Westward, Ho! Day 2: Old Bust Head's for lunch....and some more relaxing

 Friday, July 30

Lee and Lyn drove me to the Old Bust Head Brewery in Warrenton to check out their offerings and to pick up beer for Saturday's gathering.  

The brewery is located on the site previously occupied by Fort Vint Hill, its now home to not only the brewery but also a tech center for Rappahannock County.  Nice "pub" area and I sampled four of their beers along with lunch from a food truck.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing at the Eclectic Manor and watching movies and the Olympics.

Some pics of the last couple of days:

Lyn made this really nice quilt.....

Indy, Lee's handsome East German Shepherd has

accepted me as part of his pack

Westward, Ho! Day 1 : An easy day of light tourist activity

 Thursday, July 29

Lyn and Lee drove me about 20 miles to go check out the Copper Fox whiskey distillery in the small town of Sperryville, Virginia.

As I have seen several distilleries as of late we did not go through the tour portion involving how it's made. Instead we just relaxed in their outside patio area and I did some whiskey sampling.

photo courtesy of Lee

I like how they cut their logo into an old sawmill blade

After the distillery we drove over to the nearby town of Warrenton and had lunch at Molly's.

The afternoon was then spent trying to get a nap in and just basically relaxing at the Eclectic Manor, which is what Lee and Lyn named their home.

Weather Vane at the Eclectic Manor

"Francis For The Cupola"

Eastward, Whoa! Day 52 and 53: Last day with Jane and Larry and moving Westward.

 Tuesday, July 27

We spent our last day (this trip) with Jane and Larry; hiding from the heat and humidity in their home.  We watched the Summer Olympics, enjoyed another sumptuous dinner and planned future trips.

There was one short trip to an ice cream shop:

And Boomer, their lovable Lab, showed us how he alerts Jane to upcoming dinner time for him:

For the record, he was only off by less than 5 minutes.

Wednesday, July 28 and I turn westward towards home....

I drove the VRRV with the Sammy in tow and headed towards Orleans, VA to visit college friends from my ROTC days.  

Martha, meanwhile, was kindly delivered to the airport in Richmond by Jane and Larry, our consummate hosts and friends.

Dang Google maps routed me via the back way route to Lee and Lyn's place so there was several miles of graveled one lane roads to negotiate but I got there just fine 

Lee proudly flies the flag of the Conch Republic

Lyn and Indy, Lee's East German Shepperd

I had some difficulty dealing with Indy at first, in spite of Lyn's efforts to convince him that I was a friend.  So while I waited for Lee to return from work, I went for a ride to explore the area.  No pic opportunities seen but we'll see later on.

Soon after I returned, Lee got home and formally told Indy that I was OK.  It was remarkable the change that came over Indy!  I was now an accepted member of the pack, and no more barking at me!  Everyone was now happy.

I was feed a nice dinner by Lyn and we spent the evening catching up and watching the Olympics.  

Eastward, Ho! Days 49-51: Lazy Weekend and visiting Colonial Williamsburg

 Saturday, July 24

Highlight of the day was Martha picking up her new phone from a local Verizon store.  She went from an iPhone 6 to an 11!  Happy Birthday ( a few days early) dear!

speaking of Deer

Sunday, July 25

Larry H. smoked some pork ribs throughout the day while we relaxed some more.  I did some cleanup of my riding gear, especially the gloves which had sat for days in the tank bag, soaking wet.  Frankly, they stank.

Larry's smoked ribs however, were ambrosia!

In the evening, we attended a neighborhood get together hosted by Larry's neighbors Loren and Barb.  We met a nice bunch of folks and though the weather was mostly hot and humid, an enjoyable time.

Monday, July 26

Today we visited Colonial Williamsburg large complex of colonial houses (most of them reproductions I think); through which life back in the mid 1700s was depicted.  The period shown through displays and re-enactors was during the time the colonies were still loyal subjects of King George III.  

You can hire a carriage to take you for a short ride near the Governor's Palace

Larry, Jane and Martha in front of the

Governor's Palace

Martha conversing with re-enactor in period costume

Re-enactor portraying George Washington

He seemed a bit standoffish but perhaps that's how the real

George Washington behaved?

Re-enactor portraying Marquis de Lafayette

a much more chatty fellow

Government House

Site of first meeting of Revolutionary Congress

On the grounds of William and Mary College (the nation's second oldest college), Martha found the statue of Thomas Jefferson donated by the University of Virginia many many decades after Mr. Jefferson apparently defaulted on a loan from William and Mary College.  

