Somewhere between Columbia, SC and Charlotte, NC the Purple Whale surpassed the 21,000 mile plateau. We are on our way to the State of Maine, but first we have a stop in The Plains, VA to watch some of Donna’s cousins play bagpipes in a Scottish games there. When I was driving and we were not near any large cities in Virginia I would opt to drive on US11 which parallels I-81. It is a lot slower, but much easier on the eyes and senses. Along this back road we must have past by over 21,000 Civil War roadside plaques without so much as a sideways glance.
We stopped in our favorite little town in Virginia, Lexington, and took the Lewis Loop walk along the Woods Creek Trail and back through VMI and Washington & Lee, passing by right by the burial place of Stonewall Jackson which we have never visited. We even parked across the street from 318 South Jefferson to start the walk.
We had dinner at the Southern Kitchen in New Market. It has been open since the middle 1950’s and the only thing that has changed is the prices. The booths along the wall have those personal jukebox things, the is a soda fountain counter on the other side. The menu choices are probably the same and judging by the age of the clientele they are probably the same people who ate here then too.
After dinner as we continued north on US11 I spotted a sign that said Covered Bridge, so I turned off to investigate. I drove the Sonata through one way and then back the other before we pulled into a little parking area nearby. We walked down to the river beneath looking for a vantage point to get a photo, but they were few and far between. I did manage to get this one of Meems Bottom Covered Bridge.
I walked to the other side to see about another vantage point and when I looked down, this one is for you Mark, I saw a dead cow! I didn’t go down there, I’m not that much of a diehard photographer (groan.)
