Vacation 2011 - part 6

Our last  and final day of vacation had high points and low points. One of the high points of course, is that we would be home before day's end. Not only did we get to eat at the Johnny Appleseed Restaurant in New Market Virginia (and their famous and very yummy apple fritters), we also passed by Dinosaur Land in Front Royal, and also stopped at a few flea markets and antique malls.
One low point, was that we went miles and miles out of the way, to go to the Walton's Mountain Museum in Schuyler Virginia. I have always wanted to go there, since I am a huge Waltons fan. But what a waste of time. We spent $7 a piece to get in (verses the $3 we paid to get into the Andy Griffith Museum) and it was quite a disappointment.  Definitely not what I expected.

  Another low point was the AC in the van. We noticed it was getting warmer and warmer. We almost made it home too. About 20 miles to go to Baltimore, on Route 70, and something blows under the hood. All we can see is this smoke and water coming out the back of the van. Luckily, we were close to a rest stop, and we find that a hose on the AC compressor busted, letting out all the freon and oil in the compressor. We were thankful that that was all it was, at least we could get home. But the closer we got to the beltway, the hotter it got. Too hot for no AC in a vehicle. This was during one of those very hot weeks.  But we made it home and were very glad and thankful to be there. Our trip was very nice, at least we got to get away for awhile.

Vacation 2011 - part 5

Now, on day Friday, we went to a little town in North Carolina, called Mt. Airy.

This is the town where Andy Griffith was born and raised. We are huge Andy Griffith fans. We went to the Andy Griffith Museum, that houses alot of his memorabilia of movies, TV shows, etc. It was an honor to be able to go here. The older part of town is the same as when Andy was a boy. The Main Street has stores that were used in the Andy Griffith Series. You could just imagine him going into these stores as a boy. One of the highlights, was the barber shop where they took the idea for Floyd's barber shop on the show. This man has been cutting hair for over 65 years. What a gentlemen. He has every wall of his shop filled with pictures of tourists that have come through. We are probably on that wall by now, as he also took our picture.  Also went into the soda shop where we found fried apples pies, just like Ricky's Mom used to make. What a treat. We made our way over to the newer part of town, to find a Wal Mart (of course) and to find something to eat. While I am waiting for Hubby in Wal Mart at the food court, in walk a few old friends that we had not seen in years. Had no idea that the lived in this part of North Carolina. That will remain one of my biggest memories of this trip.

Vacation 2011 - part 4

Thursday morning finds us on our way to NC and VA. We make our way through the state of Tennessee, driving another 6 hours. We make a pit spot in Marion Va, then hit route 16, headed to Troutdale, VA. I was able to see my cousins, Debbie and Rosie, and my Aunt Artie, whom I haven't seen in over ten years. What a host of memories that came flooding back. On our way to Troutdale, we passed the entrance to Mt Rogers Park. So many times, when I was younger, a bunch of us would go up on the top. The curves were outrageous.

My aunt Artie is my grandmother's youngest sister. My grandmother left us long ago, and seeing Aunt Artie was very emotional for me, since she looks so much like Granny. Again, many memories came flooding back from being in Aunt Artie's house. Being a kid, and laying in bed upstairs, listening to all the adults in the kitchen talking, or the outhouse that was in the backyard (that was actually the bathroom), the hand pump at the kitchen sink, listening to the ghost stories, and so many more. So glad that I got to see these ladies. Wish I could have had time to see more of my relatives, lots of catching up to do. After this short visit, we finally arrived at our destination in Fancy Gap, Va. Our next stop, has to do with Sheriff Andy. To be continued.....

Vacation 2011 - part 3

Continuing on......I have not mentioned that the portion of our trip that has us in Bowling green, was paid for by our son Devin, this was his Christmas present to us. So most everything has already been paid for, for three nights. So Wednesday found us at the Corvette Assembly Plant. This is the ONLY place that Corvettes are made. What a great tour. Saw the Corvette being made in all aspects. At this time, they are building 2012 Corvettes...new color schemes. I picked mine...yellow convertible with black top. After these last two days, we would really like to have another Corvette. We spent the rest of the day going to antique malls....one called the Vette Antique Mall....how appropriately named, since it is right next door to the assembly plant. Dinner found us at Ryan's Buffet...almost identical to Golden Corral.. Tomorrow (Thursday) we leave Bowling Green Kentucky, headed to North Carolina and Virginia. To be continued.......

Vacation 2011 - part 2

Front view of the honeymoon cottage

The back view of the honeymoon cottage

The rickety old roller coaster

After we arrived in Bowling Green, around 6 pm Monday evening, the first thing we did, was eat dinner at a White Castle Hamburger joint.....have always wanted to eat there.  The next morning (Tuesday) found us at the Bowling Green Visitor's Center, just to see what else was around besides the Corvette Assembly Plant and the Corvette Museum. There happened to be a place called Lost River Cave, where you went into the cave on a boat. Like a cavern, but missing the walking part. This was pretty cool, except for me, who does not swim nor likes tight places. The first thing we had to do while in this boat, was to bend down as far as we could until we got past a very low hanging portion of the cave. And...the main road went right over it. The neatest thing was that this used to be a great attraction in it's day...with a honeymoon cottage on the hill. The cottage is still there....not much to see now. And there is a ballroom at the entrance of this cave, that is still used. We also  found out that there is a race track there....drag racing that is, called Beech Bend Racetrack. (Forgot to mention this, but on Monday night, we found a car cruise....imagine that, of all things.) Also in this area, an amusement park called Beech Bend, with a very very old rickety roller coaster, that they still used. This day also found us at The National Corvette Museum. But on the way, we found Art's Auto Mart. Art has classic cars for sale, but has them showcased in a very large building, like a museum. Although these cars are for sale, he charges $5 a person to go in. And of course, we paid to get in, there were classic cars there, what else would I expect us to do. After Art's Auto Mart, we headed over to the Corvette Museum, which was right across the road. We really enjoyed the museum, only showcasing the Corvette through the years. By now, it was time for our third fill up....gas, that is. We also filled up too, at TGI Friday's on a BOGO offer. Too bad we didn't have a BOGO offer per gallon of gas.

Vacation 2011 - part 1

My next few posts will be about our Vacation of 2011. Eight days worth of Vacation, on our way to Bowling green Kentucky. It went by fast, but it also seemed to last a long time...if that is possible. I think we accomplished alot in that eight days.  We left home on a Sunday afternoon, so we could be in church that morning. We drove for about six hours before stopping for the night in Weston WV. But we made a stop on Route 68 in Western Maryland at a place called Sideling Hill. This is a place that was cut in the mountain for the road to go through. Very impressive. There is even a walk way over the road so you can see it better.

After leaving Sideling Hill, we traveled on, on Route 68, until we crossed the Md/WV line. From there our trip gets a little wearisome....by this I mean, lots of mountains, long inclines (lots of long inclines), for much of the time in Western Maryland and the northern part of West Virginia. By now we were wondering, what on earth possessed us to make this trip by car (since Bowling Green was an estimated 722 miles from home), of which we had now come about half of that. It is now Monday morning. Still on our way to Bowling Green Kentucky, we make another stop. This time at my Aunt Dee's home in Kenova West Virginia. There were still about 400 miles to go. So after leaving Kenova, we finally make our first
destination of Bowling Green, and it is now early evening of Monday.