Nomads, Long Beach 1, CA (9/22/2023)

This post I will name Long Beach, partially for obvious reasons, although it seems we have explored the entire Los Angeles basin. However, Long Beach is the home base where all our trips originated and returned to. Our daughter and her spouse live in Long Beach and that was the ultimate destination of our trip. Our girl, they always remain your girl, no matter how old they are, was going to be ordained as a Unitarian Universalist Minister and we needed to witness that.

We arrived on Thursday afternoon after a fun drive over the L.A. freeway system. It wasn’t that bad; I had a great navigator sitting next to me in the captain’s chair (“there will be a slowdown in a half mile”, get ready”; “do you see those brake lights?”). Parking in front of her apartment building was something else; it is basically a free-for-all, but we got a spot that we could squeeze the van in. We were advised to empty all the valuables, because of the homeless living down the street; my daughter already had their car window broken for what appeared to be an empty grocery bag. Some time after that we put shades and blankets in front of the windows to make sure the van appeared occupied, and no one could look in. This seemed excessive at first, but later in the evening while walking the dogs we observed a gathering of homeless folks and saw at least two vans that someone obviously lived in (a.k.a. boondocking). The doors to those vans were open and there was mosquito netting hung in the door openings, a sure sign of active living.

During our entire stay in the area, we were made very aware of the homeless crisis in this area. It is amazing. A couple of days later we visited a bonsai shop, and the owner (a 50-year-old Asian lady) started to blame the welfare state of California. We hesitated but did not tell her that Republican states are partially to blame for all this, by bussing them in.

A good friend of my daughter and fellow minister came in from Alabama the following day. She was going to sleep at my daughter’s place as well, and we needed to decide how to organize the sleeping of five persons and three dogs in a small townhouse. At night we had a small gathering at a microbrewery nearby and all was well. The first days we did not do too much, we had a ceremony to prepare for. Our daughter and spouse took good care of us, and we were acquainted with the area’s (Asian) donut shops (15 or so between home and her work), the taco stands (too numerous to count), and the ethnic food in the area, most notably Cambodian and Indonesian. The fermented fish dish at the Cambodian restaurant was interesting and delicious, but it or the uncooked vegetables gave me terrible gas. It seems that nobody cooks at home, and everyone eats out all the time.

Our daughter’s church where the ceremony took place is absolutely gorgeous and is in a beautiful location. We got there early which allowed us to scout out the place and take the nature trail, which is owned and maintained by the church, at the edge of the canyon that looks towards the Pacific Ocean. The ceremony was great, and we now have a reverend for a daughter. Afterwards there was a social gathering with a taco dinner, beer, wine and cake. We got to meet more colleagues, and congregants that we can remember. Later on talking with our daughter we heard the stories on all the folks we could remember talking to.

Sunday was a trip to downtown L.A. We visited Little Tokyo for lunch; this place is absolutely worth visiting and went for a hike up hill to the observatory. However, what goes up must come down and so did we. While the downhill was relatively easy, in hindsight I injured my knee; two days later it ballooned and was painful.

We visited the Huntington dog-beach on Monday (see the photograph below) and Tuesday was our bonsai and Japanese garden day.

I guess I’ll write more about our Long Beach visit (Wednesday, Thursday and maybe some other observations) in my next post.

We had to go wool shopping after the aquarium

One aquarium picture

The Japanese garden

Jasper did not like the waves at Huntington Beach

The view from the conservatory

Hiking to the observatory

One picture from the ceremony

Get together at the brewery 

The End is Near (5/17/2023)

I guess I will be reporting on two weeks of my farewell tour. Two more to go! The past two weeks I spent in Norfolk (week one) and in Richmond (week two). Crazy enough, I was teaching the same classes at each location, in exactly the same order.

Items to report are that things are getting closer as I go, and more emotional or nostalgic and the end is getting nearer and nearer. In Norfolk, one of the members of the Virginia Beach gang started sending a retirement card around and everyone wrote something nice. It was very moving. Then, around the end of everything one of my students came over and asked if she could have her picture taken with me as a memory of taking my classes. Also, on day two I had lunch with the Virginia Beach gang.

In Richmond, I had another selfie taker at the end of day two. Furthermore, a lot of handshakes, well wished, going out to lunch as a group on day one and folks interested in my reading list (mostly or all my natural history books). At the end of day 2, I actually walked around a stormwater BMP with one of my students to evaluate it for potential maintenance issues. In addition, all four days ended in a standing ovation for me and a thank you for your service. I almost felt like I was coming out of the military service.

