Christmas - Day 1282 (Year 4, Day 187)

Williamsburg, VA

Not much to report in the way of the past week other than work, work, work.  However, Christmas "weekend" was wonderful.  Jessica's in-laws and their family live in northern VA, about 125 miles from where we are.  They celebrate Xmas and the kids were going to be with them (we are good friends with them as well) and were invited to share in the festivities.

We left on Sunday morning about 8:00 am and arrived there about 10:30 am.  We anticipated a lot of traffic (which is standard 24/7 in that area) but were surprised not to have any.  We enjoyed the day just hanging with Donna & Hugh, and then had a lovely Xmas Eve party with their daughter Susan.  Had a lovely Chinese food lunch on Monday (a typical, almost traditional Jewish thing to do!!!) with the entire gang and then hit the road around 2:00 pm.

All in all, we had a really awesome time spent with family.

Some shows - Day 1274 (Year 4, Day 179)

Williamsburg, VA

This past Shabbat we did indeed make it to synagogue services in Newport News.  As before, not as awe inspiring as some of the Chabad's we've been to, but it was still very lovely and the lunch of latkes and bagels/lox was yummy.

On Sunday, we decided to forego the touristy stuff and go to the movie theater instead, to see the latest Star Wars movie ("The Last Jedi" in 3D).  This is #8; I just can't believe we saw the first one 40 years ago!  It was very action-filled and good, if you like that kind of stuff.  It's not exactly my first choice of genre, but I can't say that I was sitting there feeling bored and tortured either.

The theater itself was in the middle of a very interesting and quaint downtown area in the New Town section of Williamsburg.  Kind of reminded me a little of Westfield, NJ.  Although the stores were very modern, the setting was designed to give a colonial feel.  Here is a photo (fortunately, there was an outdoor parking lot as well; street parking is impossible, especially for the truck which needs at least 2 spots).  This is only 1 street, but the area is about 6 square blocks and each street has this same look.

Today is Tuesday, December 19th, and Mitch's 60th birthday.  As I mentioned in my last post (Dec. 14th), we are going to see "The Meshuga Nutcracker," a hilarious musical based on tales of Chelm (old Yiddish stories of a town of idiots and their crazy decisions).  It is being performed live at the Met in NYC, and live streamed in various nationwide movie theaters. The closest theater it's playing in is 30 miles away - in Hampton, VA.  Now, coincidentally, this is the area where Mitch has been working for the past 2 weeks (hopefully by the beginning of the year his maps will be a bit closer to home).  It really didn't make sense for him to drive an extra 60 miles round trip just to come and pick me up (not to mention it wouldn't give us any time for a nice dinner before the movie).  So I decided that, as unpleasant and inconvenient it would be, I would get up with Mitch at 5:30 am and find a place nearby to park myself to work.  As of this writing (10:45 am), I am at a mostly empty Burger King (I brought my own food but am purchasing tea).  I did ask permission from the manager to stay for a few hours and he was very surprised and appreciative that I asked.  I will probably move to another food place or even a library after lunch so I don't overstay my welcome.

UPDATE:  The show was wonderful and a lot of fun!  And I stayed at BK the entire day.  Believe it or not, I actually had table wait service!!!  The manager kept coming over to check on me, to make sure my needs were met.  At one point, he saw I was unable to break away to come up front to place an order, so he came over to take my order and deliver it to the table (a side salad and tea).  Totally unbelievable!!!  The place was also mostly empty so I didn't feel like I was taking up important space, and the manager was so overwhelmingly accommodating!

Up to lately - Day 1269 (Year 4, Day 174)

Williamsburg, VA

Been almost 10 days since I've posted, so you know a whole lot of interesting things have not been happening!  During the week, it's work as usual.  We did not go to shul this past weekend, although, G-d willing, we'll be going this coming Shabbat (rabbi will be there, plus it's a holiday).

