Stop1: Trader Joes I can't say enough how much I love this grocery store! They carry their own brand and have a huge selection of organic products. I loaded up on their dried fruit. It makes a great snack and their's have no added sugar, which is hard to find. I had my arms full of "Two Buck Chuck" only to stumble into the sign proclaiming Georgia does not sell alcohol AT ALL on Sundays! C'mon people! Jesus turned water into the stuff! But we recovered and managed to leave with a bag full of non-alcoholic goodies.We loaded up the car, gassed up, ate at Five Guys and set the GPS for Roanoke.
We made it to our friend's house by 8pm and spent the next 4 days talking, laughing, cooking, and exploring. I cannot begin to describe what a wonderful visit we had. I have come to cherish these visits more than I think they know. We took a side trip to historic Fincastle, VA and other markets and "knick-knack paddy-whack" stores around town. One of our friends is very into wine pairing and he took us to Kroger and helped us pick out wines. We left with 16 bottles of wine (which he insisted he pay for...we caused a huge scene in the middle of the checkout area arguing back and forth). Between the wine and bag of Trader Joe's goodies, we could have been stranded for weeks with no problems ;)
We also visited the Roanoke Star on Mill Mountain. When you get up to the star, there is an observation deck with a sign that tells you to call your family and friends and have them go to a certain website. The website has a "star cam" so of course, being nerdy tourists, we did! The view is lovely and I'm sure is even better when it's not a hazy day with temps in the 90's. Here's our only picture from the whole trip!
We had many other adventures including helping an Amish (maybe Mennonite) woman who's tire blew right in front of us and she crashed into some rocks. No worries, she was OK, but we learned a lot about that culture waiting with her for a couple of hours. Let's not forget the wild bunny, groundhog, and fireflies we saw! I was so excited. The rest of them thought I was ridiculous, but where I'm from, we don't see those things!
Our last night in town, we went to the yummy Carlos for dinner. Great company, beautiful view, yummy food and wine? Yes, please!! The next morning we loaded up the car, said our sad "goodbyes," and headed for West Virginia.
I think West Virginia gets a bad rap. From the interstate drive it is the most BEAUTIFUL state I've ever driven through. Sure, mountains are pretty everywhere you go. But the mountains of West Virginia are so raw and untouched. I was very impressed!
We needed to waste a few hours before we could meet our friend, so we set the GPS for Tamarack. If there was ever a perfect place to waste some time, this was it. It is a very cool shopping facility that sells all local art, jewelry, food, wine, etc. We wandered around for a long time looking at things that were artsy that we'd never afford (or never pay for if we could afford) and at some fun reasonable things. I left with some banana pepper mustard (very yummy if you've never had it), hot pepper relish for my grandpa, and some hillbilly salsa for my sister.
We headed for our friend's house, but as we got close we saw that we needed to waste a little bit more time before she would be ready for us. So we saw the sign for Lost World Caverns and in true road tripper fashion, we cut across a few lanes of interstate to make the exit. We wound around through one lane dirt roads on the mountain and finally made it. It was fun, not something I'd make a whole trip for but it served our adventurous souls well!
Finally we arrived at our beloved friend's house. It was great to see her! We had dinner at The Mason Jar and headed to The Greenbrier.
It is definitely the swankiest place I've been. I'm still confused how it draws that kind of crowd to the middle of West Virginia, but to each his own, right? Britty and I felt VERY out of place as we wandered around waiting for our friend's show to begin. The show was fabulous. They house a very talented group of folks. After the hour long show, we were to go down to the casino to watch our friend do her waltz and champagne toast. From there the story gets crazy I won't tell it all, but it involves a man named Corey, security, a $12 glass of wine, free champagne, an awkward toast, penny slots, old men and a lot of laughter. We met our friend and spent a lovely evening back at her house.
Up early the next morning for the LONNGGG drive home. I'm still sticking with the fact that West Virginia has the most beautiful interstate drive of any state! Before making it home we made our "annual" (for the 2nd time) favorite stop in Chattanooga: The School Box. We did some damage, but not nearly as bad as last year.
After 16 hours in the car, we made it home. I loved this trip, mostly for who it was with!
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