June 9-10, 2024

Sunday morning and we are moving slowly. We packed the Toyota, more stuff than we had when we arrived - surprise, surprise. We found our way out of town and headed south, our eventual destination today is Charleston, South Carolina. As we saw the sign for Colonial Beach, we decided to see if we could find the location of Mt. Moriah farm, Mark’s boyhood summer haunt. This was the original farm purchased in the early 1900’s by his great-grandfather James R. Covert. The farm was sold to developers in the early 1960’s. For over 10 summers, Mark and his brothers and parents journeyed to King George County, Virginia to spent the entire summer at the farm. There they ran through the fields and woods, played marauding Indians and threw rotting walnuts at the outhouse.

We drove past Ninde Corner, found Tetotum Road, and eventually the sign for Mt. Moriah On The Potomac private community. We drove down the quiet lanes, passing huge McMansions tucked into the woods, and eventually found a drive that led to a bluff overlooking the Potomac River. There was the old summer home, now added upon and dressed up, but still there. We snapped a picture or two and then headed back toward the highway and turned south again.

We reached the Potomac Beach area at 11:30 AM and decided it was time to stop for lunch at the famous Wilkerson’s Seafood Restaurant for crab. They started service with deep fried fritters as an appetizer. We ordered crab cakes and a crab cake sandwich, accompanied by a salad bar, wine, cherry coke and a beer. The food was as excellent as we remembered, although very pricey. Back on the road, we continued through Colonial Beach and on towards South Carolina.

This was a very long driving day. Abigail occupied the gunner’s position in the rear and Deb and Mark switched back and forth in the pilot’s chair. Deb took the last shift and piloted us into Charleston at 9:20 PM - a very long drive with only one gas stop and a driver switchover. We arrived at our hotel, The Emeline, gave our vehicle over to the valet for the next two days and hired the bellman to haul our luggage up to the 4th floor. We poured ourselves a glass of wine, broke out the last of our cheese and crackers and called it a day.

The Hotel Emeline is perfectly located in old town Charleston. It aspires to be an upscale establishment and is nicely furnished. How ever similar to a Stephen King movie it may appear, it was not quite up to its self imposed standards. Although offering a pair of king sized beds, the mattresses were too soft. There was an inspiring marbled bath with separate toilet room, but only one small wastebasket; the shower, while of marble and commodious, lacked a grab bar for safety, especially when the soap got under foot on the marble floor. The pump bottle of lotion on the sink counter was nice, but soap would have been better. They were trying, but just a bit off the mark.

On Monday morning, we were up and looking for coffee; only cups in the room, but no coffee maker. It turns out the coffee machines were placed in the elevator lobby of each floor. Two espresso machines but only one was working. Mark schlepped the coffee back and forth, and then we decided it was time to explore. Abigail powered up her computer and logged into work. The rest of us showered, shaved and applied make-up. We broke for lunch and walked into the old market area and found Tommy Condon’s Irish restaurant. Abigail lunched on a beautiful set of fish and chips, Mark enjoyed a Ruben sandwich, and Deb indulged in a bowl of potato soup. Wine was ordered, and Abigail ordered a “Peach Paddy Rita,” essentially a peach Bellini margarita.  Deb and Mark headed out to explore the old Charleston Market Place while Abigail returned to the hotel lobby coffee shop to go back into work.

Deb and Mark returned about 3:00 PM, lightly laden but tired. Mark went up for a nap and Deb stayed with Abigail for a coffee and visit while she worked. We had arranged to meet our grandson Adrian at the nearby Mario’s Italian Ristorante for dinner, so we ordered an Uber and arrived to find Adrian at 6:00 PM. The restaurant was a charming local establishment with good service. We started with a Dirty Martini, a Lemon Drop Martini and the “boys” opted for a couple of glasses of the House Red wine. we moved on to Lasagna al Forno, Carbonara, Mussels in white wine sauce, and Linguine ala frutti de Mare. For dessert, there was cheesecake with a strawberries drizzle and a large cannoli covered in chocolate sauce.  All the food was excellent and we had a wonderful visit with Adrian, now stationed at Joint Base Charleston with  USAF. Rain showers had started as we finished our dinner, so we ordered a shared Uber to return us to the hotel and Adrian to his apartment near the base.

