip as a fivesome, besides camping in our backyard. We cooked over a fire pit, lived a few days without electricity or running water, checked out Harpers Ferry National Historical Park for the first time, and ate lots of s'mores.

Harpers Ferry is something special.

I've heard it used to be not that great as far as a hanging out kind of place, but there are shops, cafes, restaurants, museums, and what look like some really great walks/hikes. Apparently the quality of everything has gone up in recent years.

The actual restored 1800s town of Harpers Ferry is down low beside the river and part of the national park. There is very little parking down there, so you park up on the higher ground at the entrance to the park, then take a bus down to the town, which lies at the confluence of two rivers (Potomac and Shenandoah) and three states (West Virginia, Virginia, and Maryland), and the intersection of two big trails (the Appalachian Trail and the C & O Canal Towpath).

Apparently Thomas Jefferson was a fan. From Wikipedia:

On October 25, 1783, Thomas Jefferson visited Harpers Ferry as he was traveling to Philadelphia. Viewing "the passage of the Potomac through the Blue Ridge" from a rock that is now named for him as Jefferson's Rock, he called the site "perhaps one of the most stupendous scenes in nature" and stated, "This scene is worth a voyage across the Atlantic." The town was one of his favorite retreats, and tradition holds that much of his Notes on the State of Virginia was written there. Jefferson County, in which Harpers Ferry is located, was named for him on its creation in 1801.

That was my favorite part of the trip and I definitely plan to go back and spend some more time there.

Another part of Harpers Ferry history that makes it kind of famous, or infamous, is a man called John Brown who I first read about at the museum at Gettysburg National Military Park.

He was a very religious anti-slavery activist who grew more and more frustrated with pacifist abolitionists and became convinced violence was the only way to change things. He orchestrated a raid on the federal arsenal in Harpers Ferry, planning to steal weapons to begin a Southern slave uprising. It did not go well. He was caught and killed (the first American to be executed for treason).

He wrote down his last words and gave them to his jailer:

I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood. I had, as I now think, vainly flattered myself that without very much bloodshed it might be done.

He died in December, 1859. The Civil War began April, 1961, less than two years later.

We saw signs for all kinds of John Brown stuff in Harpers Ferry and the area around it. We went to a museum showing videos about his Harpers Ferry Raid and afterward Wendy said, 'I still don't know whether he was good or bad.' I think that's why I find him so interesting. I think his life would make for a really compelling HBO miniseries in the John Adams vein, but less triumphant I guess and a little more sad.

After that we stayed at an AirBnB that some friends recommended near the town of Luray, Virginia in the Shenandoah Valley, famous for the Luray Caverns, which in April were inundated with tourists. I can only imagine what summer weekends are like.

The caverns were really cool (literally and subjectively), though our 7 year old begged to differ. She was bored inside five minutes and we were in the caverns for nearly an hour.

There are other caverns in the area, which are supposed to be as good or better, and less touristy, so we plan to go check some of those out in the future.

We also did a car museum, a toy museum, a hedge maze, and a history museum all on the property around the caverns. We also went to a local potato chip factory, Route 11 Potato Chips, which was not doing factory tours that day but did have a whole bunch of free potato chip samples for us to try. If you love potato chips and get the chance, check them out. They're really good.

Movies and shows...

Project Hail Mary (very good), One Piece (Live Action) Season 2, Queer Eye Season 10, suburban homestead on YouTube (an interesting, whimsical, very creative DIY vlogger)

Books...

Where'd You Park Your Spaceship, Book 2: There Is Only One Noon Yeah by Rob Bell, The Serviceberry: Abundance And Reciprocity In The Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer, Right at Home: How Good Design Is Good for the Mind: An Interior Design Book by Bobby Berk, Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

Music...

My annual Spotify spring playlist has arrived. This year's is titled 'Trendy Mix 2026', for people who like pop-folk-rock, plus the obligatory infusion of K-Pop Demon Hunters tracks.

That's all for this month. Thanks for reading, good luck, and Godspeed!