A Virginia View Point

I never tire of sweeping Virginia views!

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Looking Ahead

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Look Mom! No Hands!

There is a major freeway in Virginia that boasts a long stretch of empty beauty.

No signs.

No buildings.

No commercial invitations.

No bathrooms either (the only downside).

But this big highway is wonderfully different.

It encourages liesure driving and a happy feeling of  enormous freedom.

The scenery is delicious too.

It is much like bike-coasting down a long softly sloping hill.

And although I know it is not particularly safe, I feel like hollering,

“Look Mom!  No hands!”

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Why I Love Virginia

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Discovering Clifton Forge Virginia USA

There are things happening in the small town of Clifton Forge, Virginia.  I didn’t realize how many things.

My friend and I stopped there because it’s only 45 minutes from “home” and we heard the little town was morphing into something special.

We stopped right in the center of town to begin our visit at the Alleghany Highlands Arts and Crafts Center.  Taking in the regular storefront facade.  I was thinking, “Ah well.  Just another ho-hum artsy craftsy place. But let’s take a look.”

What surprises were inside!

Handmade Honeysuckle Centerpiece Really Made of Honeysuckle!

Look! Look! Look!

After talking to the friendly volunteers in the Arts Center and marvelling at all the locally made treasures, we realized there was not enough time.  Clifton Forge is becoming a true art center.

First there is exciting rennovation going on at the Masonic Theatre (just down the street from the artsy craftsy place).  Work is in progress to create the most modern facility for theater, music, and community events.  There was mention of a sophisticated Art School too which is already populated with students from around the world..

And we noticed enticing shops – like a grand looking antique store and a hardware store that is supposed to be fabulous.  Now I know “fabulous” is a strange word for a hardware store but we were told not to miss it.  This particular place is so unique it even has a section devoted exclusively to WOMEN!

And of course, Clifton Forge was once a booming railroad town for over 100 years until the 1960’s.   I have to return there to visit the Railroad Museum where visitors can go through a 1940’s vintage train!

There are several restaurants, including Michel’s of authentic French cuisine, and the Club Car (where we had lunch) featuring the freshest of fresh everything.  I have to go back just to try the restaurants!

The sad thing is we simply did not have enough time to cover the charming town of Clifton Forge.

And as I put together this blog post, I realize there is not enough time to tell you all about it either because if we had just two more hours we would still be in the Alleghany Highlands Arts and Crafts Center browsing buying.

 

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How to Escape Home, Hearth, and a Harsh Winter

Are the ads for faraway places calling to you?  Do you need to escape the mundane?  Is the Winter getting you down?

Go Shopping Somewhere New!

Last week was fun!  My friend and I went shopping.  Ho Hum!  Everybody knows that shopping is “therapy,” but what about the thrill of FOOD shopping?

Admittedly, grocery stores are not exactly visits to paradise but when you live (like I do) in extreme suburbia (extremely close to being rural) and in a place that can be described as “no man’s land,” you too might find big city grocery stores to be a bit alluring.

And even if you already live in a big city, escaping to the inner sanctum of a truly caring market can be at least transporting.  It will get you out of the house and “blow the stink off,” as my good old Dad used to say.

Monticello
Home of Thomas Jefferson Charlottesville, Virginia en.wikipedia.org

Have a Regular Plan of Escape.

I escape by going on a once-a-month “outing” with a good friend.  A lot of the excitement is  in the planning and planning should be part of any program designed to accomplish successful escape.

For January’s a pre-planned monthly outing, my pal and I drove an hour to Charlottesville, Virginia.  The time en route let us catch up on our lives and any local gossip missed since the last outing.  Charlottesville is a pretty big city.   The University of Virginia is  there and Thomas Jefferson’s home, Monticello, to say nothing of a plethora of shopping opportunities.  There is a Downtown Mall where no cars are allowed and most dedicated shoppers probably start there but we stuck to the outskirts of town this time.