Food and drinks were somewhat uneventful these two weeks. The newest microbrewery on my visit was the Veil in Norfolk. The beer was good and the homemade pizza as well. Richmond was just in and out with a quick lunch.

A quick hotel review, In Norfolk I taught and stayed at the Delta Hotel, by Mariot, near the airport.  The only thing I can say is, that it was not bad.  Breakfast was better than most.  I was given the smallest room a king-size bed could fit in, but then, I paid State rate.  State rare is about a quarter of the going rate.

Things are getting more nostalgic and sadder. I am not sure if I am ready to call it quits. I enjoy teaching and working. As one of my colleagues mentioned, it seems I affected a lot of folks in our business. This makes me happy and maybe I should go out on top, when I have a lot of friends or folks that seem to respect me. But it is difficult to do. It was a good ride.

The next two weeks I am looking forward to a webinar and a trip to Abingdon before it is over, and I start the next phase of my life. Reading the obituaries, I am watching those ages of death creeping closer and closer. I am going to need to fight depression, loneliness and get a hobby. But then, I already have one and up to this writing I was not depressed! The unknown is both exciting and scarry.

Me with one of my students who wanted a selfie with her teacher.  It was so humbling! 

Hopefully this will be in my future.  More hiking outside.  During this hike, this past weekend, we actually saw a cottonmouth. 

No mass shooting in Fredericksburg (4/17/2023)

“No mass shooting today!” Those were the first words I dared to say to my wife when I called her this past Tuesday night from my hotel room in Fredericksburg. We just had another one the day before, now in Louisville. I had driven to Fredericksburg the day before, and that Monday evening I eventually had to turn the TV off. I had enough of it! It was so depressing; I did not even go out for dinner. I bought a tray of cheeses, nuts, and cranberries to snack on, a kombucha, and a four pack of beer (oatmeal raisin cookies porter) at Wegmans. So, when I got to my room at around 5:30, I had the kombucha and by 7 pm I had my cheese tray and a beer. Life was too depressing to go out and somehow enjoy myself in a restaurant.

I had set out with grand ideas of where I was going for dinner, but good plans are there to be squashed by a nut with an assault rifle and I just did not feel like celebrating my last visit to that town. Instead, I wrote the draft for the report on my Wytheville visit.

I actually enjoyed the cheese. It somewhat reminded me of my hitchhiking days though the northwestern part of France. I did that the year I decided to drop out of high school and somehow snuck into college. Crazy to think about it. This high school dropout somehow weaseled his way into college and eventually ended up earning a Ph.D. But I still think fondly about my trip to Dieppe, France, and the surrounding countryside. Yup, the long-term memory is the last thing to go, or so they say!

Back to Fredericksburg. I had two classes there with only 15 people in each. It is nice to be able to go more one-on-one. Moreover, I am finding that I have been going more off on tangents, embellishments lately. Oh, I am not lying at all, but I like to tell stories and maybe reminiscing is a better word. I have become more nostalgic these past weeks. It makes me wonder, is it old age, or is it my way of saying goodbye? Oh my, that is what I have been doing in this goodbye series as well, haven’t I? My blog posts have mellowed.

To continue, the next days, breakfast was at Panera’s and at the hotel (Hilton), and lunch was at a Taste on Spice (Indian) and again at Panera’s. The hotel breakfast is way too expensive for what you get, and I will not do it again. For the rest no complaint.

The one dinner I had was at a local brewery (6 Bears and a Goat) and it was not bad. Service was terribly slow. When I visit a place, I prefer a table or a booth instead of eating at the bar. I had to wait 15 minutes to get service, then another 15 to 20 minutes to get two samplers and another 10 to get my beer. However, then I ordered food, and it was there in 5 minutes. No time to finally enjoy my beer, or multiple. I decided to order dessert (ice cream); that took another 25 minutes, which got me worried it had melted under the heating lamp in the kitchen. However, I could at least have a coffee stout as a second beer for dessert. The menu told me it came in 5 and 12 once servings, but they waitress told me that the menu was wrong and forced me to order a 12 once stout. Considering the wait time for the ice cream, this was not a bad idea. Suffice it to say, while I usually tip 20 to 22%, this time I tipped only 18%. While the beer and food were decent, the service was off, the place was probably way understaffed.

