Winter Swim

No, I am not the type of person who wants to run into an icey sea for any reason.

However, I continue to miss swimming in a warmer pool of water.  BigFoot has also been crying out for a bit more exercise.

About BigFoot:

For any newcomers to my blog, please know that BigFoot is the nickname for a problematical left foot that swells off and on.  There were nine different diagnoses. The latest concensus is a combination of arthritis and a damaged nerve.

Submersion in water seems to help the swelling.  But mostly there is the proud reaction I get from simply sinking into the water and hanging on a noodle.  If I kick my feet I feel like I’m exercising!

I suppose you can tell I have begun to visit our community indoor pool – our local Aquatics Center.  What a joy!

I have been there one time and ready for the second visit this week!

It is a dome covered pool.  It is also the largest pool I have ever seen except on t.v. for the summer Olympics.  There are eight very long lanes and at the time I went, I had two of them all to myself.

I think those open two lanes are reserved for un-serious lap swimmers, who simply dog paddle on a noodle from end to end.

Wait a minute!  Isn’t EXERCISE really a subjective term?

In my case it means BigFoot is engaged in gentle kicking.

On Day One I even abandoned the noodle for short periods of real swinning.  Now that is EXERCISE –  right?

Like I said, “subjective.”

Now please stay tuned for more excitement after my Day Two visit this week.

 

 

 

 

 

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The Golden Garden

Bill and I just discovered a golden restaurant to return to again and again.

 

The Golden Garden is comparatively new in our little town of Lexington, Virginia.  It specializes in Sushi and Pan Asian Cusine.  “What is Pan Asian Cuisine?” I asked Google and came up with foods originating from the greater continent of Asia including, but not limited to, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Korean, and Indian.

Let’s try it,” we said.

Over the years we have devised our own criteria list for ranking local restaurants:

• Must be quiet enough to talk without yelling,
• must be very clean,
• have pleasant wait staff,
• and hopefully serve great tasting healthy food.

The Golden Garden surpassed all our criteria. The restaurant is quiet enough, very clean, and the staff are lovely, kind, eager to please and welcoming.  Not only is their food delicious but it is beautifully presented and there is so much of it, you inveitably wind up boxing up for lunch the next day.

We were so impressed with this new restaurant in our little town that we returned for dinner the following week.  I loved the Shrimp with Mixed Vegetables (with optional White Sauce and Brown Rice) and also tried their Wonton Soup, Spring Rolls, and the Seaweed Salad  – all truly scrumtious!  To give you an idea of the size of the entree, Bill had General Tso’s Chicken (see photo below).

Bill’s General Tso’s Chicken after he added rice on top and stirred around the initial presentation.

I wish I had taken photos of the entrees as they were presented, as yet untouched.  Guess I was too eager to dive in!

Anyway, if you live in or near Lexington, Virginia, or if you are simply visiting, remember that Dor highly recommends The Golden Garden.

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Mud Running for Fun

My Friend, Amy

“Huh?”

That’s was my reaction when Amy, said she is going on a mud run tomorrow.

Mud Run?  What is a mud run?

Amy gets into the most interesting things like trampoline jumpology parties, escape rooms, getting a trucker’s license, playing the violin and taking cello lessons, etc!  And she never fails to provide varying subjects for blog posts.

But have you ever heard of the Marine Mud Run in Salem, Virginia?

That is her latest?

23rd ANNUAL

Marine 5k Mud Run/Devil Dog Dare

Saturday, October 6, 2018

Greenhill Park

Roanoke County, VA

The Marine Mud Run will be entering their 23rd year and has become an historical community event. Over the past twenty-two years, more than 30,000 “runners” have participated, generating over $300,000.00 to benefit the Roanoke Toys for Tots Foundation and Camp Roanoke. Both of these organizations benefit underprivileged children in the Roanoke Valley.

 

If you have yet to take the Marine Mud Run Challenge, you’re missing out on the cleanest fun you’ll ever have with a 5K race! As you will see from the pictures on our web site, it’s a pretty muddy affair.

Many folks ask, just how tough is the course? We reply, it’s as hard or easy as you want it to be! We have semi-pro runners down to the neighbor next door that has never entered a 5k race. Devil Dog Dare, Individual and 5 Person Team races and the Devil Pup Dare, a shorter version for kids 12 years and under.

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Adventures of BigFoot in the Big City

Baltimore, MD -The View from our room.

I am home from a Big City-BigFoot adventure and happy to be alive and well.

Baltimore is a beautiful old Maryland city, with more than enough to do if you are young, agile, and don’t mind horrific traffic in the inner city.