Back in the hotel, we read, watched the tail end of the movie Chicago and finally fell into a deep sleep, at least Mark and Deb did. The last waking view of Abigail was as she labored away on her fourth pair of knitted socks, on towards her goal of 10 pairs for June in celebration of Pride month. A good day, a great chance to visit our grandson/nephew and an exploration of a city, even if we didn't get to see that much.

June 6-8, 2024

We are on the Road Again! We knew it was time for a road trip, when we received an invitation from Mark’s cousin Marcia Covert Chaves for her 80th birthday party on the East coast and decided to make a trip of it. Abigail agreed to come along as our third driver, so, on Thursday, June 6, we loaded the car, Abigail’s computer, all our electronic devices, and left Omaha, headed for Fredericksburg, Virginia. We pulled out of our driveway at 7:10 AM and motored over to Abby’s house to pick her up. She was standing in the driveway, knitting in hand, awaiting our arrival (she had dropped off her suitcase the night before for pre-loading.)

The weather was beautiful, and with Mark behind the wheel, Abigail in the front seat with her lap desk, inverter plugged in and her computer fired up, Deb in the rear navigator/gunner position, we were on our way. Abigail promptly logged into her office and began work - a whole new meaning to working from the road. As she worked on various payrolls from around the country, we listened to NPR’s Morning Edition, sipped our coffee and headed south toward Kansas City on I-29. From KCMO, we turned left on I-70 towards St. Louis. Our expected destination on this first day was Frankfort, Kentucky, approximately 675 miles from home. We were packed with a cooler full of soda and water, pre-made sandwiches of cheese, peanut butter, or Swiss cheese/ salami to choose from, and an entire snack bag of chips and crackers. We were prepared! This was our first lengthy trip (down and back to Lincoln, NE doesn’t count) in our new Toyota RAV 4 (color, “Glacial Ice”) and we were anxious to see how this Hybrid performed on the highway. Although we missed our previous Subaru Crosstrek, we quickly realized the benefits of a more commodious vehicle with even more electronic gadgetry to confuse and befuddle us. 

Somewhere near Columbia, Missouri, we stopped at a McDonald’s for a burger, an ice cream cone, french fries and a bathroom break. We then dropped over to a gas station for refuelling and a driver switchover. Deb assumed piloting duties, and Mark repaired to the gunner’s chair to rest and read. Abigail continued in the co-pilot seat with commentary, in between emails to her office team members, clients, and attending to their payrolls. As the afternoon progressed, we sped through St. Louis and viewed the famous Gateway Arch (first time for Abby) as we crossed the Missouri, switched over from I-70 to I-64, and then the Mississippi, into Illinois. Next through Indiana, and then into Kentucky, winding our way through Louisville. Outside of Louisville, we stopped for another fuel break, and again switched pilots. this time Mark took back over the driving duties, Abigail, having logged off from work, moved to the gunner seat, and Deb switched into the co-pilots seat for navigator duties. 

We arrived at our destination, The Best Western Inn in Frankfort around 7:30 PM, a little over 12 hours on the road. We were tired, a bit cranky, but all still alive and unmaimed, although we had to send a proof of life picture of Mark to Darcy!  We had a glass of wine from our stash, finished off our sandwiches and fell into beds advertised as Queen Size but feeling suspiciously like double-bed size. No matter, we were tired and fell asleep with nary a sound of a TV.

Friday morning we were up, breakfasted at the morning breakfast bar, caffeinated, and reloaded for the road by 9:00 AM. We move onward to our final destination, with Mark in the pilot’s seat, Abigail again logged into work in the co-pilot’s seat and Deb in the rear gunner’s position (much to her chagrin). We passed through some wonderful horse country in Kentucky and then into the mountains of West Virginia. We remained on I-64, although at some point it became the West Virginia Turnpike, a Toll Road. As we pulled up to the first toll booth, Mark pulled out his trusty Visa card to hand to the cashier - “Sorry, no credit or debit cards - cash only!” A quick scramble for cash - $4.25 required - and we were on our way, with Mark grumbling for the next 150 miles and one more Toll Booth about “Who the HXXX doesn’t accept credit cards in this day and age? If they didn’t want to pay the credit card processing fee, just raise the price 25 cents!” (Deb’s note:  Ad Nauseum is the word that comes to mind).

