Sunday, April 02, 2006
almost heaven (1 april)
With a good meal and a good nights sleep, we spent Saturday recovering from the trip. My mom came up to get me, and we all went out to lunch and did some shopping. We capped off the evening with a few hands of canasta and basted a baby quilt I am working on.
Tomorrow after breakfast we head back to Delaware. I had a wonderful time during my trip with g'ma - I got to see a whole part of the country I never visited before, spend time with my cousins, and learn about my family history. Thanks, G'ma for a great trip together!
Tomorrow after breakfast we head back to Delaware. I had a wonderful time during my trip with g'ma - I got to see a whole part of the country I never visited before, spend time with my cousins, and learn about my family history. Thanks, G'ma for a great trip together!
driving miss emma (31 march)
G’ma suggested this title, since I drove us again out of one state and into the next. After breakfast with Genna, we left around 8:30 and headed out of North Carolina. We passed Pilot Mountation, which my cousin, Rob, has mountainbiked down.
I drove us up into Virginia onto I-81, where we exited onto memory lane in Christiansburg, Virginia. Christiansburg is where my g’ma lived after graduating from college; she moved there in 1949. She worked as an extension agent and lived in different places in the area. She met Blair D. Brugh that year and married him in the Presbyterian church in December of 1950.
We switched drivers at a rest stop back on I-81, and G’ma drove us to the Brugh Store to get gas and then further into Botetourt County where my grandfather had been raised.
This quilt top hangs in the Brugh Store and is signed by relatives.
I saw the land where the first house my g'pa lived in had stood, and the brick house where the family later moved.
The Mill Creek Baptist church is where my grandfather, my great grandparents, and many Brughs, Wicklines, and other ancestors are buried.
We stopped for dinner (Ever’s Family Restaurant, a buffet with the cleanest bathroom and most beautiful decor) and then later at Patchwork Place, where we spent about 45 minutes looking at fabric before heading back on the road. We switched drivers after leaving the town and before crossing the state line into West Virginia. These backroads were some of the saddest and most beautiful parts of the country I saw on this trip. Many old farmhouses have been abandoned, and I couldn’t figure out what was holding them up. Still others looked aged, but hadn’t lost their usefulness, function, and beauty.
We arrived in Wiley Ford, West Virginia around 5 pm, and I told my g’ma despite how much I love her and how much I enjoyed the trip, I was so happy to be getting out the car.
I drove us up into Virginia onto I-81, where we exited onto memory lane in Christiansburg, Virginia. Christiansburg is where my g’ma lived after graduating from college; she moved there in 1949. She worked as an extension agent and lived in different places in the area. She met Blair D. Brugh that year and married him in the Presbyterian church in December of 1950.
We switched drivers at a rest stop back on I-81, and G’ma drove us to the Brugh Store to get gas and then further into Botetourt County where my grandfather had been raised.
This quilt top hangs in the Brugh Store and is signed by relatives.
I saw the land where the first house my g'pa lived in had stood, and the brick house where the family later moved.
The Mill Creek Baptist church is where my grandfather, my great grandparents, and many Brughs, Wicklines, and other ancestors are buried.
We stopped for dinner (Ever’s Family Restaurant, a buffet with the cleanest bathroom and most beautiful decor) and then later at Patchwork Place, where we spent about 45 minutes looking at fabric before heading back on the road. We switched drivers after leaving the town and before crossing the state line into West Virginia. These backroads were some of the saddest and most beautiful parts of the country I saw on this trip. Many old farmhouses have been abandoned, and I couldn’t figure out what was holding them up. Still others looked aged, but hadn’t lost their usefulness, function, and beauty.
We arrived in Wiley Ford, West Virginia around 5 pm, and I told my g’ma despite how much I love her and how much I enjoyed the trip, I was so happy to be getting out the car.
the things you never expect your g'ma to say (30 march)
We started Thursday with brunch at a great, eclectic cafe called Mary's Of Course! The decor was great- a lot of Tammy Faye Baker records lined the walls - very kitschy, very hippie. The omelets, grits, and fruit salad was the first real food we had since leaving Florida! We walked up the street from the restaurant into Old Salem, which for the history lacking, is a Moravian community. I only associated the Moravians with their ginger cookies, so in the Moravian Book and Gift Shop we watched a short video presentation on the history of the church, and I purchased some gifts for family members back home.
