"Roll On" - A Tribute Ride Honoring Sgt. Harry Watson

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Part III (or Part II (b), perhaps)

The Marine Corps memorial was the first of the memorials I visited on this trip at which there were other visitors. I attribute this solely to proximity to a population center and the timing of my visits and not to some societal trend. There were three women who, based upon their attire, were healthcare workers having a picnic lunch on the very deep, pandemic-neglected, lawn. There was a young couple memorializing their visit with selfies and cellphone photos. When I was back at my bike getting ready to leave, a family of three hopped out of their SUV parked next to me. The young boy was clearly an unwilling participant in this field trip. I wondered if someday he might look back at this day as the day he started to learn something about what it means to be an American. Then I looked to my north and west and saw dark clouds and decided that I didn't want to learn anything about riding in the rain during Washington D.C.'s rush hour, strapped on my helmet and rolled out of U.S. Marine Memorial Circle on my way to Leesburg, VA.

One of the difficulties I have encountered using the Scenic app on my iPhone is recognizing which tine to follow when we come upon a fork in the road, especially at anything approaching highway speeds. Most time the roads are well marked and the app will post the exit number and/or street name. However, sometimes Scenic will describe a road by the highway number and sometimes by the local street name and sometimes the actual road signs focus on what town the road leads to rather than the name of the road itself. When these two circumstances combine, it often results in a u-turn or a trip around the block. I learned if they combine on George Washington Parkway, it can result in a several miles-long tour of greater Washington, D.C.

There were faster and more direct routes to my hotel, but I wanted to ride along GWP because it seemed to be a pleasant route and because the rain seemed to be coming in more directly from the west at that point so a northwesterly route might keep me out of the wet stuff if I made decent time on the parkway. I did just that until I exited on to 495 by mistake.



I won't bore you with a turn by turn analysis of my route to get back on GWP. Suffice it to say that I wound up back on GWP about 5 miles behind where I exited it which means it was a 10 mile/20 minute U-Turn that had me crossing the Potomac twice, once on something called Chain Bridge. This might have been fun if the 20 minute delay hadn't put me back on the parkway just in time for the rain to hit. The best laid plans, etc.

Eventually I made it onto Georgetown Pike (VA193) which was pretty, but slow and then onto Leesburg Pike (VA7) which was not so pretty and just about as slow. My motel was on Leesburg Pike and the rain clouds had lifted just as I arrived at the Red Roof Inn. Clean and convenient with very friendly staff. Only downside was that it was a pretty good walk (too far for me) into downtown historic Leesburg and I wanted to treat myself to a good meal that included an adult beverage. I made the executive decision to limit myself to one such beverage when I first arrived, make sure I eat a lot, and not get back on my motorcycle for at least 90 minutes post-beverage. I know how to Uber (although my kids don't believe me when I say that) so if the drink had hit me harder than normal, I could get back to the motel. It didn't.

Dinner was at Lightfoot Restaurant, which was one of several recommended options I received from The Man Behind The (silk)Screen, our own InHouseBob. The place was fantastic. I explained to my server upon entry why I would like to have my drink as soon as possible and he obliged. A Beefeater martini, up. I always like when restaurant staff pay a little more attention to me when I'm dining alone and my guy did that in spades. I ordered a Caesar salad to start and a steak as the entree. Both were fantastic. Downtown Leesburg is a lovely area, very walk-able, with nice little shops, restaurants, and bars. Many of these places were closed or had restricted access due to Covid-19 restrictions so I guess I'll just have to go back there when the pandemic subsides.


Not the greatest street shot of Leesburg, but I was tired.


Steak was fantastic and just what I needed after a wonderful, but emotional day.