We finally crossed into Virginia and heading  towards Charlottesville, still traveling on I-64. Reaching Charlottesville, we left the Interstate highway system and switched over to scenic small roads for the final run into Fredericksburg. Of course, there was the bickering amongst ourselves as to which route to follow, the one we thought we could see on the paper map, or the one our GPS was plotting for us. Abigail finally convinced the Bickersons in the front seat to “quit your bitchin’” and just follow the GPS, which turned out to be amazingly accurate, delivering us to our destination in Fredericksburg right at 6:30 PM. We checked into our hotel, drove  to cousin Marcia’s house to visit with her and her daughter Sara, both of whom took a break from their party preparations to welcome us. After a short visit, we returned to our hotel, The Hampton Inn, ordered delivery from the Neighborhood Taco Bell, (Crunchwrap’s and Burritos) ate in our motel room with another glass of wine from our stash box, and retired for the night. Still billed as Queen-sized beds, these were slightly larger (not much) but seemed to do the trick. We had ravelled 1,255 miles from Omaha and were ready to rest for a bit.

Saturday morning - Party day. We slept in a bit, showered and cleaned a bit and got down to the breakfast room just before the 10:00 closing time and enjoyed a decent breakfast. We snagged a bagel and cream cheese to take back to the room as Abigail was last up and still luxuriating in the shower. After dressing, Deb and Abigail struck out for a couple of Yarn shops they had located while Mark stayed behind to read and relax. When the ladies returned, we rested for a bit, changed into our Party clothes after a bit of ironing to square away a blouse or two, and then off to the party at Belmont, the home of the late artist Gari Melcher. The estate is now an historical site and includes a lovely venue for weddings receptions and parties. Marcia, the guest of honour, was looking lovely as she greeted over 100 of her friends and relatives. 

We visited with a lot of Mark’s relatives and friends from years past. Mark spent most every summer of his youth in the Fredericksburg area, attended the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, and was enjoying seeing all these people although, luckily for name tags, he didn’t have to struggle too much to recognise some of the guests. Marcia’s late husband, Juan Chaves, was a roommate of Mark’s at UVA and Mark introduced the couple. A bit of Cupid mischievous that actually worked!

The party and photo taking stretched a bit past 4:00 PM. As this day is “knit in public” day, we stopped for a quick knit on a lovely bench. We returned to the hotel room, changed clothes and then journeyed back to Marcia’s house for a visit. We left there around 7:00 PM, saying our long Nebraska goodbyes, and then headed for dinner. We had researched the internet and double checked some of our choices with locals and finally chose the Paradise Diner. Great choice. We had a couple of glasses of Pinot Noir, accompanying a souvlakia sandwich, a crab cake sandwich, and turkey and gravy with mashed potatoes. The food was really good, especially after so many days of fast food.

We returned, to rest read and watch super-regional baseball before falling asleep at nearly 10:30 PM. We had a whirlwind trip and tomorrow we hit the road again, touring further south with a goal of Charleston SC. Our grandson, Adrian covert is stationed at Joint Base Charleston in the Air force and we are hoping to catch up with him for at least a meal. More driving coming up.

The Wedding Stories, Sunday, April 25, 2022

A clear and sunny morning as we arose to pack our bags and prepare for departure from the Ruckersville Holiday Inn Express. The breakfast room this morning was mostly clear. Plenty of hot scrambled eggs, sausage and Sausage gravy with biscuits. We indulged. When sated we finished packing and double checking our room for leavings. Somehow our luggage load had grown, not more suitcases, but more stuff, partial bottles of wine and soda water, remainders of cheese, crackers, and a box of chocolates had managed to add to our load.

We wrestled all into our rental Camry and headed out for adventure. We had agreed to meet the wedding party at a winery around two so we had some time to kill. We headed north a few miles to find a pottery store whose advert we had noted earlier in the hotel lobby. Not very far away, but they didn’t open until noon  and as Deb has established an Etsy Store to try and shed a lot of the collectibles we have accumulated over the years, we decided we really didn’t need another bunch of doodads anyway so headed down the road. 

The road signs noted that the famous Skyline Drive through the Shenandoah National Park was just ahead, on the west side of the village of Stannardville, so we thought what the heck. We had driven this some 25 years ago but were up for the fun. We pulled in to the entry booth, lamented the facts that 1) the entry fee was $30.00 and 2) we had once again left our National Park Pass allowing free entry back home in a drawer. As Mark handed over his cash, he asked the Ranger if he was the only forgetful retiree who never remembers his Pass on long vacation trips from home. She chuckled, handed him his receipt and said “It happens more often than you would believe!”

