Virginia Family and Folks

Spud's Virginia grandparents came down from Blacksburg for a visit this weekend. His Grandma had major heart valve repair surgery right after he was born, and this is the first time she's been able to make the trip. Our family's very very old friends Bob and Dee Leggett (ok, Dee is not old) from Great Falls (and before that, Annapolis) also visited in their gargantuan 98-foot RV, which they docked out by the Motor Speedway, accompanied by a retinue of tugboats. It has a billiard table, a small indoor pool, a bowling alley, and an exact replica of that staircase on the Titanic.

This morning we all went to the farmer's market and bought various vegetables and fruits and exotic plants. I bought a watermelon and some zesty salsas.







Spud may have been a little overwhelmed by all of the people and noise and by the hot sunny day, but he took it in stride. Until he got hungry.

Later we drove to Price's Chicken Coop and purchased fried lunches. These consisted of fried chicken (or liver...gizzards are also on the menu, completely without irony), fried hush puppies, and fried tater tots, all wrapped up in a cardboard box, which was also fried. We then drove to the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden, ate our lunches, and sat around for a while and listened to our arteries hardening up.





We toured the grounds and saw the orchids and butterflies and topiaries and flowers and fountains. Spud liked the splashy fountains the best.







At some point along the way, Claire lost her sunglasses. She has famously lost several pairs over the years, including the time a pair fell into a river. If, during your travels, you happen to come upon one of the pairs that she has lost, please return them.

Otherwise, a good time was had by all.