#TimeShared - Day 7

Morgantown, WV
Latitude 39.39 degrees
Longitude 79.59 degrees

We're now in "one the way home" mode.  This was helped when we decided to skip Skyline Drive--it would have taken several more hours, and between rain and fog, the views would have been minimal and the risk high.

This was a fairly clear point. When we looked over at the Skyline Drive exit, it was a wall of fog.

This decision allowed us to hit our first stop--the Route 11 Potato Chip Factory.  A small facility cranks 28,000 pounds of potatoes into chips A DAY, all of which are hand-coated with various flavors.  They are protective of their process--no production photos.  We got some samples, which led to some purchases.

“Samples”

Onto Maryland, and multiple stops.  There's a private toll bridge over the Potomac, between Maryland and West Virginia.  $1.50 allows you to cross a single lane floating wooden bridge. Listen for the clickety-clack in the dashcam video below.

The first toll house on the old National Road aka US40.  The feds debated for years whether to impose a toll, before deciding to let the states do it.

The "Braddock Stone"--the oldest road sign in America.  Now in a glass case in front of the local museum.

Moving to West Virginia, specifically Morgantown.  We came here to see a statue of Don Knotts, TV icon.  "I was gonna take Thelma Lou down to Mt. Pilot for the picture show".

We decided to stop for the night, which may not have been the best call.  A mediocre BBQ place (we should have run when we saw it attached to a hotel) followed by a so-so hotel.

Tomorrow, a few more stops before home.

#TimeShared - Day 6

Zion Crossroads, VA

Last night, Mindy spent some time putting together an itinerary for today, and we thought we were set.  But when we went down for hotel breakfast, we ran into another couple from yesterday's timeshare fracas.  We got to talking--we were planning to skip Monticello, because the website indicated that we could only get tickets for very late in the day.  The other couple told us they got in without any problem.  So, we decided to give it a shot--and indeed we got in, although we had to wait for awhile, walking the grounds on a gloomy day. 

Then it was a tour of Tom's home--I saw it as a kid, right around the Bicentennial.  The current program doesn't shy away from Jefferson's "enslaved people" as they did back then.  There's a multimedia presentation on Sally Hemings, who was, more or less, Jefferson's slave and mistress.  It was heart-wrenching.  On the other hand, the tour ran into Tom himself--you'd think he could retire by now.

A series of cables runs through this wall clock, with a weight indicating the day of the week. It turned out to be too tall, forcing “Saturday” into the basement.

Well, that’s a color choice.

We then drove into town and the Dairy Market food hall for Italian food.  We're fans of these upscale food courts.

After a drive around the UVa campus (at one point winding up in a private area we had to back out of), we went up the mountain (to be precise, Carter Mountain and their orchard).  It's well known for its scenic views, although the rain and mist took care of that.  We got some cider and donuts.

“Scenic” overlook. We swear there’s a mountain range there.

Speaking of the rain, we decided to head back to the hotel and take refuge for the remainder of the day.  Fortunately, we brought some provisions and snacks.

Tomorrow, we move on, with a decision to make--make a run for Skyline Drive or not (based on the weather, it's not looking good).

#TimeShared - Day 5

Zion Crossroads, VA

Well, it's come to this--the rationale for the hashtag.  We partly came down here to attend a timeshare presentation (and get a cheap hotel, travel points, and a gift card in the process). 

We drove about 20 minutes from the hotel to the resort (where they chose NOT to house us--probably not the best way to ingratiate themselves with us).  After filling out a form basically saying we wouldn't slip out during the event, we sat in a conference room and got the spiel.  If you've never done the timeshare thing, you get handed from one smiling person to another, part of a battalion of salespeople.  There's videos, testimonials, talk about your dream vacation--and then comes the hard sell (which they swear isn't one).  Think about the last time you bought a car, and multiple the "what do I have to do to get you in this Corolla?" bit times ten. We got a quick tour, and the model homes seemed very nice.  The math just doesn't work, especially when a quick Google search shows people selling the same places for pennies on the dollar (if that), and a class action lawsuit underway.  So, we politely said nyet, got our stuff, and left.