We stopped to take photos on our way into Old Salem. My g'ma took the first one of Genna and I.
To our surprise our sweet g'ma turned Say Cheese! into Say Sex! Genna is exclaiming, Say What?? in this photo.
Here is a one after we recovered from laughing so hard!
Here is a photo of Old Salem.
We enjoyed a dinner tonight that wasn't a buffet! Las Estrellas, "The Stars," was a mexican restaurant in an undeniably shaped former Pizza Hut. Joining us for dinner was Doug, Genna's cute drummer boyfriend from the band, Tommy Gun, but unfortunately he had to leave us early to get to his job at the Mellow Mushroom. We left dinner to go shopping for tshirts; Genna had iron-on sheets to make shirts from some images from our travels.
She made a shirt for her brother, Rob, from a photoshoped image of a road sign from Cumberland Maryland. Rob goes to college in Raleigh and made the 2 hour drive to visit with us. You can see how much he likes his new tshirt.
We had a lot of fun and again stayed up late sharing iphoto albums and talking. It is great to have cousins you would want to know even if they were not related to you!
We stopped to take photos on our way into Old Salem. My g'ma took the first one of Genna and I.
To our surprise our sweet g'ma turned Say Cheese! into Say Sex! Genna is exclaiming, Say What?? in this photo.
Here is a one after we recovered from laughing so hard!
Here is a photo of Old Salem.
We enjoyed a dinner tonight that wasn't a buffet! Las Estrellas, "The Stars," was a mexican restaurant in an undeniably shaped former Pizza Hut. Joining us for dinner was Doug, Genna's cute drummer boyfriend from the band, Tommy Gun, but unfortunately he had to leave us early to get to his job at the Mellow Mushroom. We left dinner to go shopping for tshirts; Genna had iron-on sheets to make shirts from some images from our travels.
She made a shirt for her brother, Rob, from a photoshoped image of a road sign from Cumberland Maryland. Rob goes to college in Raleigh and made the 2 hour drive to visit with us. You can see how much he likes his new tshirt.
We had a lot of fun and again stayed up late sharing iphoto albums and talking. It is great to have cousins you would want to know even if they were not related to you!
“Good Lord, I’ve been shot.” (29 march)
After our continental, carbohydrate breakfast (cornflakes, bagel, waffle) we hit the road and make good time through South Carolina. I realized this trip was my first time in South Carolina, and I plan to return someday to see Charleston and other parts of the state. We stopped north of Charlotte, North Carolina at a Subway for lunch and took a short trip to the Hancock fabric store in the strip mall. G’ma wanted to drive again after lunch, and we weren’t back on the highway for more than 10 minutes when a rock hit the windshield and scared her witless. She kept thinking she had been shot at, and the windshield will need repairing. Fortunately we only had less than two hours of the trip to Genna’s remaining, and we arrived in Winston-Salem around 3 pm.
Before I left for the trip I got a digital audio recorder to capture some of my g’ma’s many stories she has told over the years (thanks, Dad!). Every time we started talking and she began telling stories of her youth, I would pull out the recorder but be told to put it away or she wasn’t talking. She gave some hysterical dating advice, talked about life in college in the late forties, and about traveling with her family when she was young. I am going to try again before heading home. My goal is to at least get the meeting of my grandparents story on tape this trip.
We spent over an hour at the mall near Genna’s house, since she didn’t get off of work until 5, and then parked in the driveway to wait for her.
Once inside Genna's we rested for a while. G'ma looked so cute napping on the couch, I could not pass up this photo.