As I mentioned above, the classes I teach are becoming different. Folks wish me happy retirement. Some applaud, I get handshakes, and even hugs. Folks tell me that they are going to miss me, that I am the best teacher they ever had. I take it all in stride, with a grain of salt. It is all very nice to hear; but soon I’ll be forgotten. However, I will not forget my time with this program, my teaching and hopefully some of the good I have been doing for the environment.

I have been fascinated by Walmart parking lots lately.  Now I own a camper and we plan to go across the country once we retire, stopping over in a Walmart parking lot is an option.  Even here in this somewhat upscale shopping area it seems that Walmart allows people to camp out.  This is great since there are nice restaurants nearby, the Panera, Starbucks, and restrooms for early mornings.

And the travel goes on, Wytheville (4/14/2023)

Things are increasingly winding down. They are going so fast, that the post for my last trip was written while watching television and drinking either coffee in my motel room or a beer at a brewery in Wytheville. I guess the final touches to this post will come in a brewery at my next stop, Fredericksburg. I am really starting to wonder why I did this to myself; I knew I was retiring, and I should have kept it easy the last year.

Oh well, I wanted to go out with a big bang. But man, retirement is going to feel good and deserved. Less than two months to go.

It is all bitter sweet, Wytheville, the town of last week’s visit, didn’t feel like usual. It felt like I had already distanced myself from the town I actually like a lot. I tried to visit some of the old haunts for that pop-psychology word “closure.” However, it just seemed that the restaurant choice for the first night did not seem as good as I remembered.

The Log Cabin was busy for a Monday evening; however, the meal I got was tasteless and the salad seemed to have been thrown together with little attention. I had a south of the border pork roast which tasted anything but south of the border, it had raw onions in it, which were distracting. For vegetable I ordered a stuffed squash, which turned out to be a limp half zucchini with some stuff in it. The only redeeming part were the French fries. But the desert and coffee were good.

Lunch on both days were at my favorite Chinese restaurant (Peking), day one was great, but my second day meal choice was somewhat disappointing. I usually switch between the Chinese restaurant and the Mexican place down the street. However, that place was closed, shut down forever. On further investigation it seems that one of the owners had died and that was it!

The beer at my favorite brewery (Seven Sisters) was still great, but the place was still empty, and the food truck would not be open both days I was there. So, off to the pizza joint (Moon Dog Brick Oven) the first day. That place is always good, no complaint there. My friends at the place I teach had told me about another Mexican restaurant in town which according to them was great, so I tried it the second evening. It is located in the Walmart shopping center and I wanted to look there anyway to see if folks were camping out in the parking lot with their campers. We have bought a small camper and are wondering if that would be an option for us, free camping at Walmart. Well, the restaurant (El Patio) was mediocre in my eyes. Oh well.

So, all together, maybe a bittersweet visit, maybe a good way to close out my 14 years of visiting Wytheville. Somewhat of a letdown. Not at all like my visit to Fairfax. But then maybe it’s good to be done with this part of my life very soon.  The best thing came at the end, on the way back I had a nice walk on the New River Trail.  I even found a good rock that I might be able to use for a root over rock planting for my bonsais.  

Seven Sisters Brewery.  Quiet at usual when I go there, but I had a chance to finidh my Fairfax blog while sipping some tasty brews, and then walking down the street for a nice pizza.

The Wallmart parking lot had a few campers already there.  I was scouting it out to see if it may work for us during our travels.

Just a picture on the New River Trail.  I love the shape of this tree.  Who knows?  A future bonsai design?

The redbuds were in full bloom on the New River Trail.  

Goodbye Fairfax (4/4/2023)

In one of my latest Facebook posts I quote the famous Anthony Bourdain:

"Eat at a local restaurant tonight. Get the cream sauce. Have a cold pint at 4 o’clock in a mostly empty bar. Go somewhere you’ve never been. Listen to someone you think may have nothing in common with you. Order the steak rare. Eat an oyster. Have a negroni. Have two. Be open to a world where you may not understand or agree with the person next to you, but have a drink with them anyways. Eat slowly. Tip your server. Check in on your friends. Check in on yourself. Enjoy the ride."

