Berkeley Springs, West Virginia

Berkeley Springs is a town in West Virginia, which includes a state park of the same name.  It was the last stop on today's driving expedition.  Originally called Bath after a city in England, the place was frequently visited by a Virginia planter (and slave owner) and surveyor (and whiskey-maker and militia leader) named George Washington.  The town is still proud of its connection to the man who later led the successful revolt against British rule.  It is also the seat of Morgan County, WV.

After I found a place to park the Bigfootmobile, which wasn't easy, I started my visit by wandering over to the park's gazebo.  The building on the right in the background will be discussed below.

Not far from the gazebo was this mounted round stone, which was once used in a wall of Morgan County's first court house.

Warm Springs Run passes through Berkeley Springs and the park, and is constrained by walls, which occasionally require some maintenance, as seen here.

The park includes this Roman bathhouse, which is also a museum.

Next to the bathhouse is a building called Gentlemen's Spring, supported on columns above two actual springs.  I'm pretty sure that the ladies are also allowed to get water from them.

Here are the two springs.  If you want water, just push a button.

Near the bathhouse and Gentlemen's Spring is the Original Lord Fairfax Spring.

Just behind the OLFS is the George Washington Bathtub.  Apparently, we're still allowed to soak in it.  Even so, I didn't find it to be very inviting, especially with the ambient temperature being too cool for that sort of thing.

From this perspective, you can see the bathhouse, the Gentlemen's Spring, the Fairfax Spring and a water channel.  You can even see part of a street in the background.

I was about to leave, but found one last thing to photograph.  This mill stone once belonged to James Rumsey, a resident of Bath/Berkeley Springs who operated a mill and an inn, and who also invented the steamboat.

Now that I had seen everything that I wanted to see, it was time to find some lunch, which I did at a local establishment, and afterwards head back to Virginia.