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Virginia Vacation, Post the Second

Are you ready to hear more about my travels through Virginia? Let’s go.

 

Wednesday

  • Slept late and missed the free hotel breakfast.
  • Decided we would get something on our way to our first destination.
  • Despite having seen an abundance of strip malls and fast food restaurants we saw nary a one on our way to our destination.
  • Ate an apple and grumbled about being hungry.
  • Visited and toured the Shirley Plantation. I really liked it there, plus they had cats and I needed a cat fix.
  • I grumbled some more about being hungry.
  • Got lost trying to find the Malvern Hill Battlefield. We did eventually find it. I was underwhelmed, Dale was joyful.
  • Finally had lunch at McDonald’s. That quarter pounder with cheese, which I know is horrible for me and disgusting, tasted like the best thing I’d ever eaten.
  • Visited Chimborazo Hospital. We thought we were at the Richmond Battlefield Visitor Center and didn’t have the heart to tell the very enthusiastic volunteer that we did not mean to visit this particular spot.
  • Visited the Richmond National Battlefield Visitor Center and the Tredegar Museum.
  • Visited the Cold Harbor and Gaines’ Mill Battlefields.
  • Announced that that was quite enough battlefields for one day, thankyouverymuch.
  • Drove down Monument Avenue, admired the statues and the antebellum houses.
  • Had dinner at a wonderful little restaurant on Strawberry Street. The bartender was friendly and awesome.
  • Drank a truly delicious beer called Strawberry Harvest Lager.
  • Bought 2 six packs of said beer to bring home.
  • Soaked in the whirlpool tub in our room.
I think that’s enough for you to absorb for one day. Plus, I like the symmetry of posting about this one week after it happened. Come back tomorrow and I’ll tell you about Thursday. And maybe Friday. Or maybe not.
I like to keep you guessing.

This Post Has 16 Comments

  1. I love to hear about your trip riff-style! Can’t wait for more. (I hate it when you can’t find breakfast. Hope you had coffee, at the very least!)

  2. Ahh the perils of travel! Love your account of breakfast missed. Too funny that you made the hospital a tourist attraction!

  3. It’s been so long since we’ve taken off on a road trip. There are perils but the adventure and surprise of it all is a lovely part of the trip. I’m the one who must eat, so we would have found some place for breakfast. I can tell you and I would have a blast…we’d leave the battlefields and hospitals to the men. 😉

  4. Quarter-pounder aside, it sounds like you had a good time witnessing Dale’s delight.

  5. Love that you catered to the enthusiastic tour guide and didn’t tell the poor thing you didn’t mean to visit the Hospital, lol! Battlefields on an empty stomach … you are a truly patient wife. Good thing Dale appreciates you 🙂

  6. Thank you for all the information on the sites you visited. My husband and I wanted to visit Shirley Plantation while in Virginia for a family wedding four years ago. Unfortunately we ran out of time. I wish we could go this weekend. Doesn’t the arts and crafts fair sound great

  7. Strawberry Street Cafe? The one with the bathtub salad bar?

    I should have hooked up you with my dad for a guided tour of the battlefields. He and Dale woulda LOVED each other.

  8. You are such a loyal mate! Is this the first time you have done a battlefield tour? ‘Cuz once would be enough…. MY husband drags me around art museums while I semi-pretend to be very cultural and very interested.

  9. The lack of food would be a serious kink in my day too. It is amazing how lackluster things can taste so fantastic when we are so hungry. The strawberry lager has me intrigued even though I’m not real big on beer. Sounded like you got to wrap up the day in a great way!

  10. Who is the evil gremlin that hides all the restaurants–fast and otherwise–when you are really, really hungry? Oh please, tell us about the fascinating sights of the hospital tour. Lol

  11. Shirley Plantation…such fond memories…my husband surprised me with a trip to visit there on our honeymoon 20 years ago. He was so pleased to have found it. Sounds like you had a great trip.

  12. Sounds like you visited your share of battlefields 🙂

    I think the secret to the traffic was traveling on off days. We left on Thursday and returned on Tuesday. No traffic. At all. Not even the NY metro area. So weird.

    The first road trip my hubby and I took when I got my first new car back in 1989 was to Williamsburg. Lots of fun, but after a while I don’t want to drive in the car either (my right leg is still numb and sore after yesterday’s drive).

    Can’t wait to hear about the rest of your adventures!

  13. I am starving just reading that. Did I ever tell you about our stop at Fort Ticonderoga last summer — my kids were so bored they wanted to throw themselves over the wall. Of course, Lino loved it and even jumped into a parade of soldiers in period costumes.

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