When he traveled, Bourdain had an entourage, camera men/women, a producer, sound and light engineers, makeup folks, etc. I travel alone. He was lonely. Now I am not depressed like him, not contemplating suicide, or anything like it. But yes, I am writing this in my motel room, again, from a different town, on my goodbye tour. I’ll write about that town (Wytheville) later in a next post. This post is meant to be about my visit to Fairfax and Falls Church two weeks ago.

But back to Bourdain for a paragraph. In Fairfax I was able to get together with an old friend at a local brewery and then have dinner at a local Thai restaurant (Sisters Thai) on the first day. On the second day I went to a local Whiskey tasting room/restaurant (MacMillan Whisky Room) and although I love my whiskeys and bourbons, I decided to have a Manhattan (or three) and a potpie. I closed that evening off with a coffee and gelato at a place next door (Dolcezza). I was a happy camper, both evenings.

The Thai restaurant, whiskey bar and the gelato place were all establishments I had never been before, so in a sense they qualify to what Bourdain was talking about. Meeting my friend as well, and then what happened at the whiskey bar. Let’s go into the details.

I was sitting at the bar, and the folks I sat next to soon moved away. A lady sat next to me with a book. I estimate she was in her early 50s and before I knew it, we had a fun discussion going on. We were talking about hiking, marathons (which she runs), social issues, whiskey, our backgrounds, our respective parents, and so forth. Just an enjoyable time. She ended up being a kindergarten teacher and when her husband travels, she tries different restaurants in the area. She had never been there. After an hour or so a guy sat next to us who tried to dominate the conversation talking about the book he wrote.

Eventually it was time to leave, and on our way out of the door, we both were going opposite ways, she told me: “Funny, I had fun talking to you, and to think I am an introvert, which is why I brought the book. So, I could hide in it, and I did not read a word.” If you are a regular reader of my blog, you should know, I call myself an introvert as well. We had a chuckle when I told her that as we split our ways and I went for my gelato and back to my hotel room; a very Bourdain experience.

My friend David and I grabbing a brew at the Cabous prior to going to dinner at the Thai Sisters in Fairfax.  We have been good friends for the past 15 or so years.

October travels and what's next (10/24/2022)

While I have been (or will be) teaching three different weeks this month, I only had one overnight trip. One trip was to Hampton, approximately 20 minutes from my home, and I am going to Richmond this week. Richmond is my home office, and although it is an hour and twenty minutes’ drive, I am not allowed to stay overnight, at least not on the boss. However last week I spent some time in Portsmouth, which is technically closer to home, but further away from the office.  Moreover, the traffic here in the Hampton Roads could make the commute 2 hours although it ordinarily may take only 35 or 40 minutes.  Hence, the need to stay overnight at that side of the tunnel. 

The Portsmouth class was not scheduled. We had some turnover at work, and I needed to pinch hit as you might call it. So, I spent 3 days helping to teach Erosion and Sediment Control Plan Review, a course I used to teach a lot, seven or more years ago. Naturally at the end of the day I need to come down and try some of the microbreweries on the path to my hotel, the Hilton in Suffolk. Both breweries were new to me.

On the first day I tried the MoMac brewing company. The beer is decent and the guy behind the bar was talkative which was great. I really enjoyed their Schwartz Beer. Their IPAs tastes good. All fine. It was here that I received the word that the assistant brewer from MoMac will becoming the brew master at one of my favorite microbreweries in my area: Capstan.

The second day was at Harbor Trail Brewing Company, not far from MoMac. Harbor Trail seems to be a very young establishment (3 months old), but boy, I love their black IPA and their regular IPA was good too. The girlfriend of the soon to-be new Capstan brew master was behind the bar, and he popped in as well, so I had a great time. Having to drive to the motel after teaching a full day, I don’t dare to drink much more than one beer and a small taster of the other.

This post serves a quick update on two breweries and my travels this month, so no literary masterpiece again. I have three more trips planned for November and December. Next month it will be Winchester and in December I will be going to Virginia Beach and back to Lynchburg. That will do it for the year. I am looking forward to Winchester. I have not been there since before COVID and I love strolling downtown and eating at some of the restaurants. Pre-COVID (four or so years ago) there wasn’t really a nice microbrewery with a good atmosphere in town (or at least I don't remember them). I remember two pizza joints with their own beer, but hopefully they have gone up in the world. I will report out.  Weather permitting, I tend to stop for a walk/hike either at Sky Meadows State Park or the State Arboretum, on the way out there.  I really love those two places.

