Damascus may just be the epitome of "small town USA." It's both a little absurd and wonderfully charming in its own way. It's also one of the favorite "trail towns," perhaps even the trail town for a lot of hikers, hosting the annual "Trail Days" gathering for all things AT related.

Although I arrived during the offseason it still didn't disappoint, hosting a fall festival put on by the local brewery, an Elvis impersonator, a bbq cookout, and a car show (with some interesting entries among the more standard, beautifully restored classics).

All that just within two days I was in town. And what car show would be complete without at least one Elvis on the side?

And bbq of course. There's no need for an excuse to have bbq in the South.

I also took the chance to catch some football, which I'm definitely missing during this trip. I spent most of Sunday in the local bar, which had an impressive number of craft brews on tap, really good food, and.... a Galaga machine!!!

Awwwww yes. Galaga is my jam. During halftime I wandered over to check it out and was shocked to see an oddly low number in the high score spot. My competitiveness kicked in and I decided I needed to leave my hiker mark in this trail town. I got some quarters and fired the beast up... and promptly discovered why the score was so low. The fire button barely worked hahaha. But I was determined (also I had several more hours of hanging around watching the games and even I can only drink so much beer).

Behold, my mighty skill and perseverance! This town will never forget me, as I'm sure they all regularly check the high scores on a broken machine.

Also I love naming conventions in small towns. Who doesn't want to live on the corner of Rambo and Beaver Dam?

Well that's all for now. It's back to the woods for me.