Bring your cars and yourselves to West Virginia on Memorial Day weekend. Our base is the charming Bavarian Inn, which overlooks the Potomac River in historic Shepherdstown.

Saturday, May 23 we drive those fabled country roads to Berkeley Springs —America’s oldest spa—where you can take the waters (reservations required) or just take a look and enjoy lunch nearby. We return through Maryland. First stop: the restored 18th century Fort Frederick. Then, the Cushwa Basin on the C&O Canal, a site with museum, locks, lock house, aqueduct crossing Concocheague Creek, and a railroad lift. The country roads lead us back to Shepherdstown.

Sunday, May 24 begins with a visit to Harper’s Ferry, an early American industrial center, also famed for John Brown’s raid from the Civil War era.
In the afternoon, we return to Shepherdstown for our Car Show and Judging. We have arranged with the city to close a street in the center of town to park our cars, and for police protection for them, so the public can view the cars while we enjoy lunch on our own. Our meet concludes with a catered group dinner in a historic building in the heart of Shepherdstown. A local historian will tell us about the significant industrial and engineering histories of Shepherdstown and Harper’s Ferry—which directly affected transportation and automobile manufacturing.

For early arrivals, on Friday, May 22, we have two optional events. If you are coming from the north, meet for lunch at the Eastern Museum of Motor Racing north of Gettysburg, followed by a scenic drive to Shepherdstown via the beautiful road through Michaux State Forest. From the south and east, visit the Antietam Battlefield Visitor Center, Sharpsburg, MD, which is near Shepherdstown.

Even if you don’t arrive early, join everyone for Friday dinner at the Bavarian Inn’s fine restaurant (special section set aside for ACD tour participants).