At least there will be plenty to report about the other two towns. So, stay tuned my friends, the quest for the perfect microbrew, restaurants and just travel will continue.

The Schwarz Beer at MoMac was really tasty.  The had two IPAs that they would like you to compare.  Skeeter Juice and one for the Aussie name of mosquitos (Mozzie Juice).  Interestingly for me, I could only taste the Mozzie Juice which is made with Australian Hops on the tip of my tongue and no where else in my mouth.  I never had that with any other food or beverage.  A strange experience.

A view from the bar at Harbor Trail Brewing.  I really like this place.  Google maps had a difficult time putting me here since it is on a corner of an intersection.  Again some good beer here!

August travels or Hotels 12, 13 and 14 (8/31/2021)

Wow, yes I have missed reporting on some of my travels. It should not come as a surprise if you have read my last post. A move of my father-in-law, followed by the wedding of our daughter. Almost immediately I had to pack up get on the road, and travel for work.

• Hotel 12 was in Herndon at the Windham near Dulles Airport.
• Hotel 13 was a week later and I stayed at the same hotel again, the Windham, near Dulles.
• I stayed the week after that in Hotel 14 at the Renaissance in Portsmouth.

All three hotels were by the Marriott chain, a new experience for me. I frequent the Hilton and Holiday Inn chain, so this was new and honestly I was not disappointed. Maybe except the price of meals which was above my state per diem rate. But times both locations had so much going for them so I could go out and find something to my liking. I was lucky, the Renaissance gave me state rate, I booked in June, but a colleague who booked in July could not get the same rate and had to stay in a second rate hotel. This was no fun, in particular since we were teaching at the hotel. This will certainly be the deciding factor for us in booking future training locations now we have been stung once.

Great room and view at the Renaissance.  It's a shame that we might never stay there any more because of their treatment of State employees.

Only the second Herndon stay was I on my own, I traveled with a colleague the other two times. Knowing that my readers like to see my microbrewery and restaurant reviews, here they come.

During my stay in Herndon I visited two microbreweries: The Aslin Beer Company, downtown Herndon; and The Beltway Brewing Company in Sterling. A favorite between the two, I don’t know. They are both different and both very good. Aslin has a corner brewery vibe with a pizza shop attached to it. They make some good beer. Beltway is slightly more industrial and speaking with one of the managers the do some contract brewing for others. Beltway makes some mean empanadas, which tasted delicious, as long as you are prepared to wait and drink another beer. But then, the pizza at Aslin was great too. There are some other eating places around both breweries, more around Aslin and the second time around I ate at a Korean/Japanese restaurant (Red Kimono) nearby which was absolutely wonderful. Lunch places galore, I ate Thai, Indian, and Vietnamese. In other words I was in Asian heaven.

Just a shot of a beer at Beltway while waiting for my empanadas

Downtown Herndon in Fairfax County.  That evening there was a gathering of cyclist.

In Portsmouth there were no brewery visits, but we stopped by the Bier Garden, a German Restaurant and had some delicious German draft beers and food. I highly recommend it. There is a Legend brewery near the hotel, but I have visited the original Richmond location enough that this seemed redundant. We also ate at Fish and Slips a restaurant at the marina in the Portsmouth harbor. Last time I ate at this place as in August of 2000 when I was house hunting in the area. I could not help myself but I ordered a Manhattan. Food is good but deep fried thus not the healthiest. Other lunch places included a down town Mexican joint and a Thai place. Both great.

So now you are up-to-date!

Walking back from the Bier garden I saw this in the harbor and had to take this photograph. 

Abingdon or Hotels 11. (6/10/2022)

My latest trip was uneventful for a change. No mass murder, no start of a new war, it was boring, or at least nothing to be glued to the TV for. Although, I think there was a shooting at a hospital in Oklahoma, but that one received only minor attention after what happened in Uvalde, Texas. Not that it should become so common place that I should call it uneventful; however, the media hardly covered it because the atrocities in the small Texas town and the screw ups by the police and the Governor still dominated the news.

Enough, I want to step away from that for a change of pace. This past week brought me to Abingdon, a town in Washington County, in southwest Virginia, approximately 10 miles from the Tennessee border. Now if you think that this is the far end of Virginia, think again. Some of my students had to drive an hour and a half form the farthest tip of Virginia, near the Cumberland Gap area in Lee County. To think that when I left Abingdon Friday morning at 8:30 to return home I had to travel 8 hours. This included lunch and switching out my state car for my personal vehicle in Richmond.

