After a lazy start to the day, I took a photo of the tree in blossom in the garden, worked on my blog and then finished packing. We left to go to the Cheesecake Factory in the Montgomery Mall, Bethesda where we were to meet up with Cheryl and Dan, my next hosts.
The Mall was very busy but we finally found a park and, just as we were nearing the restaurant, I had a text from Cheryl saying they were inside by the door. It was good to see Dan and Cheryl again after a couple of years.
Our server, Paul, was a hoot, such a comedian with lots of energy, I wonder what he is like at the end of the day, lol! We had a lovely lunch and took some Cherry Cheesecake home with us!! Then it was time to bid farewell to Mayo and Scott, I thoroughly enjoyed the visit and they were great hosts. We had a lot of laughs and the museum exploration was awesome. I very much appreciate their hospitality and hope we can do this again!
We then headed to West Virginia and arrived in good time although we did spend a lot of time crawling along at various places. We crossed the Potomac River and then we were following the Shenandoah River from the place where it joins forces with the Potomac. We did not stop at the halfway house (Dan and Cheryl's rental while their house is built!).
It was good to see Apollo and Callie, the two siamese cats, again. Apollo came up to me but Callie held off a bit as she is shy. Later, they both came and explored my bedroom. Shallon did not get home from work until well after 5 pm and it was good to catch up with her again too.
We went to a local cafe for dinner and I had some garlic bread and wings. The sauce was too spicy, even though I ordered mild, but the wings were tasty anyway. I took some home as I wanted to save room for some Cherry Cheesecake later! I ate my cheesecake with a cup of tea after my shower!
Saturday
We headed off just before 10 am to have breakfast at a cafe called 'The Dining Room'. It is a house that has been converted and is a homely place serving good home cooked food. We then headed to Winchester to the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley. There was an exhibition of Art Work in the foyer, some of it was very interesting but also expensive.
We visited the museum store and I found some interesting and beautiful pieces made from the official stone of Virginia, Unakite. It is composed of pink feldspar, green epidote and quartz. It is found in the Blue Ridge Mountains among other places.
There is a replica model of the O'Hara family residence from 'Gone with the Wind' along with some other interesting pieces.
There were also many scenes from earlier times in the Shenandoah Valley as well as the original 'Old Jake' Weather Vane that was atop the Fire Hall.
It was taken down in 2008 to be cleaned but then was not put back up. It was offered for sale at Sotheby's and 2.5 M was turned down so it was not sold. It is now on loan to the museum.
We then collected our purchases and headed to the gardens. It was a very cool day and the late spring means that there was not much happening yet. So we left to visit our next stop which was a gift shop at Creekside Station, a fairly new shopping centre with a variety of boutique stores. I purchased a few items to go with those from the museum.
We stopped at the Panero Store in Winchester and I had my daily coffee fix I also purchased a Bear Claw. I did not realise the variety of foods that were available in these stores until today.
We were not too late arriving back home. Later, I ate the rest of my wings from last night and then we all had some Cherry Cheesecake sandwiched between some rounds of Cribbage. It was a lovely day out, in spite of the weather, in good company and with much of interest followed by an evening of fun!
I took a few more photos of the cats and Apollo even let me pick him up! callie is just 3 years old and Apollo is 15, very much the senior partner!
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