InHouseBob, or as I like to call him for no apparent reason "Bob", agreed to meet me in Leesburg on Saturday morning so we could ride together to the CB1100 Rally in Williamsport, PA. The most direct route to Williamsport is about 185 miles. Bob wanted to take me through historic Harper's Ferry and I wanted to capture a Maryland Tour of Honor stop near which lengthened the intended rout to about 200 miles. For reasons that are best kept secret between the two participating motorcyclists, the actual route was closer to 250 miles. Before heading out on this trek, though, sustenance was needed. Bob had a spot in Leesburg that he wanted to try, but it didn't look open so we circled the block a couple of times (a foreshadowing??) and found this place called Burford's Biscuits which had, wouldn't-cha-guess, biscuit-inclusive breakfast, lunch, and dinner options. We each opted for the Breakfast Biscuit, if I recall, but some of the other choices looked amazing. However, with a long riding day ahead, I decided to forego the "gravy flight".




See...you can really order a flight of gravy


Bob and I and two breakfast biscuits on Buford's front porch. A lovely way to start the day.


Extra biscuit shot since I was under the allotted pic count for this post.

Bob offered to lead the ride to Williamsport. After two pretty long days of following my Scenic App I was grateful for the opportunity to leave the navigation to someone else. My only request was that we visit a Tour of Honor site in Maryland so I could complete my mission of visiting one site in each state I visited on this trip. Bob, being the gracious person he is, was more than happy to oblige and even suggested we visit a few other historic locations on our trip.

If you look closely at the map (below), you will see that we did not take the shortest or fastest track to Harrisburg. However, what was lost in time was gained in sights seen. We rode through Harper's Ferry, West Virginia a town with geographical and historical significance dating back to before the U.S. Revolution and playing a major role in the U.S. Civil War. Arguably, the opening salvo of the Civil War was fired in the form of an abolitionist raid here in December, 1859. Its proximity to the Upper Potomac River a vital location to Confederate and Union troops alike and the town changed hands eight times during the war and left the town virtually leveled by war's end. We did not stop in Harper's Ferry, but we did ride through the town which, fortunately, was rebuilt after the end of the Civil War.

The famous Appalachian Trial skirts past Harper's Ferry and if we had hopped off our bikes here and began hiking north on the Trail, we'd have arrived at the National War Correspondents Memorial in Maryland which is where we were heading next only atop our motorcycles -- Bob could easily run the 10 or 11 miles from Harper's Ferry to the memorial, but I'm pretty sure that if I tried that trip on foot, they'd be engraving the plaque to commemorate the spot on the trail where I breathed my last.

The War Correspondents Memorial is by far the most grandiose of any of the TOH memorials I have visited in 3 years of doing this tour. The only possible exception would be the Marine Memorial I had visited the day before (was that just a day ago??). It sits quietly at an intersection of two roads and the Appalachian Trail. A very peaceful spot, really.


Ignore any odd looking deviations from what would otherwise appear to be a fairly straightforward route.


Riding in to Harper's Ferry.


Bob in front of the John Brown Museum which preserves the history of the abolitionist raid on this town and its contribution to the advancement of freedom in the United States (raid's contribution, not Bob's, although I'm sure he has contributed in his own significant ways).


Harper's Ferry is a tourist spot, but well worth a visit.


The National War Correspondents Memorial in Maryland. Magnificent and beautiful. I wish we had had more time to explore the immediate area.
Bob was an absolute pleasure to follow. He's a great rider, but great riders are not always good ride leaders--He's both. He seemed always to be aware that I was behind him. There were no sudden lane changes. He was careful to signal well ahead of most lane changes or turns and he pointed out any road hazards that popped up. We passed a couple riding two up on a Harley and wearing matching gear. They both waved at us and we both waved back. I thought to myself, "That was a nice looking couple out for a Saturday ride." Then I wondered if they were thinking the same thing of Bob and I and our matching CB1100s. I laughed out loud in my helmet at that.






We rode past the Gettysburg Battlefield, past Harrisburg, PA (the home of the 28th Infantry), and roughly followed the the Susquehanna River which deposited us at the Best Western - Williamsport for the beginning of the Eastern CB1100 Rally. We covered about 240 miles, rode through 4 different states (VA, WV, MD, PA), visited 3 historic locations and arrived at a congregation of friends old and new.



There will be one more installment on this report covering the last two memorial I visited while at the rally and a short bit about my long ride back home at the end of the rally. Thank you all for your patience while I've cobbled this story together.