We were out of Petersburg by 8:30, and on the road headed north. You know us by now. We did not take the road MOST travelled by, but took some odd road that took us around Richmond and north (I think it was labelled 288?) to Rt 60W which took us through some small towns and through some gorgeous scenery.
It was a rather uneventful morning until we got to Amherst, Virginia, where Randy's family actually had some roots. There we stopped at the town hall for a few minutes, and realizing that information was not going to just leap out at us, we drove down to the Amherst County Public Library where we asked for guidance.
A lovely lady librarian assisted Randy in locating the records of some ancestral wills which were filed in Amherst in 1779 or so. We kept looking through the "rare" books that were locked in a case in the library for Gillenwaters until we found some. Since Randy has done some ancestral research, he knew he had the right folks! We followed this up with the purchase of some goodies from the Friends of the Library book sale shelf, then had our picnic lunch on the table beside the library. We certainly made this "one stop shopping!" We also did some traispsing around in a very old cemetery there in Amherst, looking for Randy's ancestors, but no markers were Gillenwaters.
On we went, over some rather hair-raising mountainous roads, frankly, (white knuckles for me, the driver), until we connected with 64W, and continued the trek homeward until we arrived at White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. This is home to The Greenbriar Resort. We've been here before, enjoyed the tour, but also knew that the evening was approaching and chose to just STOP. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.............so we are staying once again at the Old White Inn on Rt 60 in White Sulphur Springs. It was built in 1953, and is as clean and neat as the day they opened it. Their sign reads, "...with an air of gracious hospitality," and that could not be more true.
This little town is one of those that they say "rolls up the sidewalk when the sun goes down," but that is OK. We actually had a choice between two eateries, The Mason Jar, and East 50, which is named for its own address. We had eaten at the first on our last visit, so chose East 50 this time, since we could eat al fresco. (It is 77 degrees and sunny here right now.) Our margherita pizza had far too much cheese on it, but still was tasty. The appetizer wings were wonderful, and the wine was fine.(Have we ever complained about the wine?) The service was efficient and friendly, and here we are, back at The Old White Inn, about to sit on the front porch to watch the local traffic go by and enjoy the mountains and the fresh spring air.
Home tomorrow. I am trying not to think about going back to w--k.
copyright: KP Gillenwater