On to lunch at the Well Hung Vineyard--an andouille crostini, a chicken sammich, and a flight of wine slushies.  It was all very good.

We had originally planned to go to Monticello on this trip.  I went there as a kid, but Mindy has never been.  Unfortunately, we discovered that a) you have to reserve a time weeks in advance to avoid being rushed through at the end of the day (which we couldn't do vs. an unknown time for our timeshare event) and b) someone decided to go the Disney route and charge you an arm and a leg.  With these in mind, we chose instead to go to Highland, just down the road from Tom's colossus, and the home of President James Monroe.  We walked in, paid a reasonable fee, and took a tour with a knowledgeable docent.  The grounds are lovely, and the whole place is well maintained.

A 300+ year old white oak.

The earliest surviving Presidential china (the War of 1812 took out the dinnerware before that).

Then back to the still-elevatorless hotel for a nap, followed by a trip back to Charlottesville (getting very used to the 15 mile trip) to visit the Downtown Mall , and the Citizen Burger Bar.  I had a huge burger, while Mindy had fries with burger on the side.

Enough for today--more from VA tomorrow.

#TimeShared - Day 4

Zion Crossroads, VA
Latitude 37.58 degrees
Longitude 78.12 degrees

We've reached our second major stop for the trip, but before that--

A quick jaunt to Richmond to see the state house.  We did some research online, and it asserted there was plenty of parking, but when the website link is dead...we eventually found a spot a few blocks away. The Virginia State House, like many, are in the midst of construction, but most of the interior was open.  The actual chambers were locked, but we could look in.  It's a relatively small place--looks like a toy on a hill.

In case the crowd gets rowdy…

We were very interested in Viscountess Astor, an American who moved to England and became the first woman elected to the House of Commons.

Moving on to "Mr. Smedley", a local entertainer with a mouse under his hat, immortalized with a statue.

We love big things--here's one.  Don't run with it!

We stopped for lunch at the Silver Diner, a surprisingly upscale place with a goal of perfecting diner food. I think they succeeded. Mindy had the Bruschetta, while I had a club sammich. Outstanding!

While we waited for our hotel room to open up, we stopped at Albermare Ciderworks-- Mindy had a small flight, while I had the non-alcoholic version. We may go back...

We had some issues with our hotel--no working elevator, no king bed, and no TV (we moved to another room for the last item).  This is the place we were assigned by the timeshare company who wants us to buy (I guess they aren't very proud of their resort, where we go for the actual spiel).  Then, after the rain moved in and our first dinner choice fell through (how do restaurants pay their leases when they are only open a few days a week?) we noticed a wood fired pizza place across the street called Matchbox PIzza. Lucked out again-- excellent!

That's enough for now--tomorrow, we sit through a timeshare bit, then hopefully move onto more exciting things.

#TimeShared - Day 3

Ashland, VA
Latitude 37.45 degrees
Longitude 77.28 degrees

Reporting from a new state.  We started back in Charlotte, when we decided not to go back to the comic convention--we saw all we were going to see, and we had all the fun.  So, we moved onto Sunday brunch at Vicious Biscuit.  Wow, that was a LOT of food.  We shared beignets, I had a "Fat Boy" (fried chicken biscuit with pimento cheese), and Mindy had the "Vicious Benny" (Eggs Benedict in biscuit form).  It was great, but we had to continue with food comas.

Our next stops involved giant furniture--Thomasville, a quiet town that used to crank out furniture, has a giant chair that Presidents have sat in:

High Point, a surprisingly large town with tons of design shops, has a giant chest of drawers (which has a bureau inside it--there's a whole saga at roadsideamerica.com):

And Jamestown has a giant highboy inside a gate for a complex of furniture stores:

Meanwhile, Greensboro has a  downtown square devoted to O. Henry:

Crossing into Virginia, there's an old shoe factory that is now a hotel.  Bring in the giant heels!

