VIRGINIA VACATION -- DAY THREE (Thursday)

This is the third and final part of our vacation saga.  If you have not read parts one and two, please do.  It will make this post more understandable.

On Wednesday night both Joe and I got sick.  His acid reflux really acted up and he couldn't lay down to sleep or he would start choking.  This happened several times during the night.  I had terrible abdominal cramping spasms.  This has happened off and on since my surgery.  I guess it's going to be a part of my life.  So anyway the point is that neither of us got much sleep.


We decided to go back to Cracker Barrel for breakfast instead of staying at the hotel.  The waitress we had was named Kim and she was really good.  She made me feel like royalty the way she spoke to us and waited on us.  No matter what we asked for it was given to us immediately.  Needless to say she got a big tip.

This time we were able to look around the store.  I got a gray "Williamsburg" shirt that was on clearance for $11 and a little Halloween teddy bear who now lives in my car.  The shirt is much nicer than anything I saw anywhere else.  There was a lot of other things I wanted to get as gifts, but since there is a Cracker Barrel near home, why drive them all the way back home.  But I can't get a Williamsburg shirt in Philly!


We went back to the hotel, packed up, checked out and started on our way.  As we were driving I was showing Joe where my sister Elaine and I stayed when we were in Williamsburg 8 years ago.  I said, "Oh, the Denny's is gone...  That store wasn't there...  I wonder if The Christmas Mouse is still here.  That was my favorite store when we were here last time."  Joe said, "Yes, it's still here.  In fact, it's over there.  Let's stop." and pointed to his right.  I was able to pull into the parking lot and we spent about an hour in one of my all-time favorite stores.

 

This store has about 50 or 60 different trees, all in their own little cubicle.  Each tree has a theme and the items to make this tree are on the walls or on the floor around the tree.  Plus there are harvest items like wreaths, scarecrows, knick-knacks, etc.  And lots of nutcrackers.   Jewelry too.  And light bulbs, candles, just about anything you can imagine.  I took pictures of some of the trees on the second floor.

This was a seashore themed tree.

A dog-lovers tree.

A wild animal tree.  I love the zebra balls.

A sock monkey tree.  Isn't this cute?

This was my favorite tree.  I loved the way the lavender and silver looked together.  I think I will do my tree this year in lavender and silver.

We spent a lot of money in the Christmas Mouse.  I know they were glad we came.  So we got in the car, and set the GPS to shortest route instead of fastest route because we didn't want to drive through Washington again and set off.  Now we didn't know it, but our main problem was we did not bring a map.  We are relying solely on the GPS.

We drive off and start to wonder where we are going when the roads turn from highways, to streets, to back roads, to dirt roads to paths through people's soybean fields.  We saw enough soybeans to last us the rest of our lives.  We kept heading down roads that would dead end and roads that were closed for construction.  We saw more of rural Virginia than we ever expected we would.  It was beautiful, though.

We saw these huge black birds everywhere.  They flew in front of us, around us, at us....  Don't know what they were.  Blackbirds?  Ravens?  Crows?  But at one point there was no traffic and we snapped some pictures of them.

 

We drove around for 2 1/2 hours and probably never got further than 10 miles from Williamsburg.  Finally Joe sees a sign for I-95.  He tells me to take it.  The GPS says no, so we turn it off.  Finally we get on I-95 north and head for home.  We live right off of one of I-95's exits, so we know if we stay on it we will get home.

We made a couple of stops along the way to stretch our legs, get something to eat and use the restroom, but basically went straight through.  We went from a bright, sunny, hot day to a showery, cool evening.  As we hit Philly the sun came out and I saw part of a rainbow.  I had Joe grab the camera to get a shot.  Because of his essential tremor his hands shake, so the lines in the picture are of lights, but the second picture of the other half of the rainbow he also took and it is perfect.

We left the Christmas Mouse at 11:30 a.m. and got home at 8:30 p.m.  We had a wonderful time, but it will be a long while before I take a long road trip again.

VIRGINIA VACATION -- DAY TWO (Wednesday)

We got up Wednesday morning after a good long sleep.  After getting ourselves together we went downstairs to the free breakfast in their dining area.  It wasn't anything to write home about, but it was enough to hold us over.  I had a bowl of Froot Loops and a cup of apple cinnamon tea.  Joe had a bowl of oatmeal, a bagel with cream cheese, an apple and a cup of orange juice.  Then we went back up to our room, got our things together and left for the historic area.