We first headed north for about 15 miles until we realised we should head south if we were to eventually end up near the winery, so we turned around and began the 40 mile sojourn towards Waynesboro. The scenery was wonderful. The understory trees, dogwoods and redbuds, were in bloom, but the rest of the forest was just beginning to leaf out, allowing some marvellous views at the overlooks and through the trees. So stunning that we failed to even think of taking photos! Making these bloggers feel foolish this morning.

We stopped at the Park Store along the way and used the facilities, purchased some cold bottled water and two insulated water bottles and a pack of strawberry wafer crisps. This, combined with leftover cheese and crackers consumed in the parking lot accounted for our lunch, $35.00 of the store purchases, $30.00 for the entry fee - your basic $65.00 picnic lunch in the car on the move! But there was a view!

At exactly two o’clock we pulled into the destination of the Knights Gambit Winery, somewhere near Crozet, Virginia. The balance of the party pulled in shortly thereafter and we enjoyed another glass of wine and leftover cheese, veggies and fruit from the previous evenings festivities. We visited with some of our new friends, and gave our continued wishes to the newlyweds. After an hour, we said our goodbyes. We will see Glenda and Jeff again on the coming Friday in California, so we headed out to follow the backroads to Fredericksburg. It was a beautiful day for an afternoon drive and we stayed off main roads as we made our way eastward through central Virginia.

We arrived at the stone home of Marica Covert Chaves at 5:30. Her home is literally on the banks of the Rappahanock River in Falmouth, Virginia, just across the river from Fredericksburg. The name Falmouth arises due to the fact that this is the uppermost navigable point of the Rappahanock River, below the Falls. Another boring history lesson for readers.

We met with all the Fredericksburg Covert kids, Marcia, Cindy and Hampton. Marcia’s two children Sara and John, along with their spouses and a good collection of their children were present, as well as Cindy’s husband Pete Marshall, Hamp’s wife Bunny, and their daughter Kerry and her fiancé Eric. We learned that this is the first large family get together for their extended family in over three years, therefore we were warmly welcomed as the catalyst for the gathering! We dined alfresco on grilled brats and chicken, breaded snakehead fish which delicacy one of the family had caught the day before, and side dishes of macaroni, potato salad, cole slaw and tomato aspic. The conversation stretched into the dusk and broke up as the bugs came out for their evening meal. The younger families headed out as it was a school/work night, and the oldsters were fading fast. Again, we were having such a good time that pictures were forgotten- an error we will lament for a long time.

We headed out and found our hotel a few miles away - the Hyatt Place Fredericksburg. We pulled in and Deb stepped into the lobby to check in. Just as she finished, the fire alarms for the building went off and the lobby quickly filled as the guests streamed outside, along with the front desk clerk rapidly talking into her phone. Fire trucks arrived and a false alarm was declared. The alarms were reset, all headed back in and we unloaded our luggage and elevatored up to our third floor room. Smaller than the last few days, but obviously a step up in our accommodations, the fire alarm notwithstanding. We unpacked, sat to talk over the day, realised we had taken no pictures, read until the eyelids could no longer handle it and dozed off near 10:45 another long full day in Virginia. 

The Wedding Stories, Saturday, April 24, 2022

Today dawns sunny and bright, perfect weather for a spring wedding, the first of our sojourn. Although the day may get warm, trending towards hot before it ends, this morning is absolutely beautiful. We arise, cleanse the bodies and head to the breakfast room. Still full of track and field athletes strutting their perfect bodies (and all so uncommonly tall to my short eyes!) There were also some folks that we met at last night’s rehearsal after party, although most didn’t recognize us in our civilian attire.

After our eggs, sausage gravy over biscuits and sausage links, we piled into our chariot and headed back to the wedding venue. The wedding party was staying at the old, large home, converted to a B & B for the final two nights of the festivities. The place was a huge old antebellum home, fireplaces in every room, wide plank southern pine flooring, and enough bedrooms for the entire entourage.

The joint was hopping this morning. All the bridesmaids were flitting about, waiting their turn with the imported make-up artist, as were the mothers. Dads and groomsmen were milling about, trying to stay out of the way of the important people (the females) or fetching morning coffee or champagne from the kitchen.

