The Maximum Vacation, Part VI

Day 7 - morning and early afternoon

We rolled out reasonably early from our hotel in Parkersburg, W. Va. without another thought in mind not to go to the first originally scheduled destination on our trip – the Flight 93 Memorial near Shanksville, Pa.
We essentially took the path we followed in to Parkersburg on Day 3 in reverse until we got to the Route (U.S. Highway) 219 North exit off Interstate 68 in Maryland, then made our way back into the Keystone State.
Here is a farmhouse along the way.

This is a sight we don’t see much of in the South – power-generating windmills.

We eventually found our way to the memorial, which is loaded with items left behind by visitors. Here are two photos illustrating the variety of things people decide to leave.

Amanda listened to the National Parks Service person as she told the basic story about Flight 93 – one of four aircraft hijacked on Sept. 11, 2001.
On this flight, people found out about the World Trade Center attacks and understood that this aircraft was part of the plan. Passengers and crew attempted a counterattack to retake the aircraft. Somehow and for some reason, the plane crashed into the patch of ground behind this fence marked with an American flag.

Officials believe the hijackers intended to fly the aircraft directly into either the White House or the nation’s Capitol. In other words, the steps the counter-attackers took prevented an already tragic day from getting much, much worse. To call them “heroes” is the right thing to do and so is honoring their sacrifices.
Amanda and I decided without speaking to each other that we needed to leave something behind.
Amanda wrote a message on the hat.

Then, Jadyn and I placed my favorite baseball cap on a little spot on the fence which makes up part of the temporary memorial.
May we long remember what the passengers and crew of Flight 93 did for our nation and its people.

After about a 45-50 minute stay at the memorial, we loaded back up, ate lunch in nearby Somerset, Pa. and headed for our next major stop on Day 7, which we’ll detail in the next post.