Knowing that my retirement age is approaching, I have been inviting one of my colleagues to join me and co-teach my classes with me, or at least attend them and learn. My regular compatriot grew up in Abingdon, so he was thrilled to join. Although his mom (as he calls her) still lives there and he visits her regularly, it was funny to see that I had to show him where all the good restaurants were for lunch and dinner, or even where the town’s microbrewery was (darn they changed the location of the entrance and the tasting room). I like to treat myself to an ice cream from Dairy Queen after class, and I had to show him where that was (near the turn to mom’s place). We spent three nights in town and had fun together on two of them. One of the evenings he visited mom and I spent time on my own. That evening it rained, but not hard enough to prevent me from walking from my motel room via the Creeper Trail to one of my favorite restaurants in town (128 Pecan).

We stayed at the new Holiday Inn Express, which was great. Rooms were new, clean and up-to-date. It is in a newly developed area next to sports fields that are connected to the Creeper. I saw them develop the area two and a half years ago (pre-COVID) and thought it would become a sub-division of some sort. One of the evenings, my compadre and I had fun trying to figure out the post development hydrology and stormwater management of this and a site downstream from this site. It seemed messy and kind of screwed up. It is difficult, at times, to leave your work in the office at the end of the day, isn’t it?

My nice, updated room at the Holiday Inn Express.  The view was something to be desired, but OK.

Restaurants we visited were Bella’s Pizza and the Hardware Store (BBQ) favorites of both of us (both definitely get a high 3.8 or 4 stars out of 5). Lunch was at some Mexican joint (ok) and Milano’s. Both lunch spots were new introductions to our Abingdon native and he (we) liked Milano's that much (also a 3.8 for sure) that he swore that he needed to bring mom to Milano’s for dinner when he is back in town. 128 Pecan has been a favorite of mine for a long time, and it did not disappoint me again on this trip (4.2 stars out of 5).

Then the piece de resistance: Wolf Hill Brewery. While they moved to a new taproom two years ago, I found that the atmosphere of the old funky place had disappeared. This tasting room is clean, sophisticated and dull in my eyes. But the beer remained the same and is still good. Their hours appear different and they lost their taco food-truck, one of the things I was looking forward to. A COVID casualty according to the lady behind the bar. Naturally, we got there right before trivia started, so the place filled up and I never had a chance to sample a second beer. We just wanted to get out of there before the noise started. Oh well.

I realize that this has become a travel log, so a little more. After Wolf Hill Brewery and dinner at the Hardware Store my friend decided to show me the sights around town. It was not what a warm blooded guy had secretly hoped for (just kidding); regular readers know that I am a sucker for nature. However, in the back of the training room were four (cheesy) paintings of a mill and he had recognized it as the mill at White Mill, just 4 miles west of downtown. During dinner, the server told us that grits served by the restaurant were milled by the mill which had recently been restored. This had triggered my friends need to show me the mill in real life and off we went. A nice country drive later we visited the mill and got to walk around it, look at nature and take a few photographs. On the way back we observed a grove of dead trees and speculated why this happened; a subject we brought back the next day in class: flooding caused by beavers, herbicide drift, who knows?

Common Ninebark blooming just below the mill at White Mill, VA

Just a bench at White Mill, VA

The mill and White Mill, VA.  I took the photo from the bench above.

Altogether, I had a good week. At times it is nice to have company on my travels. Other times, being an introvert it is nice to travel alone. But I did enjoy the company this time around. For sure it was nice to have a fellow driver behind the wheel. I am getting older and I noticed it when I got home, I was beat.

My excuses to those of you who were looking for more depth, politics, philosophy or whatever in this post. At times it is good to be light hearted and write an account of my travels; a diary of sorts. The original objective of my blog was a photo blog and an account of my travels through Virginia. Moreover, I can’t be a philosopher every day.

Motels 9. Wytheville and beer (5/11/2022)

This week’s stop was Wytheville, Virginia. I have written a lot about my visits to this town <here>, <here>, <here>, and <here>. But my favorite post is here; however, be warned that one is R-rated. Folks scheduling my travel with me always joke that Wytheville is one of my favorite places. Now, I had not been in Wytheville for probably two and a half year, and the visit would be a good illustration what happened to or changed with a more rural conservative town in the age of COVID. Not much. Actually, looking at Google maps prior to leaving, I rejoiced and told my wife “Hey they now have a second microbrewery in Wytheville (more about that later).

