Here we are on Day 2 in Fredericksburg, VA. Beautiful colonial town with lots of charm. We made it through the NY/NJ madness fine. Had a meh-meh lunch (actually not even that good) at Roy Rogers at the rest stop and on to Virginia, where John directed me off I-95S to some bizarre turnoff that was supposed to be on the left and turned out to be on the right. To be fair, that is what the Triptik said.
After I came to a standstill while John was trying to figure out where I should go, I pulled into a school to reassess, set the hated (by John) GPS and turned around and back the way we came. Saw an I95 S sign almost immediately, so it didn’t delay us more than a few minutes. Kept us on our toes, so I guess that’s good.
After driving through light rain most of the day, the sun peeked through the clouds as we neared Fredericksburg. Landed here at the Wingate about 5, thankfully missing rush hour on the DC beltway. Nice hotel, even had free beer and wine during happy hour. But we decided to go into town instead. Walked the old streets where we used to go during Sam’s college years at Mary Washington. Brought back some nice memories of Sam and his friends. Hard to believe that was 14 years ago! The buildings and streets are familiar but most of the shops and restaurants have changed hands, probably many hands in that time.
We asked a young Coast Guardsman for a restaurant recommendation but he had just arrived in town. He said he’d heard the Ale House was good. We ambled down that way, and a couple outside the place said the Ale House was offering $2 burgers. Thought John would jump at that, but the wait was long and we wanted to explore the town. We eventually came to Sammy-T’s, a funky restaurant where we had dined during our trips to MWC (now university) years ago. Eclectic but tasty meal. I ordered a potato stuffed with mushrooms, cheese, and walnuts and a cup of leek soup seasoned with oregano. John had bratwurst with curried tomato sauce. Both good, and a yummy chocolate mousse for dessert (not made of tofu, Sam).
After the meal, we wandered around for a while, but it was pretty quiet and some restaurants were almost empty. I guess there’s a reason restaurants close on Monday nights. We used Lady GPS to get back to the hotel with no trouble at all. John hates the device—says it makes people “weak” because they aren’t using their brains to find their own way. I think he just doesn’t like a female telling him (correctly) which way to go.
Back in the hotel, he’s grumbling over the $43 price tag to see the Shenandoah Caverns tomorrow, especially when we could go to the national park for only $15. My solution is to go to both.
Weather here is 68 degrees. Forecast for tomorrow is 80 degrees and partly cloudy. Wonderbar!!