On January 1, another friend came over for brunch, bringing his home made scones. We talked and talked and talked. Okay, no surprise there. *S*
And then Graham and I hit the road. Sam opted to stay with a friend as they had been planning to watch football games all weekend anyway.
Graham and I headed southeast, driving through West Virginia on I-64 and then I-77. We crossed into Virginia and decided to stop in Wytheville for dinner at the Log House 1776 Restaurant.
This log house, built in 1776, has been added to and added to and is now a maze of rooms, hallways and courtyards. It has a giftshop, a bar and a very enjoyable restaurant.
The menu warns that every dish is prepared once ordered, so understanding that this would take a while, Graham enjoyed walking around and taking photos of things that caught his eye.
The bar had a floor made of corks and there was another hallway, leading to the kitchen, where horseshoes had been set in the concrete.
The place was decorated for Christmas with the 3 Kings visiting with Santa on one mantle.
Pineapples are found throughout colonial and early 19th century homes as a sign of hospitality. Think about what having a pineapple to eat in those days meant!
Dried flowers hung from one chandelier.
Our meal was great and Graham immediately started planning how he would present the same dish, with some changes and probable improvements!
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When we left from the restaurant it was dark, but we had directions to the place we were staying in the small town of Fancy Gap, Virginia. I had had trouble getting the link on the website to open, so emailed the owner who had emailed back very specifc and clear directions...from I-77, get off at Highway 52 and then go north on the Blue Ridge Parkway...... Now if any of you have enjoyed driving on the Blue Ridge Parkway, you know how beautiful it is. Following ridgelines from just south of the western Washington, DC area, first the Skyline Drive and then the Blue Ridge Parkway is one of the United State's first linear parks. It passes through Virginia, North Carolina and into Tennessee and finally ends at the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. A wonderful drive with historic information about how people settled and made their living in the mountains.
But not a place to drive in the winter. We got stuck....in the ice.....
Oh, a little adventure is good. Graham started to walk back to the highway, and a woman who had also received directions to use the Parkway, saw our car blocking the road 100 yards ahead, picked him up, and brought him back to the very close Shell station. There, a local guy, who had run in to pick up some chewing tobacco, offered to help and drove Graham back up to where I was patiently waiting and using the time to call the place and asking for alternative directions.
Graham quickly realized that a Prius has no back axle, but he was able to attach the line to a strut and with a lot of slippage and repositioning of the truck, we finally got straightened out, turned around and headed in the right direction...on OTHER roads!
We took this photo the next morning so you can appreciate what we could not in the dark. The ruts are the way we were told to drive.
We finally got to our destination....we were staying in a caboose! The place has 3 cabooses and a station house, all available for lodging. Our caboose had a kitchenette, a nice bathroom with shower, a king sized bed, satellite tv, and a double jacuzzi! We enjoyed warming up in that!!
The view the next morning was superb.
Check out http://www.grassycreekcabooses.com/
but if you plan to go in winter, ask for ALTERNATIVE directions!
