Summer Road Trip
Pubblicato 31 agosto 2010Day 1: Williamsburg, VA
If a soundtrack accompanied these photos, you’d hear The Talking Heads’ “Road to Nowhere,” which sums up brilliantly how and why we chose to pack up our things and head out the door on a traffic-jammed Friday afternoon. Having juggled ideas for a last-minute vacation, it became clear that we didn’t want the hassle of planning (Read: we couldn’t agree on anything. I wanted to go down to either Charleston or Savannah–a long-time dream of mine–and Marco was thinking of theme parks.) Our only solution was to let the road guide us. We started on I-95 South, a bottleneck of a road, and veered toward Williamsburg, which we had both wanted to see. The kids, at this point, didn’t have much to say other than “Kings Dominion” and “Busch Gardens.” We decided to postpone theme parks (hallelujah!) for mid-fall.
Day 2: Virginia Beach
We spent the entire day at the beach. Although Earl loomed near and riptides had the lifeguards performing at their Baywatch best (my favorite was the overzealous redhead, captured in one of the photos doing a ritualistic call to sea–whistle, extend arms palms down, bend arms to face palms up, point to knees–honestly, I wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d managed to land small planes on a five-foot strip of sand) the place was packed.
Maia lived through two milestones: losing her first tooth and being baptized (sort of). Our waiter managed to dump the entire contents of a 20 oz glass of ice-cold water on Maia’s head, soaking her hair and white dress completely. She managed the situation graciously–something that I would not have done at her age or now. Yes, Daphne, I am referring to you knocking a bowl of scalding soup over my head eight years ago.
Day 3: Roanoke Rapids Lake, NC
Lake Gaston is not exactly home to a wide variety of fish, though we did see some foot-long specimens. Philippe tried his hand at catch-and-release fishing. We moved on quickly; it was infernally hot. We took only one-lane roads back to Virginia and found ourselves in the vicinity of Appomattox Court House, site of General Lee’s surrender and end of the Civil War.
Day 3: Appomattox, VA
A few things happenened on the way to Appomattox:
1. We found the Road to Hell. It’s a lovely little paved road with shaded trees. Don’t miss it: There’s a sign labeled 666 with an arrow pointing in its direction. Let it be said that Hell needs no GPS.
2. I found myself talking to a couple who were sitting in front of their junk shop–could. not. resist–and after we talked a while, it was proposed that I should buy their 1840s Victorian Italianate brick house in New Market, Va and carry on their business–a tea room/luncheon restaurant within the 4500 square foot home. I am convinced that this will, in fact, happen.
3. We wanted to buy a metal detector. If anyone would like to sell us one, please let us know.
Day 3: Lynchburg, VA
Holiday Inn Lynchburg online rate: $135
Expedia/Orbitz/Travelocity rate: $114
Steph’s rate: $79 (with restaurant breakfast vouchers)
Having a wife who can sweet-talk her way into any negotiation: Priceless
Day 4: Skyline Drive
We drove (and hiked) through George Washington National Forest and Shenandoah National Park. Surprisingly, we found wild apple trees, a farm museum, and BEARS. Although we go to SNP a few times a year, we have never, in nine years of living in Virginia, seen black bears in their natural habitat. We saw not one, but three bears, each in a different location. We did not photograph the third bear, a cub, who ran scat through the woods after sitting contentedly on a stone fence by the road. A bear even crossed our hiking path to waterfalls. We were two miles from our car. In other natural news, we hit our first animal that night on I-81, a small racoon whose yellow glowing eyes I can still see. I shudder to think of it. Five minutes later, a fox came within two feet of our speeding car. It stopped just in time.
We had dinner in Harrisonburg with Annick and kids. It’s always good to be back in Hburg. Our final destination before heading home was New Market, where we saw that gorgeous Italianate for ourselves. Please help us purchase this historical mansion (in dire need of restoration) by donating generously.