We decided to shoot for the Richmond area tonight, so we're ready for tomorrow--a state house, and the reason this is called #timeshared.  We finished the day with serviceable Mexican food--nothing to write home about.

#TimeShared - Day 1

Matthews, NC
Latitude 35.8 degrees
Longitude 80.42 degrees

We started our trip early--was shooting for 8a, but made it by 7:30.  After a Sheetz breakfast, we headed south--out of Ohio and onto West Virginia.  They made our route into a turnpike, which normally I would okay with--we have an EZPass. The problem--drivers didn't seem to understand how a tollgate works, resulting in a near stoppage a mile long.

Finally made it!

Onto Virginia, specifically Wyethsville for three items--a giant pencil...

the birthplace of a First Lady...

...and Skeeter's, a local institution and a hot dog place.

The dogs were excellent, although a little strange.  The redness of the wiener is not a visual effect.  Not sure if they are smoked or pickled.  Also, for a place that has reportedly sold 9M frankfurters, they have yet to work out an efficient operation.

More driving through the mountains, and we made it to Charlotte, NC.  We came here for Heroes Con, the first comic book convention we're attending since the "before times". 

We came here several years ago, and it's a rare example of a real "comic" show.  No pro wrestlers signing autographs, no appearances by "red shirt #3 from episode 43 of Star Trek", no huge displays by media behemoths--just rows of comic dealers, publishers, and artists, along with some craft sellers.  We bought a 3 day pass, since we couldn't buy a day pass in advance. 

We picked up our passes (once we found the right booth), and took a quick tour around the place.  We did stop at the Ahoy Comics booth--an indie that we LOVE, and we've covered on our comics podcast.  PIcked up a couple trades there.  Tomorrow, we'll hit the floor in earnest, along with some sessions.

Atlanta to the Coast - Day 8

Our last day began with a trip through the misty mountains (which took longer than planned due to a GPS set to “no tolls”)…

…before making it to Charleston, WV and Mexican food at Plaza Maya.

This was just down the street from our fourth state house of the trip, and by far the largest. It’s a U-shaped building with the senate and house of delegates at each end. So I’m guessing employees get their 10K steps in without a problem.

Next to the prerequisite veterans’ statues is one celebrating women vets. Mindy noted that the names of those responsible for getting it in place were all men…

The rotunda is under reconstruction, so we couldn’t see a lot inside.

We did see a lot of hallways.

The AG REALLY doesn’t like visitors.

Our final stop on the road trip was a strange mini-museum dedicated to Big Boy restaurants. Apparently, one of the original drive-ins was located here. Now it’s in a parking lot.

Bye-bye, Big Boy.

Then we pointed the car toward home.

The whole trip ran just over 2000 miles over 8 days, and we are happy to be home. I’ll be posting a video covering the whole trip next week under the “From the Pop Culture Bunker” banner on SFPPN. Thanks for following us!

Atlanta to the Coast - Day 7

Our penultimate tour day began with a cameo by RBG.

Then we were off to our third state house of the trip, and by far our smallest one. The Raleigh capitol is roughly the size of many county courthouses.

We did have a bit of excitement there—someone was filming a production onsite. we saw extras standing in place, waiting to walk through the background.

Across the street was the North Carolina Museum of History—compact but well laid out (and free). It included 2 exhibits tailor-made for us: quilts and classic toys.

“Completely safe and harmless”

On the road to Roanoke, we came upon Shangri-La, a tiny town built in the front yard of it’s creator (who passed away decades ago).

A quick lunch at Gina’s Family Restaurant - a burger and a fish sammich.

We made it to the Roanoke hotel, took a nap, then went down into town. We started with a NY slice.

A BIG slice.

Did you know Roanoke has a hipster district?

We had read about a giant star up on a mountain, so we drove up a spooky road to find it.

The view of Roanoke below.

We finished things up with a post-star snack at Blue Cow Ice Cream.

That will do it for today. I just spent 90 minutes getting these loaded up (thanks slow hotel internet!) Tomorrow, a final statehouse, and then home.