On my visit with CarolC I saw many interesting things. Antietam Battlefield was nearby, there was the Potomac River and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal System nearby, and I saw the Rumsey Boat.

Of all that I have seen in recent years the Rumsey Boat has been the most mind blowing of them all. It was tested in 1786 and didn't work very well. Still it is a bit of local history that was thought of highly enough that a replica was built and is steamed on the Potomac once a year.

It was a steam powered jet boat.

Not only did I have no idea that such a thing had ever existed, I had no clue at all!

Another such thing that I saw once upon a time was an original air rifle from the time of the Lewis and Clark expedition. It was about a .30 caliber and the history books say it could kill a deer at 50 yards.

Back when I was researching a canal boating vacation in England I came across a posting in some web site or other where someone had posted their favorite local places of interest that the tourist knew nothing about. They look very interesting and I hope to make them part of a future visit some day.

So here is the point of this little thread. What do you have in your local area that would fit these criteria? First and foremost it has to be relatively unknown outside of your area. Secondly it has to be of real interest though that criteria will be wide open to interpretation. Thirdly, there should be some element of surprise to it. In the case of the Rumsey boat I knew that experiments in steam propulsion predated Fulton's Claremont but I never would have guessed at jet boat technology.

And, last, but never least, if you can unearth a related song or piece of music we will be able to keep in line with the music part of the whole site.

Whatcha got?