On Sunday, we visited CW (Colonial Williamsburg) again.  Since we will be spending Xmas with Jessica's in-laws & family, we needed to buy gifts (they live in northern VA, about 150 miles from here, so it's very doable).  I thought it was that coming weekend so I put a high priority in getting the shopping done, thinking this past Sunday was the last chance I'll have.  So we visited the gift shop and then the Merchant Square section of the park, hoping to find some unique gift items.  Unfortunately, nothing really struck me and the things that did were way out of our price range.  The Square itself was lots of shops located in colonial looking buildings; extremely quaint.  They are all owned by the same organization so they all pretty much carried the same items.  After spending about 1 1/2 hours there, we decided to try a specialty Xmas store (didn't want to be anywhere near the malls or big box stores).

Of course, once I got home, I realized that Xmas was not next week but the week after, so I still actually did have one more opportunity to shop.  Oh well, all for the best since I'm sure many more people will be waiting until the last minute as well.

This week also started the holiday of Chanukkah and it is the first year where we're not close enough to a community where there's a public candle lighting or even party, so we'll celebrate alone.  Latkes (potato pancakes) are a traditional holiday dish (as is anything cooked in oil to commemorate the oil lasting 8 days).  Due to my low carb diet, I made a batch with cauliflower and almond flour.  They came out pretty good and tasty, all things considered (it's kind of like eating Tofurkey - tastes good on its own, as long as you don't try to think of it as real meat).

This past week has also brought true winter weather, and the furnace has been running way more than the heat pump (temps in 30s and 40s).  One night it got into the 20s with a dusting of snow (other parts of the country got hit with inches and feet).  All the leaves are gone from the trees and the place has the drab look of winter.  Wish I was in FL -- I miss the palm trees!  Here's a picture from my back window:

This coming Tuesday will be Mitch's birthday.  There's a live show which is performed at the Met in NYC and being live streamed in theaters nationwide - "The Meshuga Nutcracker" which is a hiliarious musical.  It's playing 30 miles away but Mitch really wants to go so we shall.  Not sure of the plans for Sunday yet.  We still haven't visited the  museums at CW and I still want to visit Yorktown and/or Jamestown.

Another visit to CW - Day 1260 (Year 4, Day 165)

Williamsburg, VA

A note that on Saturday, we did not schlep out to any shul but rather stayed home, prayed, rested and read.  Slow and relaxing day.

On Sunday, we made another trip to Colonial Williamsburg to visit another unseen section -- the Palace (more about that later).  This was also a big event day: the "Grand Illumination."  Starting at 4:00 pm, there would be a fife & drum parade & ceremony, followed by holiday lighting of all the buildings (many just candles in the windows as they did in the 18th century).  There were several different bands playing throughout the area (jazz, bluegrass, "oldies" among others), followed by fireworks at 7:30 pm.  The shuttle buses would stop running between 6:30 and 9, so if you didn't leave before the fireworks, you were stuck there for at least another hour afterwards.

Although we originally wanted to go, we thought about the logistics and realized it would just not work for us.  Not only do we hate crowds, but between the thousands of folks heading for the buses and leaving the parking lot at the same time (causing a traffic  jam), we wouldn't get home until close to 11pm, which is way too late for a work night (when Mitch has to be up at 5:00 am).  So we decided just to visit the area like we would any other Sunday and leave before the crowds came.

Unfortunately, many, many people did come quite early so the place was still packed.  Even the buses were standing room only (I left like I was back in NYC!).  People brought their lawn chairs to set up for the bands and good viewing for the fireworks quite early.  There was a huge police and security presence, even porta-potties all around as the restrooms wouldn't be enough to accommodate such a large crowd.  Many streets and some exhibits were closed off in advance.

We got to the park around noon and took the shuttle to the Palace stop.  In today's terms, this would be the Governor's Mansion which is exactly what it was, when the colonies were still under British rule.  Before taking a tour of the Palace, we stopped at the Playbooth Theater for a cute little 17 minute play, written and performed by a local troupe.  It's not really a theater, but a rickety outdoor stage in an area where the first real theater of the colonies stood.  "The Comet Huntress" was loosely based on the life of astronomer Caroline Herschel.

