We made it safely to the bed and breakfast (www.sugarhollow.com) yesterday afternoon with enough time for John to make sure he could get on the internet (since he had to give a presentation on a conference call at four). It was wet and rainy, but the inn is beautiful. It’s three miles past civilization, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and now that the rain and fog have cleared a bit, I can actually see them (the mountains) from the window in our bedroom.
I don’t think I could say our first evening here was relaxing. We all rushed out to dinner (minus John, on his call) because Carole (Jess’s mom) thought it was an hour later than it really was (meaning we were really late). Once we got to the restaurant we got the time thing straightened out, which pretty much meant we were right on schedule, but without much time to spare. We came back to the Inn after eating to drop off those of us who weren’t going to the play and to pick up John. Then we packed ourselves up into two cars and began the harrowing trek to Staunton. It was awful. Chuck was driving his car with Cody, Meredith (Jess’s sister), and Rachel (Jess’s sister-in-law), and I was following with John, Jess, and Carole. The roads around here are twisty, windy, barely two-lane roads, but that was okay. It was rainy, but not pouring, and it wasn’t foggy. At least, not in the valley. Then we got onto 64. We got into the mountains and the fog rolled in. Maybe it was already there and we rolled into the fog. Whatever, it was getting darker and foggier and we were on a twisty interstate with lots of cars going faster than it seemed they should be going. And we were late. It wasn’t totally dark, though, and we got to the theater in one piece, albeit about 15 minutes after the play started. Thankfully, they let us in anyway. It’s a small, Elizabethan-style theater, and we took up the entire third row. The play, Rosencrantz and Gildenstern are Dead, was really good, very funny, and I’m very glad we made it. At one point, Rozencrantz came into the audience and sat down next to John. Gildenstern asked him if he saw anything interesting, and he looked right at John and said, “No.” Funny.
The way back was less fun. It was completely dark and if anything, the fog was worse. There were lights in the roadbed along the guardrails, but they looked like oncoming headlights, so I was freaked out the whole time we were on the interstate. And it took a LONG time to get back. Oh, and it was raining a lot harder.
I started writing this before breakfast this morning. It’s now after 10, and we’re all pretty much exhausted. We went to five wineries this afternoon and had a great time, but we all needed naps (that we didn’t get) when we got back. Dinner was mooseburgers (brought from Alaska in Daniel’s luggage). Then we hung around the living room, mostly comatose. Certainly not being all that loud. We were chastised by the owner (nicely chastised) and asked to keep our voices down since there is one couple staying here who doesn’t belong to us. That wouldn’t really have been a problem except that Jess and Chuck overheard the owners in the kitchen. They seem to be pretty unhappy with us, but I’m not sure what we’ve done. We haven’t destroyed anything or broken anything. Maybe we’ll find out more tomorrow.
We’re having a really good time (despite our general sleepiness). I’m enjoying Jess’s family, and we’re in a beautiful spot. Tomorrow, Jess and Rachel and I are going to get lunch, mani/pedis, and the cake, and the wedding will be around 5:30.
momma betty
What a rowdy group. They’ll never have you guys back. (if they only knew about your history of bar brawls……)
Zannah
It got better. Everyone went out of their way to butter that woman up, and it seemed to work. There were no bar brawls at this wedding!