And this was Wednesday after having dinner and celebrating Jim’s birthday. Why yes that lump of snow blocking the street sign is on the left side of our driveway. Thanks to Kate and Tom for the cool tree trimmer!
At least food wise!
Our first trip selfie!
We drove like a bat down the road to beat the windchill coming in. Of course it started snowing, well not really snowing and sticking but snowing and flying around the air. Not a big deal until we were south of Syracuse and the sun went down. Then it was a pain.
This is the map Jim created to show where we are stopping, the food venues we hope to visit, and any side trips we might make.
4ish hours later, later we arrived at the Red Roof Inn in Hazletown, PA. Right across the street was our first food destination: Alfredo’s Brick Oven Pizza.
Saturday morning it was soooo cold. Not as cold as Carthage, but the real feel was -22. At one point when Jim was loading the car, I watched him turn out of the wind. I really thought he would blow away… We headed south as fast as we could. The wind was blowing something fierce and little cars, not ours, were afraid to drive on snow covered roads caused by blowing snow from wide open spaces. Finally we arrived at our first stop of the day… still cold, but we needed a little snack and Jim needed to rest his white knuckles.
Continuing on towards Charlottesville, VA, not to be confused with Charlotte, NC where we will be on Sunday night (that’s tonight as I write this.) We arrived at the Sleep Inn and rather than go and look at James Monroe’s house, The Highlands, we took a nap…. because we could. Then we ventured off down the street, over the huge snowbanks, yes we walked, to El Ranchero for dinner. I ordered Rubias~ a chicken dish with cheese, bacon, and shrimp. I opted for no rice or tortillas and a side of steamed veggies.
Back to our room. Glad we walked over.
Sunday we woke up to sunshine and much warmer weather. Not even going to wear the coat. Just the sweater that truly has been all over the world.
We decided to drive over to President Roosevelt’s house, Pine Knot. Of course it wasn’t open. You are supposed to make an appointment to walk around to see it. We did not. Jim was hoping we could at least drive up and see the little house, but the gate was locked. We did get a picture of the sign.
It is only a 4 or so hour drive from Charlottesville to Charlotte, even on the back roads. We figured we were going to be on the interstate enough on Monday, we take back roads when we can. I found a stopping point in Concord, North Carolina because we were hungry… and a little thirsty too. Turns out Copper Leaf Winery has only been open since August. Anita the owner was just lovely and told me (I know right? I struck up a conversation with a stranger and now she is my new best friend 🤣) that her great grandparents owned the land. She received the land the winery is on and her sister received the other side with the old farm house. Her son lived down the road and through the woods. He made the chandeliers. Her daughter Kendall also works at the winery/brewery.
Back in the car and headed to Charlotte and another Red Roof Inn. One more dinner from around the world. J. P. Lao. Of course it was right across the street. Always across or up the street. Never mention that the streets are busy and you have to look left, right, left, right, run and look left, don’t fall! We drove across the street as we didn’t want to be late for Q Vision.
Now we are sitting in our room, watching a rerun of some football game, jk, the Superbowl is on… I think I will just leave you with a couple of quuteness pictures. My how he has grown.