       
   

After the show, we headed over to the Palace.  Before entering the main building, we passed through the gardens and a few separate buildings which housed the kitchen, smokehouse, salt house and storage facilities.  In the kitchen, there was a demonstration of the cooking and types of food the governor (and other wealthy folks) would eat.  The chef was currently cooking rabbit (it smelled delicious):



We next went inside the main building (had to use a side door as the main door was blocked off due to the event).  The side door was probably used as an entrance for servants and deliveries.  Overall, I found this to be quite an impressive building for it's time, although I was far more impressed by the Biltmore (which was built about 125 years later.  Here is my post about that place: http://mitcheryl-rv-journey.blogspot.com/2016/03/biltmore-estate-day-626-yr-2-day-261.html).

The outside of the Palace and gardens:

    

The main hall where one would normally enter was covered, floor to ceiling, with swords and guns - hundreds, if not thousands of them - mounted in a very decorative fashion.  The message was "don't mess with us!"

   

Ballroom and close up of chandelier:

  

Fireplace and bed in Governor's wife's bedroom (those are exquisite dresses draped over the chair):

  

We left the park at 4:00 pm and returned home exhausted.

Semi-interesting day - Day 1255 (Year 4, Day 160)

Williamsburg, VA

Considering what a "day in the life" is like for me, these 2 things are somewhat interesting...

1)  my next door neighbor, Nancy, came over this morning asking for my help.  She has a sliding patio door and while she was outside and her (tiny, overactive) dog was inside, the dog knocked over the bar that locks the door in place, so that she was unable to open the door more than an inch.  She needed something long and flexible, such as a hanger, to slip through the door and push the bar up and out of the way (she also has a back door, but it's locked and the keys were inside).  Unfortunately, I only have plastic hangers so that wouldn't work.  I searched our basement for something she could use (found nothing), we tried some long branches (not flexible enough), some other odds and ends (not long or flexible).  She called the office and they referred her to a mobile RV tech ($$$$, but they would take hours to come out and told her to ask the office to send someone from maintenance). While she was on the phone with them, I was walking around the back of my RV and, lo and behold! - what did I see laying on the ground but a wire hanger!!!  I could swear it wasn't there earlier and an invisible angel planted it there.  In any event, it took a little effort but it worked and she was able to get inside.

2)  I was taking a walk, in a different direction of the campground, and came across this awesome RV (actually a tiny house on wheels):



The man who lives there came outside when he saw me taking the photo.  He is quite charming (says everyone stops and does that) and we had a very lovely conversation.

Rest of Thanksgiving weekend - Day 1255 (Year 4, Day 160)

Raleigh, NC / Williamsburg, VA

I wrote about the start of our little vacation and family reunion for Thanksgiving (https://mitcheryl-rv-journey.blogspot.com/2017/11/thanksgiving-weekend-day-1247-year-4.html)

On Wednesday night, after the Pit, we did not go bar-hopping but rather we all went back to Jessica's house and hung around a little, including playing a few online trivia games (of course, there was drinking involved anyway).  We left around 10:00 pm.

On Thursday morning, I had a little bit of cooking to do: mine & Mitch's vegetarian loaf with accompanying veggies, and a sauteed mushroom dish for everyone.  I started the cooking around 9:00 am and when all was done by noon, headed over to Jessica's house.  In addition to our family of 9, she also had 2 other couples over, for a total of 13 folks.  As always, the food (for which we sat down to eat at 6:00 pm) was absolutely delicious.  We all stayed around until after 9:00 pm.

On Friday, I prepared the food and challah for Shabbat, and on Friday night, we were blessed with the entire family (sans Jessica & Griffin) joining us for Shabbat dinner.  Somehow we did manage to find a way for all 7 of us to be seated (4 at the table, 2 at the pull-up coffee table and Mitch at the counter)

On Saturday morning, we went to services at our favorite shul (they moved their location from Cary to Morrisville, a few miles away).  After kiddush lunch, we went back to Jessica's house, where we did some reading and napping.  At about 5:00 pm, the rest of family came over and we all went out to a lovely Irish pub in the downtown area, which had an extensive menu and rooftop seating (complete with overhead heaters.  Here are some photos taken at the restaurant:

             

After dinner, we returned to the house and played a fun game of Cards Against Humanity.  We all retreated back to our respective hotels and RVs at around 10:30 pm.

