So many wonderful adventures today! I don't even know where to begin!
This morning as we began to map out our trip for today, we realized immediately that any route we took would take us right into the heart of Washington DC. Well shoot! After the Capitol-mania we'd experienced for the past two days, we had to make a pit stop at the grand daddy of all capitol buildings. So, we dodged traffic and found an amazingly close parking space to the capitol building!
About two seconds after getting out of the car, I realized that similar to the Grinch's heart, my bladder is two sizes too small. I was about to be in a dire situation. I made my way to the Capitol Visitors' Center, and asked a guard where the nearest restroom was. Apparently you have to go through security in order to go to the bathroom! And the line to go through security was about 100 people deep. I think he could sense the desperation in my face, and sent me through ahead of everyone else. Once the crisis was averted, I attempted to see if we could make it into the rotunda. It has been over a decade since I've been to DC, and security is a bit more intense than it ever was before. You can't get into the rotunda area unless you're on a guided tour. Security here's even tighter than New Jersey!!! So, knowing that I was on a time crunch I gave up and just got the outside shot with Oscar. Good enough for me!
After getting sufficiently lost trying to get out of DC, we finally made it into Virginia.
In my opinion this means we finally made it into the south! There is just a calm that settles on my soul once I set foot on southern territory. It felt good!
Having spoken with my hostess for this evening last night, I had a game plan in mind of stops we wanted to make along the way. We took the Interstate west until we hit the lovely town of Strasburg. At that point, we hopped on US 11 and headed south. Along the way we passed through lovely town after lovely town and stopped for a few treats along the way. If you ever make it to the thriving metropolis of Strasburg, you should absolutely try Christina's Cafe. The atmosphere is reason enough, but the food was pretty darn tasty as well!
Moving on, we stopped for frozen custard in Woodstock, VA. What a delightful treat!
We even found an old covered bridge!
A few more small towns later and we opted to take the scenic scenic route. Small, rustic towns are lovely and all, but we're in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains. We should have some pretty views! Fortunately for all parties involved there is a road called Skyline Drive. This is a scenic route running through the middle of Shenandoa National Park.
This is by far the prettiest drive we've experienced yet. And guess who learned to use the panoramic feature on her camera today!?!?
After getting sufficiently lost trying to get out of DC, we finally made it into Virginia.
In my opinion this means we finally made it into the south! There is just a calm that settles on my soul once I set foot on southern territory. It felt good!
Having spoken with my hostess for this evening last night, I had a game plan in mind of stops we wanted to make along the way. We took the Interstate west until we hit the lovely town of Strasburg. At that point, we hopped on US 11 and headed south. Along the way we passed through lovely town after lovely town and stopped for a few treats along the way. If you ever make it to the thriving metropolis of Strasburg, you should absolutely try Christina's Cafe. The atmosphere is reason enough, but the food was pretty darn tasty as well!
Moving on, we stopped for frozen custard in Woodstock, VA. What a delightful treat!
We even found an old covered bridge!
A few more small towns later and we opted to take the scenic scenic route. Small, rustic towns are lovely and all, but we're in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains. We should have some pretty views! Fortunately for all parties involved there is a road called Skyline Drive. This is a scenic route running through the middle of Shenandoa National Park.
This is by far the prettiest drive we've experienced yet. And guess who learned to use the panoramic feature on her camera today!?!?
I do have one confession to make however. We almost had a bit of a tragedy in getting this particular shot. I was standing on a low brick wall holding Oscar in one hand and the camera in the other. I don't really know what happened, but the next thing I knew I had dropped Oscar. Down the side of the mountain! Now anyone who knows me well knows of my slight fear of heights. I have no problems with tall buildings that have thick panes of glass between me and the vast nothingness that lies below, but the thought of standing on the side of a mountain to capture a picture usually makes me want to die. And the thought of shimmying down the side of said mountain to grab a framed picture I dropped is not something I would ever do. But something in the moment gave me courage, strength, and above all coordination to save Oscar from a horrible fate. (note to reader, I may be over exaggerating just a bit the danger I was in. Oscar was more or less reachable without letting go of the wall, and there was no steep decline that I was about to hurdle myself from)
After this major scare, we decided adventures were just about through for the day, and it was starting to get late. So, we headed back to the interstate and south to Abingdon. Tonight and tomorrow night we lodge with Kathi and Adam, pictured here with Nicole and Oscar at Abingdon's Bella's Pizza. Yum!
Tomorrow we explore Abingdon and have some more fun SWVA style!
I wish I would have known you were driving through, I’d have let you use my office bathroom ;)
ReplyDeletehaha! I didn't think about it until last night when I was reading through facebook. I always forget you live there! In my head, you're always a NOLA girl! :)
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