First, I did survive the craziness of last week, though practically nothing went as planned (we did get into the secure government facility, and gave a talk for five people, which didn't quite seem worth it, but then we had fifty for the meeting the next day). I left at the crack of dawn on Saturday, and this is what I have done:
- Attended a somewhat rainy Monticello Heritage Harvest Festival, at which I tasted artisan cheese and heirloom apples and listened to knowledgeable people talk about them, went to a talk about growing upland rice (why? BECAUSE) which was interesting but felt like I'd been dropped into an ongoing conversation among food historians who all knew the same people and facts that I did not, ate lumpias and Australian pies and drank local beer, walked through the lovely vegetable garden as I must do every year, and didn't sit down much, because all the benches were wet.
- Drove over to Staunton VA, ate Indian food, and attended a performance of Marlowe's "Edward II," which has a shocking (for the era) amount of homosexual not-subtext and a lot of unlikeable characters. Well-performed, though, and my nodding off in the second act was just because I'd risen at 5:30 and not really much because Edward was feeling sorry for himself yet again, and I always shook myself awake because at the American Shakespeare Center, they do it with the lights on (meaning that, as in Shakespeare's time, the audience is fully lit and they can see if you're napping). Also they sell refreshments onstage before the show and during intermission, and have jolly musicians, and interact with audience members, especially those sitting onstage which thank goodness I was not.
- Next day drove up through Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and into Pennsylvania, stopping at the rather boring Hershey Gardens, and on to Allentown, where I managed to eat at Panera twice and Wegman's twice; one of the latter was taking my son's girlfriend out for tea and cookies, which was fun. Nothing else to be said about this stop, though.
- Three states the next day (PA, NJ, NY), as I highwayed it up to Saratoga Springs. I stopped on the way in Haverstraw NY to see the Andre-Arnold treason marker, which you can read about on my blog here. Walked around SS in the evening and ate fairly good pasta. Managed a paragraph of Book Five before I gave up and watched Doctor Who.
- Today, had Thai/sushi lunch with![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ailis_fictive (yay meeting online people!) and then drove on into Vermont on endless highways with lovely views, stopping at the King Arthur Flour store as kivrin suggested; bought a few things and had yummy hot chocolate in the cafe, and then headed further north. I'm in (or just south of) St. Johnsbury now, in which I will hopefully see this place tomorrow morning before I leave, but once I got into the hotel I couldn't stand the thought of getting in the car again, and unlike the other places I've stayed this one is not within walking distance of food, so dinner (which I didn't need much of, after the nice lunch) was Dinty Moore beef stew out of the hotel mini-mart. I don't even think I've seen Dinty Moore beef stew in many years. But it has sustained me, and I have King Arthur crackers as well, and all of the internet.
I think I probably should have planned this trip with a little less driving and/or more days, because the doing-lots-of-yoga and writing-first-chapter things are not terribly likely to happen, and packing up again every morning is getting a bit tired. Next five nights are with relatives and a bit slower-paced, though.
I'll post again when I get home!
- Attended a somewhat rainy Monticello Heritage Harvest Festival, at which I tasted artisan cheese and heirloom apples and listened to knowledgeable people talk about them, went to a talk about growing upland rice (why? BECAUSE) which was interesting but felt like I'd been dropped into an ongoing conversation among food historians who all knew the same people and facts that I did not, ate lumpias and Australian pies and drank local beer, walked through the lovely vegetable garden as I must do every year, and didn't sit down much, because all the benches were wet.
- Drove over to Staunton VA, ate Indian food, and attended a performance of Marlowe's "Edward II," which has a shocking (for the era) amount of homosexual not-subtext and a lot of unlikeable characters. Well-performed, though, and my nodding off in the second act was just because I'd risen at 5:30 and not really much because Edward was feeling sorry for himself yet again, and I always shook myself awake because at the American Shakespeare Center, they do it with the lights on (meaning that, as in Shakespeare's time, the audience is fully lit and they can see if you're napping). Also they sell refreshments onstage before the show and during intermission, and have jolly musicians, and interact with audience members, especially those sitting onstage which thank goodness I was not.
- Next day drove up through Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and into Pennsylvania, stopping at the rather boring Hershey Gardens, and on to Allentown, where I managed to eat at Panera twice and Wegman's twice; one of the latter was taking my son's girlfriend out for tea and cookies, which was fun. Nothing else to be said about this stop, though.
- Three states the next day (PA, NJ, NY), as I highwayed it up to Saratoga Springs. I stopped on the way in Haverstraw NY to see the Andre-Arnold treason marker, which you can read about on my blog here. Walked around SS in the evening and ate fairly good pasta. Managed a paragraph of Book Five before I gave up and watched Doctor Who.
- Today, had Thai/sushi lunch with
ailis_fictive (yay meeting online people!) and then drove on into Vermont on endless highways with lovely views, stopping at the King Arthur Flour store as kivrin suggested; bought a few things and had yummy hot chocolate in the cafe, and then headed further north. I'm in (or just south of) St. Johnsbury now, in which I will hopefully see this place tomorrow morning before I leave, but once I got into the hotel I couldn't stand the thought of getting in the car again, and unlike the other places I've stayed this one is not within walking distance of food, so dinner (which I didn't need much of, after the nice lunch) was Dinty Moore beef stew out of the hotel mini-mart. I don't even think I've seen Dinty Moore beef stew in many years. But it has sustained me, and I have King Arthur crackers as well, and all of the internet.I think I probably should have planned this trip with a little less driving and/or more days, because the doing-lots-of-yoga and writing-first-chapter things are not terribly likely to happen, and packing up again every morning is getting a bit tired. Next five nights are with relatives and a bit slower-paced, though.
I'll post again when I get home!
no subject
Date: 2014-09-17 01:38 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2014-09-17 09:07 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2014-09-18 02:07 am (UTC)From:Man, Dinty Moore...that is the taste of vacation to me, from camping trips in the end of August with my parents for many, many years....