Monthly Archives: April 2015

Mount Vernon

We left Williamsburg to go to DC. On the way we stopped at Mount Vernon.  The grounds are beautiful. We finally got to see some cherry trees.  We toured the house that overlooks the Patomic River.

      

Everything was beautiful except for the gale force winds.  It was chilly, but the wind was awful.  Then we drove down the road to the gristmill and distillery.  Both the gristmill and distillery are replicas of the originals and both work.  The distillery is the only working one of its kind in the U.S.

      
We ate lunch at the food court which consisted of fast food.  We left Mount Vernon in the late afternoon and headed for DC.  We got to our hotel, LeMeridien, in Rosslyn about 5:30.  They had free wine in the lobby so we had happy hour there and then had dinner in the hotel restaurant.  Then in for the night.

Williamsburg 

Beverly and I attended a presentation given by the resort. It started at 8:15 and was supposed to last an hour and a half.  Five hours later we escaped.  No, I didn’t buy anything which is probably why I was there so long.  We had planned on doing Jamestown and the Williamsburg Winery today.  We chose to go to the winery because we could eat lunch there. My neighbor’s  cousin lives here so we contacted her and made arrangements to meet at the winery for lunch.   First we did the winery tour and tasting.  We tasted 7 wines and they were about an ounce each.  After 7 ounces of wine we were happy campers.  Then we met Joan for lunch at the tavern on the premises.  Not having any sense I ordered the flight of red wine along with the food.  We had a great visit with Joan and delicious food.  Beverly and Marsha ordered a limoncello dessert. 
            

It was only 5pm so we decided to go to downtown Williamsburg.  It is set up like the historical section of town but housed modern shops and restaurants. We walked around for several hours and then went back home. We are now doing laundry and preparing for another day on the road. 

 

Williamsburg

In the morning we went to the resort office where we purchased discount tickets to Colonial Williamsburg that would give us access to all of the buildings.Back in the car and off we went to be tourists.  The entire area around Colonial Williamsburg is historic.  We started with a tour of the Palace and palace gardens.  The tulips were in full bloom and absolutely beautiful. There is a picture of the rest of the Palace and garden. 

   

We toured one if the homes next and since we didn’t have breakfast food was next on the agenda.  I ordered a flight of local beers and everyone had a different drink. I had the Welsh Rarebit with s side if Virginia ham.  All very good.  I took pics of the menu and beer selections. Beverly ordered the sampler of soups plus there was a musician to serenade us. 

           

We toured other homes- one had a basket making demo and another had a blacksmith. We also toured City Hall, reconstructed to replicate the original.  We also toured the jail. 

     

We then drove around Willismsburg since we are unfamiliar with the area.  We decided to go to a supermarket and pick up some things for dinner.  Since we were not hungry we thought about 9 or 10 we would want food, and thought a grocery store would be the perfect solution.  Beverly and I have to be up early tomorrow to attend a presentation sponsored by the resort so we were in for the night about 7:30.

Wilmington to Williamsburg 

On the road again!!!  Taking scenic route 17.  Today it was great road with not many small towns.  Today was my day to choose where we would eat.  By 1:30 prospects were looking grim in the food department.  I made the suggestion that perhaps we should stop at a fast food joint to stretch out legs and have a snack and I would pick a place in Williamsburg.  We all agreed, but as luck would have it we made a wrong turn into Edenton.  Cute, quaint little town with one eatery open.  Of course we went in.  The place was a delight.  It was run by 2 gay guys who made fresh sandwiches on homemade bread.   I remembered to take pics today since I fell down on that job yesterday.  Food was great! Then back in the car to continue to Willismsburg.  Today was mostly a travel day. But I can tell you all of the azaleas and dogwoods along the route were gorgeous.  As we neared Norfolk it started to rain and the temperature dropped.  We arrived at Beverly’s time share at about 5:30pm.  It was rainy and cold.  The place is fantastic.  We decided to stay in for the night.  Don’t worry- if an army travels in it’s stomach we have the situation covered.  I’ve included a picture of us having happy hour.  We are now in our Jammie’s watching TV.  Just chilling until we do Colonial Williamsburg tomorrow (hopefully the weather will cooperate) 

           

Charleston to Wilmington NC

Another day on the road.  We decided to take the scenic route again – that is Route 17 up the coast.  The first place we stopped was Georgetown SC.  As luck would have it they were having a Gullah Fedtival.  Georgetown is a small picturesque town on the coast.  Every street is a postcard scene with old beautiful homes and canopy trees.  I got a chance to sample Hog Maws (pig stomach). Actually quite tasty but not much to look at.  Then back in the car and on up the road.  Our next stop was the Palmetto Moonshine store for a free moonshine tasting.  Great fun.

Our next item of business was food.  Clara wanted to find a place on the water that had u peel shrimp.  After many tries and driving past endless condos in Myrtle beach and since it was getting late we gave up.  Sure enough we saw a sign for the type of place we were looking for.  We made the right turn and lo and behold found a restaurant.  Nothing to look at but the food was good.  I forgot to take a pic since we had been so intent on finding a place.  Now on to Wilmington.  We arrived at the hotel at 5:30 and we were going out to dinner with Beverly’s friends at 6.  We met her friends and had a nice dinner.  She owns and operates a small restaurant in downtown Wilmington.  After dinner she took us downtown to show 

  us her restaurant.  Even though it was dark we got to see the downtown area and some of the old homes. We got back to the hotel around 10:30.  Tomorrow we are heading to Williamsburg.