Trip to VA

I forgot how nice it is to take a vacation and leave responsiblities, mundane chores and work behind! I really hadn't had a vacation in probably a year and a half as we had to cancel our trip to VA last year when Tim was broken! Our anniversary trip to Nashville was mostly just stressful with all the driving, no gas at the gas stations and my relentless suffering with that right side pain!

I saw lots of old friends, including two I hadn't seen for 18-20 years since the high school and college days! Derrick Phillips took me to the Old Chickahominy House in Williamsburg and Tim and I were invited to lunch at Jennifer Williams (now England) and her husband Brett's house in Chesapeake (we had a blast!). Spent a whole day and evening with Andrea and her beautiful girls, lunch with Andrea and her mom (my godmother!)at the Showplace Cafe, lunch with Trish at The Carrot Tree in Yorktown (so yummy I took Tim back when he came to town!), a visit to the Adams, a visit and lunch with Diann in Richmond and a visit with Jo and her new kitty Evie! I also popped in to visit with Mrs. Seymour and Mr. Bender (Mrs. Bender was out of town unfortunately!). Ex-boyfriend's parents....

Hit two scrapbook stores that were great this time around, even driving to Chesapeake one day to go to All About Scrapbooks- I hadn't been there since it first opened about 10 years ago! Picture to Page had moved from Grafton to NN and it was packed full of new goodies! I hit several thrift stores, my favorite being the Youth Challenge Thrift Store across from the Daily Press. I got a great deal on books and old encyclopedias and then had to figure out how to get them home with the weight and suitcase restrictions! I quickly started pulling out the good plates and pictures from the old encylopedias which cut down on the bulk and weight!

I went to my favorite antique mall, Antique Village, in Mechanicsville, VA and spent about three hours in there purusing and finding lots of goodies! My favorite shop in the mall is Whiting's Old Paper and the owner was as friendly as usual! His shop is packed floor to ceiling with all things paper and it's truly a treasure trove not to be missed! I spent most of my time digging through old Christmas seals and came away with a huge box FULL! He stayed late so I could interview him for an article for Vintage Indie! Tim and I hit a couple of antique shops in downtown Phoebus although we were disappointed that our favorite one there had closed. We went out to Buckroe Beach while close and walked on the pier. We also had to stop at Merry Pointe Beach and Lion's Bridge for photo ops and just to enjoy the pretty weather and water! Dad and I had our customery shopping spree day at the Outlets in Williamsburg! Tim and I also went back to Williamsburg to go to the Williamsburg Antique Mall which had some good things this time!

Dad and I ate out a lot and also had his famous pastrami and swiss sandwiches! After Tim arrived a week after me, we continued to sample local restaurant fare, including Tim's all time favorite Hot Dog King! Japanese Grill one night, Joe and Mimma's again and Cheeseburger in Paradise (since we never get to eat at one!) Monty's Penguin for ice cream and Cold Stone Creamery too!

Tim and Dad went to a VA symphony concert at The Ferguson Center one night while I chose to hang out with Andrea again. The three of us went to see the Pajama Game at The Ferguson Center another night and thoroughly enjoyed it especially the 1950s set atmosphere!

We spent an afternoon driving through the old downtown area, visiting the Smithfield historic distric and the Isle of White Museum, a meal of Dad's famous London Broil and it was time to cram the suitcases full and head back home!

The day we left was more than eventful with a call from our alarm company first thing, a call to the house/catsitter on my end (all was okay!), Dad doing $429 worth of damage to his rear tailight (backing out of the garage he hit a tiny limb!) on the way to get us $3 worth of Hardee's biscuits and tornado warnings and torrential rains as we drove to the airport!