Strike “young.”

Strike “agile.”

As for the traffic?

A nightmare!

But we somehow got where we were going in spite of white knuckle rides and hysterical screaming at our GPS lady and maybe one or two jabs at each other (to say nothing of unacceptable language).

For solace, we turned to food.

Have you ever had Maryland crab cakes?  They are the best and of course I had to have crab at Phillips’ famous seafood restaurant.  It was just around the block from the hotel, but may as well have been on Mars.

I am back to driving challenges again!  Sigh.

 

But of course, the original purpose of our visit to Baltimore was for an appointment with an expert orthopedic doctor at The Institute for Foot and Ankle Reconstruction at Mercy.

And a wonderful doctor did spend a whole hour with us, discussing, analyzing, offering advice and answering many questions.

In a nutshell, this Gimpy Gal (me, Big Foot) simply (or maybe not) has an injured “talus” bone that may take a long time to heal.

So it was back to frolicking in Baltimore!

We frolicked over to the Whole Foods place and actually started to get lost in the garage.  But we somehow frolickedstumbled into the place and found the six loaves of decadent bread I wanted so badly!

We would surely not starve with all that in the car right?

At breakfast next morning we managed some exciting sight seeing by looking out the window next to our table (no driving required).

There was a mysterious tent-covered barge-like THING with a giant water wheel and it was parked and floating in the harbor basin, and the big water wheel seemed to turn of its own accord when and if it wanted to.

We took turns guessing what the mysterious barge might be.

And I wondered why technology wouldn’t let me take a picture and ask Google to please identify the unidentified object.  Why couldn’t I just say, “Hey Google, What is this?”

Whatever it was though,  it made for great conversation over pancakes!

Can YOU guess what it really is?

This is the unidentified floating object.

To be continued….

 

 

 

 

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Windows

View from the Sheridan Livery Inn, Lexington, Virginia

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Bear With Me – Part 2

BigBruno

If you are weary of hearing about my bear visitors here in rural Virginia, I do understand.  I hope you are able to “grin and bear it.”

But I must recount the latest episode.  This time I was away from home with a friend.

We were out for lunch at a general store (and diner) in Natural Bridge Station, Virginia.  That is only a few miles from the actual Natural Bridge (an awesome sight indeed).

The Natural Bridge  is also now a Virginia State Park.

Anyway, we pulled into the driveway of the little general store and there he was – Bruno’s father! BIGBruno!

He was crossing the parking lot right in front of us.  And he went loping down an embankment to a little stream, and up the other side to cross the road into the woods.

Could I get out of othe car without fear of bodily harm?  No.

I was on the bear’s side!

Could I outrun the bear?  No.

Still having trouble hobbling around on a bad foot, but even if it was normal……. well, you get the picture.

Was I stupid enough to get out of the car (on BigBruno’s side) and slowly make my way to the diner entrance?

Yes.

And so it was.  Lunch was a breathless affair recounting the story to the hostess.  She said they had been frying bacon all morning.  Well, no wonder BigBruno was enamoured of the place!

And on the wall was this frightening image!

It looked just like him.

I still don’t know if it was a photograph or a painting, but BigBruno loomed out of the canvas as big and wild and beautiful as I could ever conjure up in a dream/nightmare.

Lunch was delicious by the way.  A very informal setting with all natural all fresh salads and sans – everything to a bear’s liking!

Another adventure in Virginia country living.

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Exercise, Camaraderie and Smiles

There is a dance that is new to me and maybe to you too.  It is a dance that is “as old as the hills.”

My good friend, Amy, who is always trying new things, filled me in on this enchanting activity that is good clean fun, great exercise, and a place to meet friends and smile.

 Have you ever heard of Contra Dancing?

Well, one site describes it like this: “If Swing Dancing and Square Dancing met in a bar, you’d get Contra.”

• It is similar to square dancing but not the same.
• It is considered a social dance that you can attend without a partner, but is danced in pairs.
• It is danced in long lines and couples progress up and down the lines dancing with each other and other couples in the line.
• There is a caller who teaches the sequence of figures before the music starts.
• The music can be Irish, Scottish, old-time, or French Canadian folk tunes.
• It is impossible not to smile at the music.
• The fiddle is the core instrument, but can also feature the guitar, banjo, bass and mandolin.

 Contra is a folk dance with mixed origins from English country, Scottish,  and French dance styles in the 17^th century and African influence from Appalachia.  Sometimes described as New England folk dance or Appalachian folk dance, Contra Dances can be found around the world as well as in most US states.