We spent an hour on the front porch, visiting with Glenda and Jeff, admiring the setting and the home, and generally lending moral support representing 50% of the Nebraska non-wedding party guest list. When it was time for Glenda to enter  the makeup chamber, we took our leave and drove back to the hotel. We toyed with the thought of going back into town for a bit, but then realized we wouldn’t have time before needing to be back by 3:00 PM to change our clothes. So, we made an executive decision to visit the Charlottesville Trader Joe’s mart. TJ’s is one of our standard store visits back home; this one is slightly larger with a different layout. After multiple visits, one gains familiarity with the neighborhood stores. Here, though the products were the same, the location within the store was different, the crowd on a Saturday morning was huge and we felt like strangers in a foreign land.

We managed to score some water crackers, Brie, cheeses sticks and a bottle of wine - our lunch for the day. We went back to the hotel, lunched, read for a while and relaxed. Then promptly at three o’clock we costumed up and left for the Guildford Farm event of the day. The parking area was filling up, the sun was beating down on the lawn where the white folding chairs were set, and guests were milling about under the covered porch, sipping ice water and getting to meet new friends with whom they were about to share this wondrous event.

Beginning at 3:55 the guests moved en masse to the seating area, following the arrival and seclusion of the wedding party. The groomsman had all marched from the big house, neatly attired in their matching

grey suits. A shuttle car arrived, with two loads of bridesmaids in their apricot gowns, the bride and her parents arrived, resplendent in her white gown with train, sans veil, and Ryan and his parents were shuttled in. All the party hid inside of the venue. Promptly at 4:00, the bridesmaids and their escorts came out of hiding walking down the lawn to take their places on either side of the officiant. Of course, by this time the sun had reached its most punishing, most men had shed their suit coats, and the women were shielding their eyes. Isabelle finally arrived, escorted by her loving father Tom, not to the strains of the familiar “Here Comes The Bride” but to a lovely rendition of Pachabel’s Canon in D, played by the live string quartet that was seated nearby.

The ceremony was quick, this was not a religious ceremony but rather an understated but eloquent pledge of love between two supremely happy young people. It was very well done and the handkerchiefs were out, either to wipe a brow or dab at an eye! Following the ceremony the Bride and Groom went inside for some quick photos together - Ryan had been adamant about not seeing Isabelle’s gown prior to her walk down the lawn, so this was the first chance for the photographer to capture them together in their attire, wearing ear to ear grins, and interrupted by a quick kiss every few minutes.

While this was happening, we guests were  flowing in and out to the bar for much needed refreshments, and also partaking of the hors’deouvres  provided under the patio canopy. At six, we filed into to our assigned tables, listened to a few speechs from the Maid of Honor (sister Ivy) and Best Man (buddy Austin) both were appropriate and humorous. Dinner was then served by sending tables to the service line. We dined on roasted chicken breast with rosemary, a glazed salmon filet, a chickpea patty glazed in a sauce, broccoli and macaroni and cheese casserole. All was marvellously prepared by the caterer and went off without a hitch. 

Eventually the cake was cut and shared with the guests; the obligatory first dances were completed, and then the youngsters took to the floor in their native rituals, which in our day was a little more organized and called dancing! The only possible incident of the entire evening was when Deb realized that her Oura (a type of fitbit) ring was missing. In theory its bright shiny titanium finish should be easily recognisable, but searches were launched and turned up empty handed. Resigned to the fact that at least it was easily replaceable and not some heirloom gift, we folded up our tent and headed back to the hotel, arriving around 9:30. On the bathroom counter sat the missing silver ring- left behind following our early quick departure. All ended well and it was a beautiful ceremony. Only another week and one more ceremony to go. The next one will see a bit more involvement on our part, and Glenda and Jeff, who are also coming to California for Meg and Ed’s event, will be able to sit back and provide the support for Deb. We look forward to it. 

The Wedding Stories, Friday, April 22, 2022

 Our Holiday Inn Express is a bit wanting. Due to staffing shortages, there will be no daily room make-up or linen changes, although we can request things at the front desk if needed. The hot breakfast would be better if there weren’t two complete college track teams staying here for a track meet. Those young athletes can really clog up and clean out a morning breakfast room in a flash - fast is there operational mode. We managed to find some leftover bacon and sausage patties, and Deb braved her way back through the throng when fresh scrambled eggs arrived.