But first we decided to go to K-Mart and get me some aspirin and an ace bandage for my knee so that I could walk around all day.  According to the map we had it was up the street.  So we started off.  We drove and drove and saw beautiful scenery, but no shopping center.

We turned around, made our way back and found out the shopping center was directly across the street from the hotel.  Duh....  After getting the things we needed (and a few extras like these really cute fall placemats) we went back to the car.  There was a Chinese restaurant there with these really cool Chinese dragons outside.  I had to get a picture.

I actually found the Visitors Center on the GPS so it was easy to get to.  There was a waterfall out front in a little garden and there were the state flags of each of the 13 original colonies.  So pretty.

We got a one day pass and got on the shuttle bus to go to the colonial area.  Fortunately I remembered a lot about the area and knew my way around.  We decided to explore first one end, have lunch and then do the other end.

Did I mention that the day was hot?  It was the hottest day I have experienced in a long time.  It was in the 90s.  And hot!  Did I mention that before?  Oh my.  I wished I had dressed cooler.  And so happy I had cut my hair.


The first thing we saw were sheep.  I knew we weren't in Philly anymore.

The first building we entered was the courthouse.

They were performing three trials -- one for a gossiping woman, one for a mistreated apprentice, and one for a Catholic man who refused to attend the Anglican Church even though once a month attendance was mandatory.  They asked for volunteers from the audience to perform the parts and Joe was the first one to volunteer.  He was the Catholic man.  He did a terrific job.  The court cases were so funny.  It was great!

There were different types of carriages going around and you could take a carriage ride, but we didn't.  Maybe next time.  But they were fun to watch.

 

These beautiful trees were everywhere, not just in the historic area.  I wish I knew what they were.  I would plant one in my yard.

 

We went into a little store.  In the front room was things like soap, sewing supplies, children's games.  In the back it was like a dry goods store with clothing.  These dresses were beautiful.  Joe was interested in the hand-knit socks.

Next was the gunsmith shop.  It was very crowded.  Joe went in, but I just took a picture through the back door.

Next we went to Bruton Parish Church.  It has been in continuous use since the early 1700s.  It is an Episcopalian church and is the one that was mandatory to attend.

There was a sundial outside that turned out to be a memorial to someone.

 

The inside of the church was beautiful.

 

There were two graves of unknown confederate soldiers.

And other ornate graves.

Across the street was a garden with pomegranate trees and sunflowers.

There was a shoemaker's shop.  Again Joe went in, but it was too crowded, so I stayed outside.

Further down there were some souvenier booths.  Even though we didn't buy it, Joe had to try on a tricorn.

We went to the Magazine and Guardhouse next.  This is where the militia stored their gunpowder, firearms, sabers, pikes, etc.  Very interesting.

We finally ate lunch at Chowning's Tavern.  Although we both had sandwiches, they also serve 18th century food.  I've been wanting to eat there for years, so this was wonderful.

We saw the tailor...

... and the wigmaker.  Both of them were very interesting and informative.  I liked the way everyone of the interpreters would pull people from the audience and make them a part of their story.

Wherever you looked there were people in 18th century dress, horse drawn carriages with the sound of the horses' hooves clip-clopping, the smell of 18th century food.  It really transported you back in time.

The last place we stopped was the governor's palace.  This was the best.  The woman who was our interpreter was a "friend of the governor" who was happy to show us, the "visiting friends of the governor here for the ball tonight" around the palace.  Even though it was allowed, not one person took a picture inside of the palace.  She was so interesting and funny that no one wanted to miss a thing she was saying.

We exited the building in the back into the garden.  It was beautiful.  My favorite place is the alle which was also the favorite spot of the governor's wife and daughters.  It was cooler there on hot days.  The topiaries were wonderful.  These are just a few of them.  And the rear of the building was as beautiful as the front.  So glad we got to see it.

These are only a fraction of the pictures I took, but I hope it gives you a taste of the place.

We got a shuttle at the Governor's Palace and went back to the Visitors Center and headed back to the hotel.  We were tired.  We both took naps.  Between the drive the day before, and walking around in the heat all day it took a lot out of us.  But we both got tans!

We got up around 7:30 p.m. and went to Cracker Barrel for dinner.  We both like Cracker Barrel and it was only a block away.

Joe had country fried steak and I had a pork chop.  So good.  By the time we were done the place was closing up so I really didn't have a lot of time to look around the shop.  But that was OK because we were really tired.  More to do tomorrow.  Like going home.