Civil War Tour, Day 2 -- April 28, 2010

Our day began with breakfast at our hotel and an hour’s drive to New Concord, Ohio, the birthplace of Senator (and hero astronaut) John Glenn. We saw a short film about the Glenn family and then toured the home. This site is very special for two reasons: first…because local actors re-enact parts of daily life during WWII; and second…because our hosts opened the home for us when they are usually closed.

During our tour, we “met” John Glenns’s mother, Clara, who explained the difficulties of life when food, fuel, and other necessities were rationed. She showed us her milk bottles, the sign for the ice man, and the coupons that she used to buy gasoline. Clara also asked how we ever accumulated enough gasoline coupons to drive our large charter coach!

The cozy home, which had been purchased through the Sears catalog, has four bedrooms, a kitchen, living room, dining room, and one bathroom. Munsinger University, which is located in New Concord, had no residence halls for students in the early days, so many area families, the Glenns included, rented rooms to students. “Clara Glenn” is very proud of her son and showed us many treasured photos of him.

During our visit to New Concord, we learned that the town sent 70% of its young men to fight against slavery in the Civil War.

After our delightful tour of the John and Annie Glenn home, we drove east along The National Road (Route 40) to historic Cambridge, Ohio, and enjoyed a scrumptious buffet lunch at Theo’s. Of course, the pies were the most popular item!

For the afternoon, we continued east along Interstate 70 through Ohio, a corner of West Virginia, and into Pennsylvania toward Harrisburg. After checking in at the Radisson Hotel just west of Harrisburg, we ate at an award-winning restaurant, the Firehouse. The building, formerly a fire station, was full of interesting artifacts and news clippings from the early days of firefighting.

After our dinner, we returned to the hotel for a good night's rest before starting the next adventure.