Floating Around

Day 2: Abingdon was fantastic. I say this mainly because I learned I have something in common with President Obama. Read on. Go on.

It all began when I checked-out of Travelodge and hit the road again. 17 miles later- I arrived in the little quaint town of Abingdon. Immediately, I made an I-Turn and decided I better stop by that white Victorian visitor’s center house and ask what this town had to offer. I parked under a beautiful shady tree, and walked down the porch, while the aged wooden floorboards creaked beneath me.

I slowly opened the door hoping that it was, in fact, a visitor’s center and not some random person’s Victorian home. Two young men stopped mid conversation and looked over at me. I felt compelled to ask a question, so I quickly mustered one up: “So what’s there to do around here?” It was all awkwardness after that. I don’t know why, but he the one guy stuttered “well… um… there’s um…” and I said, like a café, for starters. He said, “Okay, um yeah, there’s uh a place, um, it’s called Ellis, Pop Ellis.” I said okay perfect, what else? He said “Um like here’s a brochure.” And his shaking hands passed me a generic brochure! I said, “There’s a lot in here, and I’ll only be here for a few hours, what would you recommend?” He just kept stuttering and his fingers  shook as he pointed out various places from the brochure.

I noticed this interesting cemetery, gray, and labeled Sinking Springs. I asked about it, and once again, he knew little to nothing about it. How did he land this job!! Although I may sound annoyed, I was not, not even slightly. In fact, I found all the awkwardness humorous and well… fun. I asked to direct me to Babycakes, a local cupcake shop. He pulled out a highlighter and put it down on a permanent map. 

Slowly he tried marking the paper to show me a route and kept pausing, “Excuse me, um, that’s not where we are. Okay, uh… we are here, wait, sorry, um here. Okay, so uh let’s uh… um… head this way.” I looked over at the other guy sitting on the steps, watching the catastrophically discomfited conversation. FINALLY, the other

young man stepped in. He interrupted, annoyed at the first young man’s slow, unacquainted knowledge. He grabbed one of the maps that they CAN write on, grabbed a highlighting pen and showed three different points of interest. Then, he physically showed me how to get there. I thanked them both then went to town. 

The first stop was Pop Ellis, the old soda shoppe. I was seated by a window. It was FANTASTIC! I pulled the vegetarian card and ordered a salad. It came with lettuce, tomatoes, onions (how I despise onions..) but then it gets better, pecans, grapes, cheddar and swiss cheeses, egg, cucumbers, carrots. It was delicious. I also ordered a basket of sweet potato fries AND an old-fashioned Coke Float!! I had forgotten how those tasted.. mmmm. Halfway through the meal, an elderly woman brought a chair to the other side and said, “In case a friend shows up.” I looked at her and grinned, “Solo, in a good way,” I replied. She touched my shoulder and walked past me.

I walked to the bathroom, and saw posted on the wall, a newspaper article with a picture of President Obama, drinking a milkshake from Pop Ellis!! I snapped a picture for a good friend who admires Obama dearly, and continued reading the article. Turns out, Obama ordered sweet potato fries too! So, President Obama and I have something in common: sweet potato fries!

Next stop, was the art depot. Where local artists do what they do best, create art. Their art studios were individually exposed, and there was a gallery in the middle. Garage sold items and antiques were available for purchase at the end. I went through a stack of old magazines from the 50s. One was titled: How to deal with your teenager and what to expect   from your senior. I guess teenagers will always be teenagers, hard to manage. There’s the problem though. Managing You manage papers, schedules, dinner arrangements, but not people. There. Solved.

I went through an antique shop and a boutique. Another magnet for the collection. More eye candy! 

The Muffin Man

antiques

Library

Babycakes

Red!

wagon.

Arts Depot Bench

holy shiiii....

Endless Caverns: Wannabe Hollywood...

The passing pleasure was over. I needed to get going again, so I hopped back in the mini, top down as always, and headed north. I drove through North Virginia, the noisiest highway I’ve ever driven on. I could barely hear the music over the locus. At one point, I lost the battle, turned the music off and let the locus calm me through the mountains.

Not our Woodstock... 

I stopped at a modest gas station for pumpkin seeds. I walked around for 15 minutes hoping they would appear in the store, magically, but alas, no pumpkin seeds.. Disappointed but on my way to hangry (hunger + hunger = anger), I bought a bag of salt and vinegar chips and two cherry lollipops. Two because I needed at least a $3 dollar value to swipe my card! BTW, the $3 minimum is totally illegal. I let this gas station slide because they seemed local, but under the fair credit bureau, it’s absolutely illegal. A friend enlightened me last year, and I still don’t put up a fight, but I feel the power: muhaha…

376 miles later, I called the Founder of Green Earth Travel, who I’ll refer to as Ms. Q, and told her to expect me in another hour. I fueled my car and found the pumpkin seeds I had been looking for. Threw them in Joe!! And enjoyed them until I arrived, quicker than expected. When I arrived at her modest home, I walked through her gnome garden and was greeted by Rudy, her skittish Dotson and her attention-grabbing cat, Dillion who purrs louder than any other cat I’ve ever met. Ms. Q made us a vegan pizza for dinner and some turtle dream vegan ice cream for dessert. *delectable* 

We went for two walks before bed.
One walk was with Rudy and the longer walk was with her friend, Suzze. Suzze fosters dogs, and that night, we had Slick, a sweet black lab with hip issues. Looked like he just walked with swagger to me.. He was sweet and beautiful. I walked him for a while, but Slick waited on Suzze whenever she would stop behind us. It was precious. So precious that Suzze said she was thinking of adopting him. **She’s one of those people who are terrible foster parents, falling in love with any animal that runs into her arms. It would be hard not to though I guess.

It was late and dark outside when we reached her home. I slept well on a futon bed. Ms. Q woke me up at 8a.m. and said, “Let’s get bagels and coffee. You drink coffee?” I smiled.  We went to a place called the Market and got poppy seeded bagels. We had coffee back at the house, and a banana, and listened to comic liberal/political radio. When we came back into the office, Rudy decided to lay off his skittish ways for a while, and jumped on the couch next to me. He layed his head on my lap, and I knew I just made my first friend. 

We are working on eco-touristic things now. I just learned about the International Vegetarian Union Convention in San Francisco, and getting amped up about the rafting trip in the Potomac River tomorrow! Means another day of being referred to as "The Intern" or "Bridgett" by accident haha.. loving it all the same!

Happy Times!

Blue Cup Specialty Today: Cinnamon Oatmeal

Thanks for reading!!!

oh, another studio.