On Sunday, Jane & Fred took off for a short trip to Asheville, and Doris returned to NYC.  We went out for lunch with Fred & Twila at Mitch & Twila's favorite eatery: Noodles & Co.  After lunch, we returned to our respective RVs and started prepping for our trips back home (although, in our case, since home is where we park it, back to our work location).  Sunday night, we spent our first alone time with the kids over a nice sushi dinner.

Monday morning we packed up and hit the road at 9:00 am, returning to Williamsburg at 12:30 pm, and were all set up by 1:00.

On Tuesday, Mitch had to take one last exam, so he was home by noon.  I had a little lull in my workload and it was a beautiful day out (sunny and in the mid-60's), so we decided to take a little walk.  Note that this campground is more like a state or national park (as opposed to a large parking lot) which means it's in a much more natural and wooded setting with many nature and hiking trails around it.  Here is a photo of one such path:

I owe a post - Day 1254 (Year 4, Day 159)

Williamsburg, VA

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving extended weekend (from last Tuesday through this past Monday).  I have quite a few details and photos to fill in.  Just need to find some time to update the blog. Unfortunately, taking so much time off of work (as did my clients), I'm a bit inundated.

I promise to try to find some time to update the blog this week.

Thanksgiving weekend - Day 1247 (Year 4, Day 152)

Raleigh, NC

On Tuesday morning, we left our campground in Williamsburg for a special trip to Raleigh to spend with our daughter in Raleigh (grateful to be only 200 miles away to make it possible -- staying at our usual nice place at the NC State Fairgrounds, with Fred & Twila as our next door neighbors).  What's especially wonderful is that this has turned into a family reunion.  The last time all of Mitch's siblings have been together was 4 years ago at Jessica's wedding.  So far, it's turning out to be wonderful!  Here's a family photo (sadly, with Jessica and Griffin missing -- we'll be sure to get one before the weekend is over).



On Tuesday evening, when everyone had arrived in Raleigh, we spent the evening at Jessica's place and hung out over pizza and wine (yes, diet is going to hell again).

Today (Wed.) Jane & Fred and Mitch and I visited the NC Museum of Art.  What an incredible place!  We left around 11:30 am and returned around 1:30.  Jane & Fred joined us, as did Fred & Twila.  Nice time just hanging out in the RV for a little while.  We all departed at 3:00 but will meet up again at 6:00, where we will be going to The Pit (famous BBQ place, where they do have tofu on the menu) followed by a bar or 2.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, where Jessica will be hosting about 16 people.  I need to provide for our vegetarian options so will spend the morning doing some cooking and then looking forward to a great day.  Not sure what the rest of the weekend holds, but it'll be a PIBE (play it be ear) kind of thing.  Either way, great to be with family!!!

2nd weekend in Colonial Williamsburg - Day 1238 (Year 4, Day 143)

Williamsburg, VA

So much exploring to do in the area.  As I mentioned in a previous post, we plan to take things slowly rather than push ourselves past our physical limits trying to squeeze everything in in one day.  That being said... (this will be a very long post).

First, a side note: there is an arctic freeze covering most of the country and temps are 10-20 degrees below normal in most places, including here.  We've had to leave the water dripping and the heat pump switched to furnace.  Very, very cold days and it's not even the height of winter yet.