It has been so good to spend time with my cousin – especially in her new home in Winston-Salem. I must say I was surprised when Genna recommended a buffet for dinner on Wednesday night, while G’ma was delighted as she usually is with a buffet. Not your typical buffet in any way, California Fresh Buffet (aka The Cult Restaurant) was an eclectic spread that pleased our meat and potatoes grandma, as well as her vegetarian granddaughters. All profits from the restaurant go to charity, and the place is run by volunteers of the Center for Purposeful Living. According to the brochure, “the purpose behind this organization was to demonstrate, through serving others, the innate goodness that exists in everyone.” I don’t think any of us found our life’s purpose during the evening, but we did have a delicious dinner. After dinner we returned to Genna’s to look at some of my g’ma’s current quilt projects, and Genna and I ended up chatting til late into the evening.
Before I left for the trip I got a digital audio recorder to capture some of my g’ma’s many stories she has told over the years (thanks, Dad!). Every time we started talking and she began telling stories of her youth, I would pull out the recorder but be told to put it away or she wasn’t talking. She gave some hysterical dating advice, talked about life in college in the late forties, and about traveling with her family when she was young. I am going to try again before heading home. My goal is to at least get the meeting of my grandparents story on tape this trip.
We spent over an hour at the mall near Genna’s house, since she didn’t get off of work until 5, and then parked in the driveway to wait for her.
Once inside Genna's we rested for a while. G'ma looked so cute napping on the couch, I could not pass up this photo.
It has been so good to spend time with my cousin – especially in her new home in Winston-Salem. I must say I was surprised when Genna recommended a buffet for dinner on Wednesday night, while G’ma was delighted as she usually is with a buffet. Not your typical buffet in any way, California Fresh Buffet (aka The Cult Restaurant) was an eclectic spread that pleased our meat and potatoes grandma, as well as her vegetarian granddaughters. All profits from the restaurant go to charity, and the place is run by volunteers of the Center for Purposeful Living. According to the brochure, “the purpose behind this organization was to demonstrate, through serving others, the innate goodness that exists in everyone.” I don’t think any of us found our life’s purpose during the evening, but we did have a delicious dinner. After dinner we returned to Genna’s to look at some of my g’ma’s current quilt projects, and Genna and I ended up chatting til late into the evening.
left left, right left, right right, left right (28 march)
We left Fort Myers around 9 am Tuesday morning. I was driving the first leg of the trip, and I was instructed to make a left once we got to the highway. Unfortunately, my g’ma and I have different meanings for left and right, and I did it wrong. I then didn’t listen to her instructions for turning around (due to another difference in opinion on how “clear” an intersection should be before you pull out into traffic). Five minutes later, and discussion over, we made it to the highway and began our trip. I declared all driving arguments over and officially revoked her backseat driver’s license.
I drove for two hours or so, and we switched drivers at one of the rest stops. Florida route 301 is a notorious speed trap, and with G’ma’s “driver pays the ticket” policy, she insisted on driving. With stop lights and intersections, this road felt like the longest part of our trip, and we stopped at a Wendy’s for lunch to break it up. I drove us out of Florida around Jacksonville to Georgia and into South Carolina, where we stopped to stay the night in Hardeeville.
Hardeeville seemed to exist only for the travelers and truckers headed through on the highway. We stayed at a Comfort Inn that had high speed internet (but I never could make it work), a continental breakfast, a Shoney’s next door, and gave a generous AARP discount. Our Shoney’s dinner was great – you have to love a restaurant that serves everything based on what meat you buy. The waitress didn’t have a clue what to do with someone who wanted the salad bar, but not the steak dinner. She ended up not charging us at all for my meal. She was as sweet as the iced tea I ordered. After a few rousing hands of canasta, my card shark G’ma and I called it a day. We logged a little under 500 miles on day one.
I drove for two hours or so, and we switched drivers at one of the rest stops. Florida route 301 is a notorious speed trap, and with G’ma’s “driver pays the ticket” policy, she insisted on driving. With stop lights and intersections, this road felt like the longest part of our trip, and we stopped at a Wendy’s for lunch to break it up. I drove us out of Florida around Jacksonville to Georgia and into South Carolina, where we stopped to stay the night in Hardeeville.
