Berkeley Springs and the Paw Paw Tunnel: A Worthwhile and Affordable Weekend Getaway

June 20 was my husband’s and my 23rd wedding anniversary; so last Friday my mother came to stay with the kids, and we went to The Country Inn of Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, for the weekend . It was the first time we’d been alone for more than just a walk around the block since before the Covid quarantine started over a year ago, and the first time we’d gone away alone together for more than a night in years.

Though he'd never been to The Country Inn of Berkeley Springs before, I'd stayed there nearly 15 years ago with a girl friend. The Inn's close to halfway between my house in Durham, NC, and hers in Michigan; so, for Christmas one year, our husbands booked us a couples package there, including a romantic couples spa and massage and a complimentary bottle of bubbly. We happily drank the champagne on arrival and wore bathing suits in the intimate, side-by-side jacuzzi bath before having Swedish massages in the same room. We relaxed the rest of the day and had dinner at the Inn. Unfortunately, we awoke to a blizzard, so we had to hit the road early the next day. I have good memories of the Inn and Spa but I saw very little of the town around it.

So for our anniversary this year, after a period of intense pressure on our marriage, I decided to book a romantic spa, massage, and champers weekend at The Country Inn of Berkeley Springs for hubby and me. All my husband and I knew about the place was that it was in West Virginia and it was about a 6-hours drive away. Turns out Berkeley Springs is right about at the intersection of West Virginia, Maryland, and Virginia. The mountain views along the way evoke what John Denver must have been feeling when he wrote “Take Me Home Country Roads," which became West Virginia's official state song in 2014.

The Inn, an impressive brick structure built in 1932 to replace the previous and expansive Berkeley Springs Hotel, is located in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia in Berkeley Springs, America’s first spa; and people have been "taking the waters" here since before Britain colonized America, including George Washington and countless Revolutionary and Civil War statesmen, soldiers and their families. The down town area, which spans about one city block, is much as it was when it was built. The waters flow at a constant 74°F from the base of Warm Springs Ridge. You can still drink freely and fill containers at the public tap, as guaranteed by Virginia law establishing the town in 1776, and you can still wade in the "ancient stone pools" in the original public bath house and pool, which is situated in 7-acre Berkeley Springs State Park, one of the smallest state parks in the country. Berkeley Springs State Park is immediately adjacent to The Country Inn at Berkeley Springs, giving us easy access to these amenities.

There are signs all over the downtown area and beyond, detailing the history of Berkeley Springs, the environmentally sustainable (permeable) stormwater control measures they've installed under their streets, the oldest known ownership of many of the town's vacant lots, all kinds of things.

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We learned that Berkeley Springs was originally in the township of Bath, which was established by the Virginia state legislature in 1776 as a sister city to Bath, England, where expansive ancient Roman baths still exist.

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We learned that the people of Western Virginia, who generally sympathized with the Union, petitioned the US Congress for separate statehood during the Civil War, and that the Union officially granted West Virginia statehood on Jun 20 (our anniversary and Farher’s Day this year) in 1863. We learned that West Virginia was home to the first land battle in the American Civil War; that Confederate General Stonewall Jackson housed his troops at the Inn where we were staying during the Confederate bombing of Hancock, Maryland; and that West Virginians voted to ratify a new abolitionist state constitution in 1861, the first year of the Civil War. And we learned that the strangely misplaced but beautiful castle just 5 minutes up the road from the Inn was built by a wealthy Maryland state senator, who began wooing the 17-year-old daughter of a Congressional colleague when he was 46 (!), to convince the girl to marry him. (She was 22 and he was 51 when they married. They had three children before he died 5 years later, the castle still unfinished. She completed the castle in the 1890s, then spent their entire estate on lavish parties and luxuries, selling the castle in 1913 to cover debts.)

Saturday was devoted to relaxation. We had a truly tasty breakfast and lunch in the surprisingly progressive and busy, though tiny, downtown block before our spa bath (in Berkeley Springs water) and dual massage at The Renaissance Spa adjacent to the Inn. Then we enjoyed an elegant dinner at locally sourced Tari's Cafe down the street. It was just what the doctor ordered.

After a good night's sleep, we had coffee in the garden in front of the Inn on Sunday, the water from Berkeley Springs streaming along the minnow-filled stone canal before us, then walked past the ~20 or more cars parked on the lawn of the Berkeley Springs State Park for the Father's Day car show, to the small but endearing Berkeley Springs Farmer's Market in the downtown block. The highlight was meeting Ecuadorian Kat MacKenzie (living in Ecuador has been a long-time dream of mine), creator and CEO of Setas Mushrooms; and, after talking with her for some time, we bought fresh Enoki mushrooms and mycelium grain spawn containing neurologically therapeutic Lion's Mane mushroom spores (for growing). From the plethora of other stalls, we also bought Swiss chard, zucchini bread, marinara made with Polish tomatoes (I'm 50% Polish), red potatoes, cherries, blueberries and a big homemade lemon-whitechocolate- coconut cookie.

We spent the rest of the day hiking the Paw Paw Tunnel Trail, which, though it's only a 30-minute drive away, is actually in Maryland. We knew little about the tunnel trail or the town of Paw Paw (which is in West Virginia); but we knew there was a tunnel, so we were a bit confused and disappointed when we got to the parking area without having driven through one. Turns out, you walk through the 3118-foot tunnel, sometimes alongside careful bicyclists in near pitch black darkness. And the view on the other side is breath taking. We hiked along the boardwalk and towpath/trail taken by the mules that pulled boats along the old 184-mile C&O canal, passing numerous stone lochs (smaller canals) designed to manipulate water diverted from the Potamac River so that boat traffic could bypass the windy Paw Paw curves in both directions (!) During our ~5 miles of hiking (mostly flat with optional strenuous side/alternative trails), we saw heaps of large yellow-finned fish, red-eared slider turtles, and even an American Mink. I compiled the 2.5-minute video below to show people (and remind myself) what a hidden gem this place is.

Berkeley Springs and the nearby Paw Paw Tunnel made for a most memorable weekend for my husband and myself. In addition to my comments above, we enjoyed seeing couples of all ages who were apparently in Berkeley Springs for the same reasons we were; the unique restaurants, stores and businesses along the busy town block; and the vast number of local people supporting their restaurants and stores each day. If you live within a few-hours drive of these magical places, you are remiss if you don't at least make a day trip.

Of Note: Almost all the Berkeley Springs shops and restaurants close by 8 PM, some significantly earlier (particularly on Sundays and holidays); so be sure to get your dinner in a timely manner.

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