Mitch was off on Friday so we planned to go to Colonial Williamsburg (hereafter "CW") for a few hours, and focus on just one area, at least to get a feel for the lay of the land.  We made the challah on Thursday night and put the soup up in the crock pot early in the morning, so that our schedule would allow us the time to go out for a little while.  I had a little bit of work to do, so we left home around 10:00 am and arrived at the Visitor's Center at 10:30.  Being Veteran's Day weekend, we weren't aware there was a promotion of free admission to all vets and their families, so the line to purchase tickets was at least 20 minutes.  We bought an annual pass so that we can return as often as we want, without having to wait on line again (the only other options were single, 3 or 7 day passes, but they have to be used on consecutive days, so that wouldn't work).  The cost of a single day ticket is $40, and the annual pass is $65, so it's well worth the investment since we know it will take many trips to see the entire place at the pace we're going (FYI: one of the benefits is that friends & family can get in for 50% off -- in case you need another excuse to come and visit us!!!)

For those not familiar with CW, it's part of the Historic Triangle (with Yorktown and Jamestown) where the history of America began and where the Founding Fathers lived, or at least met, and where plans were formulated to rebel against Britain and fight for freedom (Yorktown was where the final battle of the Revolutionay War was fought).  CW is the actual town where folks lived, drank, shopped, fought.  Properties were handed down between generations, but after many decades, people started leaving and the buildings began to disintegrate.  In the 1920s, John D. Rockefeller purchased all the land and decided to renovate and restore the buildings and streets - to try to keep it as close to the original as possible but in better shape so the history wouldn't be lost.  All around the area, the folks you see walking around are either tourists/visitors or what I would call 18th century folk - character actors/docents dressed in period garb and speaking to us as if we were in the past (they actually rent costumes if visitors wish to really be even more part of the experience!).  There are no cars in the town; but you do see quite a few horse drawn carriages (you can ride for a fee).

There is a shuttle bus that runs around the perimeter of the area, and drops you off at different points.  There was a noon firing of the cannon near the central area - Market Square - and since it was now about 11:30, we chose that to be our starting point.  We looked through the market (hand made arts & crafts), and spent some time visiting the printing press (with live demonstration on 18th century equipment).  Here are some photos of the visitor center and what we saw on Friday:

One of the many billboards inside

The shuttle bus

The armory

A soldier

Getting ready to fire the canon

A real auction in the town square (we didn't bid on anything). They were antiques to us but popular items back then

A fancy carriage

Some homes

Glimpse down a typical street

Inker at printing press giving demo

On Saturday, we decided to check out the synagogue in Newport News, 25 miles away.  For one, I can tell you that was an extremely stressful ride, as the highway is mostly under construction, so the lanes were very narrow and uneven.  Since I have trouble with depth perception, especially driving this huge truck, it was a white knuckle trip all the way.  I can tell you I will NOT be doing that drive again; either Mitch is going to have to drive while I keep my eyes closed, or we just won't do the schlep.

It turns out there are 2 shuls on this JCC campus (which is also under construction and being renovated).  The one we had planned to go to  (which we knew about) is modern Orthodox; the other one was Conservative.  We are more comfortable with Orthodox so decided to wait for another time to visit the other one.  It seems that their original building had to be torn down due to mold so this is just a temporary spot, which is inside the child care (infant & toddler) center.  The women were not very welcoming to me, although the men were to Mitch.  The reason the rabbi only comes once a month is because he is only part-time (they don't have money to hire a full time rabbi, and probably don't have a large enough congregation to do so).  For me, not only was the trip very stressful, but the services were not all that enjoyable either.  The rabbi will be there next week, so we may give it another try (rabbis do tend to make things a bit more inspirational).  After that we may try the Conservative shul, and perhaps if we're brave enough, try out the Reconstructionist shul that's only 9 miles away.  I suspect, ultimately, we may end up acting as if there's nowhere to go.

Another note about Saturday:  it was 11/11, and our 39th anniversary.  We generally celebrate with a fancy meal out and don't exchange gifts, but Mitch decided to buy me a very special (in his mind) gift of a state of the art smartphone (Galaxy Note 8).  Mind you, I don't have a smartphone; I have an old fashioned one with a pull out keyboard and no data plan, which I am very happy with (just to prove what a Luddite I am in terms of new technology, when I saw the box, I didn't even know what it was, when I was supposed to react with great enthusiasm and excitement).  So rather than going out, we stayed in so we could set up my phone and I could become a little bit familiar with it (by Sunday afternoon I think I was mostly comfortable, and as of this writing - Monday morning - I have the hang of most of it).

