Sojourn Days 81-82
Day 81 October 8 After a great night’s sleep and breakfast, we packed up the van and thanks to Walt’s enthusiasm were armed with historical routes and things to see and do based on the Civil War involvement in the area. We already know that we must come back to Virginia and spend more time. We must thank Carolle and Walt for the wonderful time that we had with them the past couple of days. We will never remember all of the historical facts and figures that they have learned over the years, but we certainly loved hearing about them and seeing the places that they shared with us. They live in a spot of paradise, for sure.
The route we picked going south was delightful, very little traffic and time for us to savor the area one more time. We stopped several times to take pictures along the way. The weather today is crisp and clear. Upper 50s for highs, and frost expected in the suburbs west of Washington, DC.
We disappointedly were unable to find a campground off of US301 when we were ready to stop for the night, and although we had already bought chops to grill, and planned to have a roaring campfire for the last time, we had to settle for a nice room at a Hampton Inn in Wilson, NC.
Based on the hotel’s “top spots” list, we chose to eat at the Beefmaster Inn. This restaurant only seats a maximum of 44 people. When we arrived they told us it would be a 45 minute wait and that we could order a beer or wine, sit in our car and they would call us when a table was ready. This place is so small they have only had two seats for waiting and no bar area. We decided to wait inside so that we could watch the whirling dervish staff in action. When we asked to look over the menu in advance, we were told that they only offered one meal, and that was a ribeye steak, baked potato, salad bar, grilled garlic bread and a large steamed onion. The proprietor was doing all of the cooking on an open grill just inside the front door. In addition to bringing the whole ribeye to the table and cutting it to the thickness that you order, he took everyone’s order without taking any notes.
Two young men were in constant motion keeping up with all of the other details, and as a team they had the operation down to a science. We never felt rushed, just in awe of what was happening before our eyes. The steaks melted in our mouths, and it was all we could do to finish the amount of food presented to us. What a find, and in this little out of the way, off of the beaten path town. Keep in mind that it is a Monday night, and a holiday (Columbus Day), and they still had a waiting time of almost an hour.
Day 82 October 9 Uploaded our web site one more time while on the road before we left our room. We reluctantly got on Interstate 95 for the drive today. After all of the charming country roads we have been on the past few months, it was a shock to our senses to be caught up in the high speed traffic. We arrived home shortly before 6 PM, just in time for the rush hour traffic.
The first thing that greeted us was the warm humid air. We could have closed our eyes and known we were back in Florida. The house looked to be in great shape, the lawn was cut, and every home had an American Flag flying on the lamppost. One of our neighbors had even put one up for us in our absence.
Thank you God for watching over us on our journey and bringing us safely home.