As we were leaving the resort for the 12 hour plus drive home, I found this behind a door.
Clearly the previous tenants vacationed in the coat closet and didn’t want to be disturbed.
And yes, you read that correctly. This will be my last blog about the Williamsburg, Virginia vacation.
To think it only took me 60 posts to get here!
So…. it was a grey overcast morning the day we left.
And I have absolutely no idea what this was.
But here’s the Washington Monument….
And the entrance to a tunnel.
Was my husband obeying the speed limit?
No.
He never does, but when you’re riding in a rental Brontosaurus and the lanes get smaller due to construction? My blood pressure ruses when he approaches 100 mph.
I also look out the side window a lot.
Although it’s hard to focus properly at that speed.
Playing with my phone helps…
As does laughing at some slightly painful road names.
Here’s the Delaware Memorial Bridge.
And the toll ticket that cut off our George Washington Bridge exit price on the bottom.
For those of you who have never seen the New York City skyline on an overcast day from the New Jersey Turnpike at 90 mph?
Here you go.
Next up was the George Washington Bridge, where I usually close my eyes and pray to the God of Tequila that I’ll live to see another margarita.
Ironically… as soon as I started filming, the husband slowed down. Which is a good thing since the roads were potholed and in horrible shape.
Traffic was a nightmare.
But it always is.
And every time we pass these massive apartment complexes….
I realize how blessed we are to live in the country.
Was this water blowing off the top of that truck?
No. It was smoke, because something was probably on fire. When we crept up next to it and signaled the driver there was a problem?
He flipped us off.
Ya gotta love New Yorkers.
The rest of the trip was long, traffic laden and uneventful.
We were even too pooped to make our normal pit stop at the tax free New Hampshire liquor store.
Technically I took a few more…. but still.
Why is sitting in car doing absolutely nothing for 13 hours so damn tiring?
An entire post devoted to our final meal in Virginia. (That’s 2 in 3 days so no more complaining!)
(On a side note, it was Bogart day last Sunday and the husband and I did nothing but eat, drink and watch the classics.
The Maltese Falcon. Key Largo. The Caine Mutiny. African Queen. And my all time favorite movie … Casablanca. I cry at the nightclub scene when they drown out the Germans by singing La Marseillaise… every damn time! Good stuff.)
But back to food.
After spending 8 hours in an antique store that day I was in dire need of a cocktail.
Or eight.
And when I saw a sign for Eddie Romanelli’s?
I may have squealed.
I didn’t think this was a chain, but there was one in Wilmington, North Carolina we used to make a pilgrimage to every other month when we lived down south. Their Crabmeat Cannelloni in Carolina Shrimp Sauce?
To die for.
We sat at a high top in the bar area because of it’s… ya know.
Proximity to the cocktails.
Prickly pear margarita?
Come to mama….
Sadly the crabmeat wasn’t on the menu, but the fresh baked bread with herbed olive oil was wonderful.
As was the Caesar salad.
And the sparkling Tuscan lemonade. Fresh, crisp and quite delightful.
Husband had a juicy charbroiled steak with garlic sauteed spinach…
While I indulged my inner Italian with some pasta…. drenched in garlic Parmesan cream and loaded with grilled chicken, mushrooms and peas.
Were there more cocktails?
Maybe….
And damn that waitress for not clearing them as fast as I could drink them.
I’m going to blame the cocktail consumption for this last picture I took on the way back to the resort….
I could have been spending a nice long weekend here.
A beautiful and rather expensive resort on the Maine coast.
I would have been walking these vast halls….
On the way to our timeshare condo (which go for up to $700 a night in the summer, but which I snagged at the bargain basement off season price of $300 for 4 nights as a surprise for the husband’s birthday) ….
I should have been sitting here…
Fresh out of the hot tub with a cocktail and an ocean view.
I couldhave, wouldhave, and shouldhave been doing all of those things. But instead I’m stuck inside the house blogging while hiding from an invisible bug that wants to kill us all.
That’s just wrong.
It’s supposed to be almost 60 degrees today, a rarity for March in Maine.
I could have been walking here :
The Rockport breakwater, which leads to….
It’s very own teeny tiny lighthouse.