Hardeeville seemed to exist only for the travelers and truckers headed through on the highway. We stayed at a Comfort Inn that had high speed internet (but I never could make it work), a continental breakfast, a Shoney’s next door, and gave a generous AARP discount. Our Shoney’s dinner was great – you have to love a restaurant that serves everything based on what meat you buy. The waitress didn’t have a clue what to do with someone who wanted the salad bar, but not the steak dinner. She ended up not charging us at all for my meal. She was as sweet as the iced tea I ordered. After a few rousing hands of canasta, my card shark G’ma and I called it a day. We logged a little under 500 miles on day one.
Monday, March 27, 2006
defrosted mac and cheese, stirfried vegetables, brown rice, canned sliced pears, toast, and defrosted strawberries
Today was a multi-tasking extravaganza! We did lots of cleaning, packing, organizing, and shopping for the trip. First thing every day is to deliver the paper to Dot and Joe, who are also neighbors in Lavale, Maryland. Cleaning out the fridge has been a task that has made for interesting hostess gifts and a eclectic few meals. We decided it was a good idea to eat lunch out this afternoon and went to Applebees.
We had planned for a game or two of canasta with Ginny and June tonight, also neighbors from Maryland who winter here. They are sweet ladies who let Carrie and I borrow bikes from them a few years back so we could get out and ride through the park, and I have enjoyed spending time with them. They called this afternoon to cancel cards - they have to head back to MD tomorrow early. June's great grandson was born in February and has been in the hospital for a few days with a high fever, and they need to get back a week early to be with their family. We pray they travel safely and that June's great grandson is healthy and home with his family soon.
I have to pack this machine up. We are leaving at 8 tomorrow morning, and I will try and post any adventures we have along the way.
I just added a photo of my g'parents, Blair and Emma Brugh, taken circa 1997 when they first moved down here. I found it in an album at the clubhouse after square dancing.
We had planned for a game or two of canasta with Ginny and June tonight, also neighbors from Maryland who winter here. They are sweet ladies who let Carrie and I borrow bikes from them a few years back so we could get out and ride through the park, and I have enjoyed spending time with them. They called this afternoon to cancel cards - they have to head back to MD tomorrow early. June's great grandson was born in February and has been in the hospital for a few days with a high fever, and they need to get back a week early to be with their family. We pray they travel safely and that June's great grandson is healthy and home with his family soon.
I have to pack this machine up. We are leaving at 8 tomorrow morning, and I will try and post any adventures we have along the way.
I just added a photo of my g'parents, Blair and Emma Brugh, taken circa 1997 when they first moved down here. I found it in an album at the clubhouse after square dancing.
welcome to wrinklecity
I was actually welcomed to Fort Myers this way! My g'ma and her neighbor, Yvonne from Lexington, Kentucky, picked me up from the airport at 11 pm on Saturday night. Both legs of my flight were uneventful, and I actually arrived early to FL. We made it back to Pioneer Village about a half an hour later and went to bed soon after. Sunday was jam-packed with a visit to the First Presbyterian Church, Sunday Dinner at Buddy Freddys buffet, a walking tour of the Edison-Ford winter estates, and an evening of square dancing. This retirement thing is very busy!
I took a lot of photos at the Seminole Lodge (Edison's home in FL) and The Mangoes (Ford's winter home in FL). For those that want a detailed history lesson, visit www.edison-ford-estate.com. The beauty of this estate in Fort Myers is the fluidity between nature and living spaces. The Edison home is built with huge porches that wrap the house, numerous french doors, and palm lined trails that lead directly to the Caloosahatchee River. The weather here has been cool, and although I was "accused" of being quite a northerner with my jacket and scarf, I have been quite comfortable - especially with the cool breezes off the river. I have dozens of photos of the trees, orchids, and the river.
This shot is one small section of the worldest second largest Banyan Tree (first is outside the city of Calcutta). They had to build walking bridges around the tree, and our guide said if left to grow on its own the tree would take over the estate, Fort Myers, and possibly the world.
Mina Edison loved orchids, which you can find all over the estate. My grandma received an orchid for Christmas from her children that is thriving under her TLC, and seeing these was a special treat.
Royal Palm lined walk to the river.