The other couple of guests from Lincoln arrived last night and joined us for the coffee. It was good to catch up with Paula and Dan before the rush of the wedding gets to us all. Deb and Mark headed out this morning to explore the UVA campus so Mark could re-live his college years here (or was it re-imagine?). After a 30 minute drive in heavy traffic, we arrived at the campus and then spent ANOTHER 30 minutes searching for a parking spot.

The original part of the campus (designed and founded by Thomas Jefferson) remains a stunning architectural achievement. The Rotunda, modeled after the Pantheon in Rome has been restored and looks amazing. The grounds and the lawn look as ever, crawling with students. When Mark attended, this was an all-male institution and they were required to wear a coat and tie to class. Today it is co-educational, and it seems there are more women than men wandering around. Searching for restrooms, we found Fralin Hall Art Museum and spent the better part of an hour looking at the exhibits. There was a wonderful exhibit of works by Emilio Sanchez, a Cuban born American artist; some of his works on paper from his studio in New York. 

Last week, In Omaha, we spent a number of hours at the Joslyn Museum, looking at the wonderful Karl Bodmer collection of drawings of Native Americans done during his trip up the Missouri in the 1830’s. We were lucky to have been accompanied by our good friends Marsha Gallagher and Ted James, both retirees from the Joslyn Museum. Marsha was the Native American Curator  for the Museum and catalogued the Bodmer collection, together with a number of their native artifacts. We viewed a wonderful beaded jacket that she had acquired for the museum. Lo and behold, here at the Fralin there was also a beautiful beaded Lakota vest, donated by Lady Nancy Astor.

Following our walk around campus, we stopped in at The Virginian Cafe, a campus tradition since 1923. Mark remembers consuming a lot of 3.2% beer at this site. We split a deviled crab patty sandwich with fries and sampled some Virginia Wine. Both were excellent and we scored a pair of tee-shirts after our trip down memory lane.

We drove back to our hotel for a quick freshening before heading back our through Charlottesville towards the small village of Ivy, west of town,. Our destination was the home of Sandy and Janice Wilcox, Mark’s cousin. We were greeted there by our two hosts, their young Boston Terrier named Stella, and Sandy’s brother Greg and his wife Sue, who also live in Charlottesville. Sandy’s son Scott arrived, bearing a pair of pizzas from Dr. Ho’s and some wonderful wine from Blenheim Estates. Scott manages this vineyard and lives on site in a large home of the winery. The owner of the establishment is Dave Matthews of Dave Matthews Band fame. (Abigail is now bouncing on her chair in excitement as she reads this - a huge fan.) 

We had a wonderful visit with the family, trying to erase 20 plus years of time as the three “boys” relived their adventures and mis-adventures from their time in Charlottesville, Fredericksburg and Tetotum Virginia as youngsters. The Wilcoxs lived in Charlottesville, Mark and his family would motor east every summer to spend two months at the Mt. Moriah farm on the shores of the Potomac river in King George County together with the other Covert kids from Fredericksburg. Three Omaha Covert kids, four Wilcox kids and three Fredericksburg Covert kids -10 little Indians up to no good running all over 800 acres of crop, pasture, woodlands and river shore, mostly unsupervised as their parents sat on the bluff enjoying their leisure, or driving into Colonial Beach to spend time at the casinos, on the piers. The Potomac river is the boundary between Virginia and Maryland. The state line was delineated as 15 feet past low tide. Virginia entrepreneurs built large buildings on piers that extended into the river, effectively in Maryland. This avoided the stringent liquor control laws of Virginia and, as Maryland allowed slot machines and gambling, they turned the structures into casinos.  Hence the draw for the adults.

Enough history. Following our visit to the Wilcox abode (a wonderful home set on picturesque hillsides surrounded by Blue Ridge hills, we journeyed back towards our hotel, and on past it a few miles to the Guildford Farm Winery and Venue. Here we joined the after party from the rehearsal dinner for Saturday’s big event. We visited with Glenda and Jeff, were briefly acknowledged by the bride and groom (they had more important things to do) and capped off our busy day with some more wine and conversation. We finally headed back to our Holiday Inn falling into bed at 11:30, exhausted but happy with all we had accomplished on our first day in Virginia.

 

The Wedding Stories, Thursday, April 21, 2022

 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.