On Sunday, we decided to make another excursion back to CW.  One of the activities was to hear a speech and then interact with statesman James Madison at 11:00 am, so we planned our timing and destination around that, which was in the Capitol section of the town.

We arrived about an hour early, so decided to take a tour of the R. Charlton Coffeehouse.  R. Charlton was one of the first business owners in Williamsburg and set up his coffeehouse/meeting/party facility a few blocks from the Capitol building, making it a popular stop for Williamsburg elite.  We were greeted by our hostess where we were invited to sit at a table in the main dining area, which was set up with fancy coffee cups, saucers and spoons.  Mind you - we were being treated as if we were back in 1765 so if we asked anything not related to that time period (like, are these authentic cups?) were met with answers such as "these were manufactured just last year, in 1764, and imported from Britain").  We were told that Mr. Charlton always offers a complimentary cup of coffee, tea or chocolate to his guests.  We both chose the chocolate which was out of this world (it was very thick, with a hint of cinnamon)!!!  I asked what brand they used (again: wrong question!).  I was told that "Lotty, the chef (probably a slave), has her own secret recipe and makes each cup individually."

We were the only folks on the tour so pretty much had the whole dining room to ourselves, except for one other guest (in period garb)- who, after we were served, said that he didn't recognize us as folks from the town and welcomed us.  He introduced himself as "Washington" and explained how he was a surveyor and a Colonel in the Virginia Regiment.  I replied "I see great things in your future," and he replied "Oh, I don't know about that."  We chit chatted quite a bit, with him speaking mostly about the countryside and a little bit about politics.  Our hostess then interrupted us so that she could take us on the rest of the tour (which consisted of 2 other rooms, which Charlton would rent out for meetings or events).  We pretended that we were looking for a facility to rent, which guided the conversation to all the offerings of the rooms.

Our hostess

George

Meeting room 1 (Charlton's office)

Fancier event room

After the tour, we walked to an outdoor stage (more like a large platform) where we met James Madison.  He orated very eloquently (although he admitted being very shy and not good at public speaking but much better at the written word -- which, of course, is evidenced by history), giving us pretty much his autobiography through that point in his life (1765, while he was still only a statesman).  In fact, during the Q&A's, Mitch asked him about his relationship with Alexander Hamilton and he said he never heard of him!  Here he is:

  

The next stop along the way was the courthouse, where lesser crimes such as owing money or thievery were brought to trial. Some photos:

  

Next, we stopped to see the jail (spelled gaol).  I can't imagine how horrible it must have been to spend time there.  The room is small with no light when the door is closed, except for what little sunlight comes thru the window, there's no insulation in the wood which makes for extreme temps in the summer and winter.  The thing that looks like steps is actually the toilet and there was only a block of wood to sleep on (you can see a corner of it in the lower left of the photo).

  

Our last stop for the day was the Capitol building, where the Burgesses met until they were disbanded by the King, and where the more serious crimes were brought before the court.  Below is a photo of the main chamber, where paintings of the kings surrounded the room (to remind people who ruled over them).  There is also a photo of a tiny part of the building - I was unable to get a good photo of the entire place, which is a fairly impressive brick building.

  

After being shown the main courtroom, the tour was to continue upstairs to the various other legislative chambers.  It was quite a few steep flights up and by then I did not have the stamina to do the climbing (and Mitch was getting very sleepy), so we chose to forego the rest of the tour and head back to the bus.

On the way home, we decided to have a nice meal out which we had missed the night before. We found a place with a Mongolian grill, Chinese buffet (with quite a few vegetarian options), Thai buffet, and sushi train.  All under $9.00!  I did kind of cheat on my diet (with just some tastes of stuff) but I can certainly have the option to stay low carb there if I wanted to.