The Caloosahatchee River
We could have stayed here for hours - picture above shows our view.
Square dancing at the Clubhouse last night was great fun! I helped sell 50-50 tickets, and I got to talk with many snowbirds. Florida draws from so many different parts of the country, and I met people from Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Missouri, and other places. I have been recommended a number of places to visit, including a few taverns in Alaska (Malamute Tavern, Salty Dog, etc.), and I was invited to stop in to visit some folks in Denton, Maryland. (Aside- Laura, they were excited I knew your mom and stepdad and said, "Come on by anytime now!") I have asked many people what draws them to Fort Myers, and the quick answer is the people they have met here. They come for "a piece" or "a spell" and like it so much they buy a home.
I have some action packed square dancing photos.
Ralph and lady friend (I cannot remember her name - will check with G'ma later)
We plan to head out tomorrow to begin the drive home. Our plans include a motel Tuesday evening, two nights with my cousin Genna, and the final leg to WV on Friday. I am not sure how much internet connection I will have between tomorrow and Friday, but I will keep a log and update when I can. Today we finish packing, do some food shopping for the trip, and close up the house. I am being told to get a move on, so that is all for now.
I took a lot of photos at the Seminole Lodge (Edison's home in FL) and The Mangoes (Ford's winter home in FL). For those that want a detailed history lesson, visit www.edison-ford-estate.com. The beauty of this estate in Fort Myers is the fluidity between nature and living spaces. The Edison home is built with huge porches that wrap the house, numerous french doors, and palm lined trails that lead directly to the Caloosahatchee River. The weather here has been cool, and although I was "accused" of being quite a northerner with my jacket and scarf, I have been quite comfortable - especially with the cool breezes off the river. I have dozens of photos of the trees, orchids, and the river.
This shot is one small section of the worldest second largest Banyan Tree (first is outside the city of Calcutta). They had to build walking bridges around the tree, and our guide said if left to grow on its own the tree would take over the estate, Fort Myers, and possibly the world.
Mina Edison loved orchids, which you can find all over the estate. My grandma received an orchid for Christmas from her children that is thriving under her TLC, and seeing these was a special treat.
Royal Palm lined walk to the river.
The Caloosahatchee River
We could have stayed here for hours - picture above shows our view.
Square dancing at the Clubhouse last night was great fun! I helped sell 50-50 tickets, and I got to talk with many snowbirds. Florida draws from so many different parts of the country, and I met people from Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Missouri, and other places. I have been recommended a number of places to visit, including a few taverns in Alaska (Malamute Tavern, Salty Dog, etc.), and I was invited to stop in to visit some folks in Denton, Maryland. (Aside- Laura, they were excited I knew your mom and stepdad and said, "Come on by anytime now!") I have asked many people what draws them to Fort Myers, and the quick answer is the people they have met here. They come for "a piece" or "a spell" and like it so much they buy a home.
I have some action packed square dancing photos.
Ralph and lady friend (I cannot remember her name - will check with G'ma later)
We plan to head out tomorrow to begin the drive home. Our plans include a motel Tuesday evening, two nights with my cousin Genna, and the final leg to WV on Friday. I am not sure how much internet connection I will have between tomorrow and Friday, but I will keep a log and update when I can. Today we finish packing, do some food shopping for the trip, and close up the house. I am being told to get a move on, so that is all for now.
swing your pants in atlanta
The journey has begun! I left on Saturday afternoon from Philadelphia and landed in Atlanta around 5:30 pm. I had emailed a good friend from high school to see if she was able to make the trip out to the airport to have dinner with me, since I need to fill an almost four hour layover. While four hours is definitely a long time to spend in the airport between flights - it is definitely not enough time to catch up with someone you have not seen in five years! Tina and her husband, Mike, met me in the atrium by the baggage claim (3 train stops from my gate). We had a wonderful time catching up, and I powered up my ibook to show them photos from trips to North Carolina, France, and Virginia. I had many more photos than we had time to talk, so we both agreed not to wait so long to see each other again. Tina and Mike seemed so content in their life together, and the love they have for each other was delightful to see again. 