Charlottesville Dowtown Mall
en.wikipedia.org

First, Get it Out of your System.  Try On Beautiful Clothes! 

We started at Chico’s where the sizes in chic ladies’ apparel are tagged as 0’s, 1’s, 2’s, 3’s, and lately  in added point-5 increments like 2.5, 3.5, and I hope “on up.”  I’m not sure how high they go but I want to be mentally prepared after this winter of more malingering than moving. And I just love those little low size numbers that help me hone latent skills in the art of self deception.

I must say I admired my own restraint and actually did not walk out of Chico’s with anything but vague yearnings.

Lesson Learned:  Stick with Food as a Destination!

Next stop was BoDo’s – a very busy, happily beloved shop where people load up on plenty of New York style bagels.  My friend buys enough to freeze (conceivably to avoid future starvation) and I planned to buy enough to guarantee a Size 4 at Chico’s by next month’s outing!    I joined the masses and ordered 2 whole wheat (my nod to healthful eating), 2 onion, and 2 sesame.  Now I wish I had more and not just from fear of starvation.  They are absolutely delicious and it’s not bathing suit season yet after all.

The point is, I did not have to travel all the way to New York to get the real thing in bagels and the flavors are still lingering a week later.  This was my first clue that food shopping can transport a person to faraway places and create the illusion of a true escape.

Bodo’s Bagels is a trio of Charlottesville bagel shops serving “authentic New York water bagels” and has been a perennial winner of the C-Ville Weekly’s “Best of C-Ville” awards and was named by the magazine as Charlottesville’s “king of bagels.”  *Photo by Adam Sowers

 Now Keep Moving!  Go Beyond Bagels!

Beyond Bodo’s we hit Whole Foods and if you haven’t been there, it’s equivalent to a faraway land of  dreams.  We don’t have a Whole Foods where we live so I was entranced with all the produce in brilliant Technicolor.  There are cheeses of all conceivable kinds, sizes and flavors, the freshest looking fish and meats, the most heavenly bakery and everything you can imagine in between!  Would that I could live in a corner of Whole Foods!  I settled for a luscious looking apple pie (for Bill of course) and three loaves of bread; two Sour Dough and one Rye.

You might call this a “carbohydrate outing” since now I had

3 loaves of bread, 6 bagels and an apple pie!

Apples are healthful you know.  So are grains.  I am beyond happy!

 

Finally:  Be Sure to Head to Joe’s!

Please, we are not advocating an illicit affair!  Across the road from Whole Foods my friend and I visited Trader Joe’s.  That’s a market, not a man! We don’t have a Trader Joe’s where we live either.  I have not figured out TJ’s yet but someone described it as “the way old-timey markets used to look and feel.”  And someone else said, “They have such different things.”   Maybe the latter friend was thinking of Two Buck Chuck (which may have gone up like everything else) – a sort of cheap wine that I hear is pretty good. I did find some lovely goat cheese and a bottle of sub-lingual B-Vitamins my son advised will provide energy.  And I certainly need the energy to recuperate from all that shopping and inner-mind travelling.

And there you have it!

If you really do want to add spice to life, try shopping, but not just any shopping.

Try FOOD shopping somewhere new.

You will feel happy too and you will return home with the odd sense that you have been far away on an exotic vacation. 

You will even have the extra weight and caloric souvenirs to prove it.

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Awesome Nature Photo

“I have received many remarkable nature photographs over the years,

but this photo of a nesting Falcon is perhaps the most remarkable nature

shot that I have ever seen.

 I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.  

Nature is truly breathtaking!

 I’ve sent this to most of my older friends.

The younger ones probably have never seen a Falcon and wouldn’t recognize one.”

 

Actually, this photograph and note came to me in an email.

The original source is  unknown but thank you Steve for passing it on.

And you’re right, I didn’t recognize the falcon.

Does that mean I’m in the “younger” category?  Ha!

 

 

 

Photographer: Unknown

 

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