Road Trip 2021!

Road Trip 2021!

Last month, my youngest daughter and I embarked on 15 day road trip to Maryland to see my dad and my sister. We drove three days to get there, visiting family and friends and cool stuff along the way. My youngest son flew up halfway through our trip and spent a few days with us in Maryland. Then the three of us spent three days driving home, visiting even more family and fascinating sights. This is my photo journal of the trip which includes Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland -- and back through the same states again. 

On the Road

Our first stop, St. Augustine, is only 100 miles from home. My fifth daughter lives there with her husband. I'm not sure why we didn't get any pictures of them, but I did snap one of the spicy potato tacos they made for us!

Side Trip to Greenville, South Carolina!

We spent the night in Orangeburg, South Carolina so we could make it to Greensville by lunchtime. About a week before we left, I commented on a random Facebook post about survivor advocacy.

Kristi (on the right), was intrigued by what I wrote and invited me to lunch if I was ever in Greensville, South Carolina. As it turned out,
we'd be driving within a few hours of there on our road trip -- so we took a detour! We were joined by our mutual friend Rebecca, an author whose books I love. These two women are the force behind the survivor advocacy group BJU Grace. I am so grateful for our time talking about our work and lives.

Durham, NC

We drove from Greenville to Durham, North Carolina to meet up with my second cousin Jean for pizza. Jean has been my dear friend for the past fifteen years since we reconnected at a family reunion. I appreciate her emotional support during some of my tumultuous times since then!

We spent the night in Durham and then visited the Sarah P. Duke Gardens at Duke University in the morning. It was hot so we only stayed about two or three hours. 

I love cathedrals and had been wanting to visit Duke Chapel. Unfortunately, it is closed to visitors right now so we had to be content with driving by. 

Long Road, Tired Mama!

By this time, after our long hot walk in the gardens, exhaustion started to set in. I realized as we were driving through Virginia that I needed to recharge. We stopped at a rest area where I took a short nap. The traffic was so bad when we finally got to I-95 that we had to skip a planned visit to see my friend Karen that evening. 

Maryland at Last!

Of our 15 day trip, we spent nine days in Maryland, mainly visiting with my Dad and his wife Anny, as well as my sister Barb and her family. Our visits to my sister's house included a lot of kitty cuddling for my daughter.

I am so happy that I got to visit with my friend Sharon just north of Baltimore. We hadn't seen each other since our sophomore year in high school!

We also had a belated Father's Day dinner at Bob Evans the day my son flew up to join us.

Anny (at left in the photo above) feeds the deer in the backyard every day!

We visited a park at the Patuxent Branch for a short walk.

I brought home the family Bible that belonged to my great-grandparents, Lily and William Brazier. It's got all sorts of goodies tucked in, many in Lily's handwriting.

Another religious artifact from my dad's house, a little more modern, is the Jesus poster I gave to my late mother when I was a teenager. I brought it home, of course.

While we were in Maryland, my kids went down to Washington, D.C. with my nephew and his girlfriend. They visited the museum at Ford's Theatre (where Lincoln was assassinated), the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, and the Lincoln Memorial. The museums both require timed entry tickets reserved in advance.

A Little Mishap While Loading the Van!

While I loaded the van for our trip home the next morning, I accidentally stepped on a bottle of motor oil which slid out from under the seat. It spilled all over the place. We (mainly my son) spent hours cleaning it up using baking soda to soak up the oil. Lots of scooping and scraping, then layering plastic bags and luggage over it to cover the residual stickiness and smell on the way home! I still need to take it to be professionally cleaned. 

Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park

Finally on the road back home! We had big plans for the day but didn't get to do everything since we got a late start. The first item on the agenda was to drive 30 miles of Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park. The speed limit is 35 miles an hour, but we went much slower since we stopped at most of the overlooks!

But before we even got to the park, we stopped at the Apple House for souvenirs and yummy apple donuts.

Be Strong and Courageous!

Natural Chimneys in Virginia

Our next stop was Natural Chimneys Regional Park in Mt. Solon, Virginia -- a bit off the main highway but worth the trip!

Oops! Another Van Mishap!

On our way back to the main highway, my son was having an allergy attack. I pulled over into a parking lot to find the medicine in my supply kit. I just didn't realize I parked too close to the concrete base of the sign for the country store. As soon as I started to pull out, it tore a long slice into my tire. Fortunately, three men came over pretty quickly, and two of them changed it out with my spare. My son drove us carefully into Staunton, where we arrived at the Walmart Auto Center just half an hour before closing. I tell you, if you have to have a tire blow, this is the best you can expect! Plus, I found a Virginia hat at Walmart. 

Natural Bridge State Park in Virginia

Surprisingly, even after our flat tire, we still had just enough time to visit Natural Bridge State Park. No, we hadn't had enough geological formations for the day! Though we were there less than an hour and the sun was setting, the three of us agreed it was worth the $9 each to get in. Believe it or not, this is really a bridge. There is a highway that runs along the top of it!

North Carolina

After spending the night in Virginia, we headed toward Greensboro, North Carolina to have lunch with my second cousin Margaret (the sister of Jean, whom we visited on our way up). 

I always love talking to Margaret. Not only is she incredibly sweet, she also is a wealth of knowledge about history, including our shared ancestry. She recommended that we route our map app through a town called Cheraw to stay away from highway traffic. We stopped in Cheraw to photograph the building of St. Peter's Church. My son, who is a devout Catholic, had been visiting churches in Baltimore and Washington, D.C. as much as he could on our trip. 

We spent that night in Walterboro, South Carolina. We arrived at our hotel, where we had confirmed reservations, and they had no record of us whatsoever. I'm glad we found another room just down the street. Of course, we had our traditional last day of vacation breakfast at Cracker Barrel!

Savannah, Georgia

In Savannah, we visited two places: the Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist and the Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum.

Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum

We would have loved to see more in historic Savannah, but we were tired and still had several hours of driving to get home. It's a good thing we didn't leave any later because we hit heavy rain on the way home and were completely worn out when we finally pulled into our driveway.

I'll end this photo journal with a sign I saw at the Apple House in Virginia. I take it as a reminder that even though I didn't get to do and see all that I wanted, I am so grateful for the experiences we did enjoy!

Grace and peace,

Virginia Knowles