James Monroe, 5th US President and alumni of William and Mary

Afternoon shot of the Governor's Palace

Back side of the Governor's Palace

The gathering black clouds caused us to move smartly back to the car and back to Jane and Larry's home before the heavens opened up!  Severe thunderstorms crackled overhead as I type this; but we were dry and safe.

Eastward, Ho! Day 48: Yorktown

 Friday, July 23

We went to see the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown.  Yorktown, VA having been the site of the last major land battle of the Revolutionary War.  It was the battle which resulted in the surrender of British Lieutenant General and Lord Cornwallis and his men; which caused the British government to start negotiations for an end to the war.  

Its a very nicely laid out museum, worth the price of admission!  The crowds weren't too bad and the multimedia displays and showings were outstanding.

A few of the displays that caught my eye:

One of the major figures in the training of the ragtag American militias into an effective army:

George Washington, the father of our country and its first President:

This painting reminded me of the scenes the world saw when Saddam Hussein's Iraq was defeated and statues of him were torn down.  

Outside the museum, there's static displays of a military encampment, structures depicting colonial farming and life and even a chance for one to experience group formation drills and training.  I think the militiamen of the day would have been amused at the antics of today's tourists.

An officer's tent

Headquarters Tent

We then drove to nearby York River Oyster Club area and had a late lunch at the restaurant located there.  The food took a while being served and the music played too loud at times but at least the food was excellent!

Here's a few of the boats staying at the Marina next to the restaurant.  It's expensive mooring I think, one rate I saw was $4.50/foot/day!

Later that afternoon, I went for a short ride on Yagi, my Yamaha TW200 on the Colonial Parkway between Jamestown and Williamsburg.  Nice riding conditions and light, very light traffic on the parkway.

Sadly, no real opportunity for pics of the river....each roadside pullout was filled with cars.  Oh well.

Eastward, Ho! Days 45 through 47: Arrival in Williamsburg, Touring Jamestown Settlement, Kitty Hawk Flight

Tuesday, July 20

We arrived at the home of our friends, Jane and Larry H. in Williamsburg, VA. in the early afternoon.  This is the end of the eastward motion for this RV trip.

Martha and I were looking forward to checking out their new home in the Ford Colony development.

Meet Boomer, the 3 year old Labrador Retriever:

Tuesday's dinner was a demonstration of the marvelous use of Sous Vide which Larry and Jane used to re-heat brisket meat that had been prepared for the 4th of July and vacuum packed afterwards:

It was delicious!

Wednesday, July 21

We went to tour the Jamestown Settlement's displays and museum.  Nice facilities but was good to finally get back to the air-conditioned Gallery Building after viewing the ships:

Inside the Jamestown fortification, I took this picture of the King's Crest inside the church building. 

Forming a triangular shape, each end of the triangle featured cannon armaments for defense:

The other structures were your standard storage, blacksmith, habitation huts, made of local materials.  We moved on back towards the Gallery's offerings.  Note: I failed to see the signs prohibiting photography inside the gallery building; so the following pics are what I got before a docent told me that I wasn't supposed to be taking pictures.

Here's Larry and Martha at the ship sculpture outside the museum gallery:

Thursday, July 22

While Martha and Jane took care of some shopping, Larry helped me change the oil in the VRRV prior to then taking me flying in his 1967 Beechcraft Bonanza V35A!  We flew, fittingly so of course, to nearby Kitty Hawk, North Carolina to the birthplace of powered flight!

KFFA aka First Flight Airport near the Wright Monument

Larry, prior to signing in as having flown in....

Managed by the National Park Service, the monument is quite impressive and visible from quite a distance in the air.  It was a short walk from the airport to the monument:

As we walked to the monument a Waco biplane few overhead close enough for me to capture this picture:

Sculpture of the "First Flight" moment visible from the monument

A replica of the rail on which the Wright Brother's aircraft slid for takeoff

Rock boulders were used to mark the distances achieved by each of

the four flights.  See above diorama.

Larry in front of the replica of the Wright Brother's plane.

Returning to Larry's plane, we flew back to Williamsburg with no issues and it was such smooth flying conditions that I didn't even get nauseous or a headache!  I'm sure Larry's flying skills were also involved of course!  Since we were flying under VFR: Visual Flight Rules, he was able to do a flyover of the ships at Jamestown Settlement:

Back on the ground, Larry had his plane refueled and parked it back in the hangar:

Here's a short video showing us landing first at Kitty Hawk's First Flight Airport and then on returning, landing at the Williamsburg-Jamestown Airport: