So other than seeing Kitty Hawk, our goal for day #16 was really just to shoot up to Ashburn, Virginia so we could spend a delightful evening with my friends from high school, Lindsey and Mark Lesar, and their super cute 9-month old daughter Alyssa. And that's exactly what we did.
Well, except we did stop for lunch in Norfolk, which is right by Chesapeake. Another suggestion from our travel book, we opted to try Doumar's BBQ. I was excited because they still offer the old-timey "curb service" but that was all full so we ate in the diner instead, which was probably a better call anyway. We each had a pretty yummy bbq pork with slaw "burger" (though it really was like the fast food version) and then we followed that up with ice cream cones for desert. Ice cream cones here are a
must have since the owner's uncle Abe sold the very first ice cream cone
ever at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. Apparently before Abe nobody had thought to serve ice cream in an edible container before! Doumar's still makes their handmade cones fresh daily. The food and ice cream was pretty good, but I didn't think it was like the best food ever. That being said, this is a fast food joint and they were fast, cheap, and the food was way better than what you'd get at McDonald's!!! Def. worth a trip :)
Finally we arrived at Lindsey and Mark's house and were greeted by the whole fam! Mark bbq'd up some killer good steaks (they rivaled Texas') and even though KR and I overestimated our ability to eat whole monster steaks, let it slide :) Really, after so long on the road, it was just so incredibly nice to be staying in a home with friendly faces. And their home is beau-ti-ful! Well done guys! We all stayed up way too late laughing and talking and catching up, which was definitely the best part! Oh, and I
finally got my peach cobbler!! When we were shopping in Charleston, I happened upon a funny/yummy looking mix for peach cobbler which I of course purchased. We told the Lesar's that we had desert covered and picked up some fresh peaches on the way, mixed everything together in a pan and voila! peach cobbler! Fortunately Linds had bought some vanilla ice cream to go with the cobbler, which was good because the directions specifically said to serve immediately with ice cream! So yummy. Unfortunately I didn't see the part where it said to grease the pan first, so we just let that soak over night. Did all the sugary goo ever come off guys or do I owe you a new pan?!?!
In the morning, Mark made us some delicious blueberry pancakes with sausage and fresh fruit. Now, it might sound like Mark is getting a lot of the cooking credit, which he deserves, but Linds wasn't like sitting idly by, she was definitely on the cooking crew. Just want to give you a shout out too Linds! :) In addition to good food and good convo, I also got to spend some quality time with the uber-adorable Alyssa who is way too cute! She's already crawling around and pulling herself up, ready to walk. She has lots of smiles and best of all, she let me snuggle her for a bit! Oh babies!!
When it was time to head out, Linds wouldn't let us leave without sammies and fruit for lunch, which was too sweet, and actually came in super handy (we gobbled them up at the re-enactment! You saved us from having to eat all things fried!!!!) We took a group photo and KR and I were on our way! (Well, except for that one time when we swung back around b/c I left my necklace! oops!)
To the Civil War Reenactment, James! What cross country road trip would be complete without a Civil War reenactment you wonder? NONE! Is the answer. Just an hour and a half from the Lesar's house we came upon the Ceder Creek Battlefield in the Shenandoah Valley, ready to witness a reenactment of the Battle of Cross Keys, which originally took place on June 8, 1862! When we drove up, we saw a gigantic wheat field and rolling hills-beautiful! We walked up to the main part of "camp" and got to peruse the white-cotton tented shops. Despite the heat, a ton of people were dressed up in Civil War era garments and regalia, which made Katie and I want to buy the whole shebang too! But we didn't. We settled on simply trying on all the fancy hats and looking around at the stuff. There was also a tent with old timey music stuff and a beautiful antique banjo from 1812 or something that Katie wanted to purchase but it cost like $1,400 so she opted to pass. Stupid money. Then it was time for the big battle scene!
Okay, so Katie and I pretty much had no idea what was going on in this battle, but we had a LOT of fun watching it happen and moving along the lines to follow the action. The pops of the guns was crazy and the cannons were wicked loud and a little scary. I did notice that not enough people fell down dead, so it was a pretty low-casualty battle, but toward the end, more of them got into it and sacrificed themselves, which made me happy. There was a guy narrating on speakers but it was hard to hear him and there was just too much going on to pay attention. It looked like a few confederates tried to attack the union side and then the union guys sort of took them down, and then a whole heck of a lot of confederate soldiers came in and pummeled the union guys. Also, there were like three times more confederate soldiers than there were union soldiers, but that sort of makes sense given where we were. I mean, half the fun of being at the battle was to hear the things that people say. Katie heard someone ask if the guys playing union soldiers had all lost a coin toss! hahaha Long story short, the confederates won and everyone was happy.
This battle was all part of Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's campaign in the Valley, and after winning the battle of Cross Keys, he battled the union soldiers again the next day at Port Republic (also being reenacted the following day in VA), which was a much bloodier/costlier battle. Winning these battles allowed him to subsequently back up Robert E. Lee in the Seven Days Battles outside Virginia. Best overheard convo. regarding Stonewall? Kid to mom: "Was Stonewall his real name?" Mom: "Yes! Of course it was!" mmmm-hmm.
Union side:
Confederate side:
We're really here!
Gunsmoke!
The generals:
After the battle, which was condensed from like 8 hours in real life to a perfect 45 minutes in the re-enactment, KR and I rewarded ourselves with the
best rootbeer ever in our fancy souvenir blue bottles.
Before we could leave, we obviously had to wrangle us some soldiers for a photo op. Since there were a plethora of confederate soldiers milling around, and really, since they were the winners of this battle, we happily snuggled up for a photo.
And then, we were off to DC. This weekend was a treat because we got to crash with friends two nights in a row! My friend Liz is living in DC so we made plans to stay with her for the night. Now, my girl Lizzy Liz is on a kickball team and the league party, the Kick BALL (get it, as in formal ball? like fancy?) was going on that night. The plan was for us to meet Liz at the bar where all the kickballers go after their games for flip cup, so I knew she'd be extra "happy" when we got there. I was not disappointed! Liz and her buddies had been playing the flip cup for a while and were toasty and happy to see us! Katie and I, always happy to join in the fun, jumped right into a few games of flip cup ourselves! Too fun! But we couldn't stay too long since we had to get back to Liz's apartment, get settled, eat, and get ready to go out again. Unfortunately, it was also DC pride that day, which is cool, except traffic was a NIGHTMARE! It took over an hour for us to get like the mile to Liz's house, which was a definite bummer, but on the plus side, resulted in at least one drunk dial and lots of funny stories! (Don't worry everyone, I was sober! and the one doing the driving!)
When we finally got to Liz's, we didn't really have time to do everything so we ordered a pizza, got ready and hit the town! Liz and I decided the next day that it was one of those nights that are reminiscent of your early 20's, since we were going out in Adams Morgan (a total early 20's bar scene district) and partying the way you do when you're young. Since it was a kickball event, Liz knew a bunch of people, which meant it was extra easy for Katie and I to mingle and make new best buddies. There was lots of dancing and lots of fun! All around, a super great night! Then next morning we got up, got ready, and headed to The Heights for a super duper delicious breakfast and post night-on-the-town laugh fests. After that, KR and I packed up, said our goodbyes to Liz and hit the road, headed for the great state of New York!
Since DC doesn't have a state sign, we took a pic as we crossed the bridge into town:
Ladies are out and havin fun!
When you're traveling for days, it's always SO incredibly nice to stay with good friends! Lindsey, Mark, Alyssa and Liz, thank you all so much for letting us stay with you. It was SUCH a great excuse to catch up and have fun! Lots of love!!!
-ENCM
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