Friday, April 22, 2011

Homeward Bound...................Day 8, Spring Break

Spring Break breaks my heart.............because it has to come to a close.  We'd packed and were ready to leave by 10 AM.  Most of the packing was done before we'd fallen asleep, and we skipped the sunrise this morning, entirely. That must mean we were tired. Or resting.  Or forgot that alarm clocks exist.

We drove out of the Outer Banks around 11 o'clock, stopped at the Weeping Radish Brewery on Rt 158 for a box of good beer to take home,  lunch at Mel's Diner a few feet from the Radish, and then chose NOT to drive home the way the map told us to go.

Instead, we drove across northern North Carolina by way of Rt. 158,  skipped the hideous traffic of Norfolk, Virginia and the frantic race past Williamsburg, and opted instead for the slow-go traffic of two lanes through small towns, snail-pace speed limits from 35 MPH to 55 MPH, traffic lights with ordinary people going ordinary places,  doing ordinary things, in ordinary villages.  In other words, it was ALL GOOD.

Several hours later, in cold rain, we arrived at I-95 North, crossed into Virginia, and decided to end the day in Petersburg, Virginia.  We'd spent a day or two here two years ago, visiting Civil War landmarks.  (My own great-grandfather marched through here with his Confederate comrades, we know.) Nice city. Huge history.

We are in a lovely newly-renovated Comfort Inn right off exit 45.  Dinner was exactly what we wanted: greasy fried chicken at a fast-food chain. (Enough shrimp, already.)

It was hard to leave the ocean.   Here's hoping for that lottery ticket....................