4:45 AM, the temperature in Omaha is either 42ºF and foggy (our back yard) or 22ºF and freezing fog (Millard Airport.) We begin our 11 day journey covering two weddings and a cross country trip to first the east coast and then the west coast. Today’s final destination is Charlottesville Virginia and an itinerary via Omaha’s Eppley Airfield to Chicago to Washington D.C. From there we pick up our rental vehicle to drive towards Charlottesville. It is going to be a long day ahead.
Abigail arrived promptly at 6:15 AM to act as our chauffeur to Eppley Airfield as we begin the journey. We are all checked in by 7:00 and even have time to waste $2.00 on a paper edition of the Omaha World Herald, the local rag. The eight sheets of double fold newsprint didn’t seem worth the pice, but it had been so long since we were able to read and actually complete the crossword and puzzles on paper that it was a joy. Easier to carry on the airplane, too. We will be spending a lot of time in airplanes over the next 10 days; Deb was able to use some travel points to obtain upgrades to 1st class on this two-leg trip, so we eased into the oversized seats and looked forward to good food. Wrong! A plastic bag containing some pretzels, a small bottle of water and a prepackaged German wafer in a plastic wrapping was the offering in this cabin. Oh, and some champagne if you wanted it at 7:20 in the morning!
An uneventful flight arrived on time to Chicago. We walked from B terminal to C terminal for our next flight to D.C. This leg was in a much smaller United Express jet, with single seat large 1st class seats. Deb enjoyed a glass of wine with her bag of goodies this time before dozing off for an hour of rest. Mark read, forgoing the wine as there was a long drive coming up. We landed on time at National Airport (I refuse to add the name Reagan to this terminal) and we collected our mid-sized Toyota Camry for the drive to Charlottesville.
On the road, fighting the D.C. megapolis traffic, we only managed two wrong turns in the first half hour. About par for the course whenever we arrive in this city. Every time we have visited in the past, we have managed to mess up our first few turns away from the airport. We eventually sorted out and headed south and west towards our destination of Ruckersville Virginia. It was a lovely and scenic drive. We eventually left the freeway traffic and used two-lane highways so we could enjoy the countryside. The redbuds and dogwood trees were in full blush. The azaleas and rhododendrons were at full bloom and the greenery was at its best. A great drive.
We arrived at our Holiday Inn Express in Ruckersville shortly after 5:00 PM and moved our seven pieces of luggage into the room and made contact with Glenda Pierce and Jeff Kirkpatrick. We received directions to our dinner site, The 3 Notches Bar and Restaurant in downtown Charlottesville, another 35 minutes away. We met Glenda and Jeff, and claimed our table in the outside seating area just as the rest of the party arrived. This included, Ryan Kirkpatrick (the Groom), Isabelle Duerr (the Bride), Tom and Gloria Duerr (parents of the bride), and Gloria’s sister Karen and her son Sam.
The 3 Notches is a beer garden; we had a table for 10 in the outside beer garden area, but we were not the only large party in the space. The noise level was such that hearing each other talk was difficult and there was a lot of shouting going on. The food was good, hamburgers and fries, the beer was very acceptable, and the house red wine seemed most drinkable. The place was closing up by 9:00, which seemed awfully early to our midwestern senses, but locals didn’t seem to mind.
We headed back to our hotel, arriving about 9:45 and headed directly to bed, the end of a very long day. No real problems encountered and lots of new things to see and do in the days to come.