It’s cute damn it! And I should have been taking photographs for a future blog.
But no.
I won’t be eating at one of the resort’s 2 restaurants.
Or having a cocktail at the ice bar.
Granted, that would probably have been slush by tonight… but still!
I could have, should have, would have been enjoying it all.
But I did the right thing and cancelled the trip so I can social distance, or shelter in place, or avoid the plague…. whatever they’re calling it these days.
But that doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it.
This is for all the people who scream about food pictures. An entire blog devoted to a meal.
Though I’m not a fan of oysters….
The York River Oyster Company in Gloucester Point, Virginia seemed like a great spot for dinner.
So we strolled around the marina checking out the boats before heading inside.
It was a little too cold for outdoor seating in December.
So we picked a table with a view.
With a pole right in the middle to ruin any pictures I might want to share.
Yay us.
I started with an Orange Crush which seems to be a very popular cocktail lately.
And then cringed at the thought of anyone wanting red wine in their Mule.
We started with an appetizer order of simply superb steamed shrimp.
They were perfectly cooked and seasoned and just melted in our mouths.
Cocktail number 2?
An Afternoon Delight.
And I dare you not to have that song stuck in your head all day.
Dinner for me was a crab cake and fried shrimp. The most I can say about them is they were decent. The crab cake could have had more crab and the shrimp were a bit overdone. Which was a shame because the flavor was there.
I don’t know what the husband was thinking with this abomination.
A burger topped with bacon and pulled pork…. for those days when your arteries just feel too clear.
He picked it apart and ate everything separately which probably defeats the purpose, but said it was good.
Dessert was a nice tart Key Lime Pie. Don’t give me those sugary sweet versions. When I order Key Lime? I want my lips to pucker.
Yes, like that.
Night descended while we ate.
And while I’d give the restaurant a solid B minus ……
Toward the end of our tour of the Jamestown re-creation settlement, we were startled by a loud noise.
It was the Lord of Misrule and his motley crew.
During his reign, which lasted anywhere from 12 days to 3 months, the Lord of Misrule was responsible for arranging and directing all Christmas entertainment, including elaborate processions, plays, and feasts.
He was generally a peasant or sub-deacon appointed to be in charge of holiday revelries, which often included drunkenness and wild partying.
In other words, my people.
In the 17th Century they went door to door, and if not given appropriate amounts of alcohol? They caused a lot of mischief.
*Note to self – this might be a great way to score free booze next Christmas*
So these characters staged their little show and we watched. Naturally I took pictures and videos like everyone else.
So why did this happen?
Why was I singled out and dragged into the middle of the square for punishment?
Because I’m lucky that way.
Yes, they made an example of me and if the husband had been able to work his cell phone properly….. you might have seen video of me dancing with the Lord of Misrule.
But he didn’t and you won’t.
All you’ll get is a few more pictures of the boardwalk to nowhere…..
And a few stolen shots of the museum I wasn’t supposed to photograph.
On the way to dinner?
We passed a van of what I first read as ‘Hippie’ Christians and I thought, huh. That could be interesting.
But when we got closer I realized there were only happy.
Which in the long run is probably easier on your liver.
The first settlement in America looked something like this.
And I have to admit the buildings were larger than I thought they’d be.
This was the church.
And I swear it’s bigger than the one in my town today.
I loved the thatched roofs on the cottages.
And we enjoyed poking around inside them.
Some of them were simple.
Some a little more grand.
Check out the armor on top of the cupboard.
Nothing like some weaponry over the dining room table to get the gastric juices flowing.
Speaking of that…. there was an armory.
And it doesn’t matter how many times I see these, I still can’t imagine having to wear them into battle. I mean damn, they make my underwire bra look positively comfortable in comparison.
Needless to say the husband was loving all the old tools and farm implements.
Yes dear….
Rusty metal…. I see it.
The last building we checked out was a communal kitchen.
And you know what I found… right?
Wandering at will….
Hoping something would fall off the table.
There were also fake cocktails, which is a rude tease to those of us who happened to be thirsty.
Hell, if these fell off the table they’d bounce.
And that’s not my type of cocktail at all.
Okay.
Now we’re talkin’….
Where there's only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.
River's world..... 