Check out Contra Dancing in your state or community.  Guaranteed to make you smile!

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Heading for the Salt Mines

Actually, there is a Himalayan Salt Cave/Spa nearby in Forest, Virginia.

Have you ever tried reviving yourself in a Himalayan Salt Cave?  This is now on my bucket list!

And no, you don’t have to work with a pick and axe to retrieve salt from a mine.  You can just sit down and soak up the purified air or get a massage or have a family get-together!

From the London’s Salt Spa Website: “Here is our spacious, relaxing and therapeutic Salt Cave, where you will experience the healing and relaxing power of our pink salt from the Himalayan Mountains.  Sit back in our Zero Gravity chairs, relax and breathe while the cave purifies, replenishes, and rejuvenates your mind and body. For the optimal respiratory comfort, we keep the Salt Cave at a stable humidity of 30-50% and temperatures range between 70-74 degrees. Fresh Blankets And socks Are Provided.”

 

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Joy at The Fat Tuna

“He was a bold man that first ate an oyster.”  

~Jonathan Swift

If you are ever in Williamsburg, Virginia and you’re hungry (especially if you are hungry for shell fish), I discovered a place I would drive three hours to go back to.  It is called The Fat Tuna Grill and Oyster Bar.

I was yearning for  seafood  and though it is available “inland” where I live, it is oddly not quite satisfying.  But on our trip to Williamsburg I learned I  had forgotten the joy of consuming fresh oysters on the half shell and big fat broiled shrimp dipped in butter!

And that is exactly what I ordered at The Fat Tuna – oysters on the half shell and broiled shrimp.

Ambrosia!

Bill doesn’t know it yet, but I am planning a calculated semi-yearly blitz urging him to join me in return trips to Williamsburg – just for a repeat of that dinner!  Tomorrow would not be too soon.

But back to my somewhat less than professional food critic’s review:

I was oohing and ahhing so much the smiling Manager came over and touched my shoulder in gratitude for such exuberant appreciation of the chef.

I loved the service too.  “Star” understood  and she was truly a star in bringing us fabulous warm hush puppies and corn bread for starters.  I am off grains of course, but had a taste of each to set me swooning for more.   Selected sides were green beans cooked to perfection and fabulously delicious coleslaw.  And Key Lime Pie for dessert – the real thing!

The Fat Tuna is a casual dining destination – meaning it is not hoity-toity and you don’t have to dress up but it is pleasantly appointed.

Can you tell how much I love this restaurant?

If you love seafood too and you are anywhere near (or even far), The Fat Tuna is the place to go.

 

1433 Richmond Road
Williamsburg,Virginia 23185

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Williamsburg Adventure

Chownings Tavern – Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia

The Way We Were

Tavern Reception Team

Bill and I have been escaping the past several days, on a brief trip to Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia – not the first time for sure.  There is always something to see and do and never enough time for any of it.

The main allure of this incredible place is the ability to experience a “living museum”

where you can see and feel the past

whilst knowing you are viewing it from the future.

O.K. I know this doesn’t make much sense but it is perfectly true.

But we had another reason to visit the area this time.

We stopped at the MAI Conference being held at the Williamsburg Lodge!

Our friend, Pete, is the organizer and MAI stands for Mid Atlantic Innkeepers, so it was a conference and trade show for Bed and Breakfast people.

Attendees are either eager Hosts and Hostesses, eagerly Aspiring hosts and hostesses, or eager Suppliers of eager hosts and hostesses.

In any case, they are all delightfully friendly energetic people enjoying courses, classes, and camaraderie dedicated to optimizing the travel experience in today’s bustling new world.

Here are photographs of our friends who were working so hard to make the conference a success.

MAI Organizer Pete Holladay
http://midatlanticinnkeepers.com

Beautiful Friends Phebe and Katherine

Bill Wondering Where We Were

Believe it or not, the Williamsburg Lodge was a stop on our bus route around the periphery of Colonial Williamsburg.  We had lunch at Chownings Tavern along the way.

Bill tried the Shepherd’s Pie with Root Beer to swig it all down.  And I had Brunswick Stew and hot apple cider.  We were serenaded by a lovely lady in period costume who played the fiddle and then we were visited by a fellow who looked like John Adams. Then we heard a fife in the back room.

Talk about being transported back in time!

How I would love to vacation again in Colonial Williamsburg – but via a time machine back to 1734.  Then I would return of course, to all my modern conveniences!

Well, a lunch hour at the Tavern in the restored Old Towne will have to do.

A Colonial Street of Homes

 

Wood Pile at the Ready

 

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