Flowers!

This vacation was designed to find spring down here in Virginia, and we are although it's a bit late in coming.   On Thursday, when we left, we heard about big snow storms along the east coast, but our western driving route helped us miss it all.  We passed places where last week's nor'easter that hit us hard had also dumped quite a bit, especially in the Poconos. 

By the time we reached Wilkes-Barre, all that was left was piles along the roads.  Our first night was spent there in the usual motel attached to TGI Fridays.  Because we live where there are very few chain restaurants, we always enjoy checking them out.

We stopped near Harrisburg on Friday to visit Madelyn and Jim and have lunch by the Susquehanna River.  What a nice view!  Madelyn, who has stage 4 breast cancer, is doing pretty well, but I want to get together with her as much as I can because I know her days (maybe years?) are numbered.   She isn't as optimistic as she was last time we saw her and is understandably frail.  We don't want to impose on her, so we headed down to Harrisonburg, VA after lunch.

In Harrisonburg, we stayed in a motel we've stayed in before also,  next to a truck stop that has good food.  I was in need of a charging cord for my older iPhone, and they had one there.  On Saturday morning, we visited the Virginia Quilt Museum before heading to Staunton.  An African-American quilter was featured, and I loved the quilts.  It's in an old house and quite a lovely space for hanging quilts with its tall ceilings and wide wood floors.

Then it was on to Staunton, VA where we walked all over town.  Again, piles of snow are visible along the streets, but they are signs of spring to us.  We even saw daffodils beginning to bloom as we walked up a steep hill to Woodrow Wilson's birthplace and museum.  We thought we'd return there Sunday to spend a little more time in the museum.  Unfortunately, it didn't open until noon, so we had to return on Monday morning.

Our hotel was in the center of the historic district and right next to Blackfriar's Theater, where we saw a Restoration comedy, The Way of the World, which was well-acted and quite funny.  I loved the costuming, of course.   Sunday's matinee of Hamlet was just wonderful.   The ghost actually appeared on stage and even in a cubby above the stage, and he was very ghostly.  We love being able to walk around and I even peeked into a little quilt shop near the train station.  Surprisingly, I didn't buy anything because I'm trying not to this year.  Sunday dinner was a real treat - delicious Italian food, with a raspberry cheesecake for dessert.  We walked almost 10,000 steps Sunday so thought we deserved it!  To be continued...