Trek Dirty to Me: 34 days until I hike my own hike (on the Appalachian Trail), and what's the deal with Damascus (Virginia)?

by AJ Feeney-Ruiz, Bio, @ajfeeneyruiz, Guthook: AJFeeneyRuiz, Email

So at Trail Days in Damascus, Virginia (I will be there from May 14th until early on May 16th), I may be one of the few people present who has actually spent time in Damascus, Syria. I will be heading out early on that Saturday to head to Raleigh, North Carolina to officiate a wedding of a lovely couple I met while traveling in Asia, four years ago.

I assume the shared name is the only similarity between this extremely popular trail town in Virginia and the city where I once got drugged and robbed after being taken to the middle of the desert (December 2008). While I plan on interviewing as many attendees as possible and doing the rounds as best I can before I must leave the festivities, I was hoping for suggestions and insights into the town where I will likely spend 2-3 nights on either end of this super active weekend. Where do I stay? Where do I eat? What must I see? With whom must I speak? How the hell do I get from Damascus to Raleigh on the morning of Saturday, May 16?

-AJ

I hope I explain it well.

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