Trying to book a decent motel in town was somewhat frustrating. My two favorite places no longer offer state rates, which would mean that I would have to supplement my stay out of my own pocket. Since I was staying three nights that would mean something close to at least another $35 to $45 for the stay. This is ridiculous, so I was required to find a new favorite motel. The Hampton Inn by Hilton was nice enough to still charge the state rate. Rooms were clean and actually it was less than 2 minutes removed from the place I was teaching. As you have probably noticed, I do not play favorites when it comes to motels, I try to spread my stays out between chains. This is based on a number of factors, including location (in town and the proximity to the place I am teaching), past experience in the town, and the chain that I accumulate loyalty points with. However, the stay in this motel was new and I liked it. The Hampton Inn was clean, well maintained, staff was friendly; so, what was not to like? I will come here again when returning to Wytheville.

Checking my company phone for some recent emails before hitting the road.

Driving to the western part of the state has not changed much. Interstate 81 is still insanely crazy. It is one of the major connectors between the East Coast and the South. I noticed that in fall and spring the hotels in Wytheville always had a great number of vehicles with Canadian license plates parked in front of it. I guess that why they are called the snowbirds. However, the truck traffic is insane as well. Thank goodness the roads around Roanoke have been widened and more is coming. This should help a little with this bottleneck.

There is Public Radio almost all the way on the trip to Wytheville. You may need to do some searching, but you can find them. Searching by itself can be interesting. You hit the obligatory religious stations with either fiery services or pious/ glorifying music. On the AM, I found a station that read obituaries which was somewhat interesting for at least 5 minutes. You can also find sports talk (not really interesting to me), a Spanish station, and your regular right-wing talk/hate stations. I wrote about this previously as well <here>, but since the leaked documents from the Supreme Court, listening to these stations was somewhat amusing/infuriating. The craziest thing I heard was Glen Beck proclaiming that liberal men were pro-abortion because that made it easy for them to pick up women for casual sex. If abortion would become illegal, women would no longer be willing to sleep around. According to this jerk, this is the only reason men could be pro-abortion. I’ll leave it there, but as you might understand from a previous post or two, I do not agree.

Thunderstorms abound on this trip, so no walks or bike rides on the New River Trail as I was able on previous years (just look for Draper in the keywords). Oh well, so I spent more time exploring and comparing the two microbreweries in town. Now I don’t consider myself an alcoholic; however, I do like my beers and wine. In previous posts I have compared wineries in the state, and I have reviewed the occasional microbrewery. I also review the motels I stay in, as I have done above.

The first evening I visited “the Seven Sisters Brewery”. This is a large place on Maine Street and my first impression was that it was deserted. I was there alone for a while and finally two or three folks came in. Actually, the beer was good, the DIPA was my favorite, followed by the bock and the lager. This is surprising for me; I am usually not a bock or a lager drinker. The atmosphere was good, and I met the brew master, who seems very knowledgeable about brewing. On my return two days later folks who frequent the brewery were surprised that he appeared sober when I met him; probably a good sign for a brew master that he samples his beer. This brewery is new to me and was not there when I visited two and a half years ago. I did go back my third evening and there was a larger crowd; plus the beer was still very tasty.

My beer flight at the Seven Sisters

The “Seven Dogs Brew Pub” was on my agenda for thee second day. These guys have 20 beers on their menu and these beers were all brewed on premises. Truthfully, I think they overextended themselves. While not bad, some of their beers were plain mediocre at best. I often see that with restaurants as well. When the menus are large, the food is average, because they cannot concentrate on doing their best. This place has a full kitchen, and the food is ok. I visited the place two and a half years ago, and I think they have gone down a bit.

The entrance to the Seven Dogs.  Absolutely not bad, but right now not my favorite in town.

I asked what the relationship was between the two sevens in the names, and there is none. Thank goodness, the Seven Sisters has a food truck, and you can get food there as well. To me the Seven Sisters was my hands down favorite of the two. I think I will go back there on my next visit and avoid the Seven Dogs. Although, the Seven Dogs operate the pizza joint down the street, which is pretty darn good and what beer doesn’t taste good with pizza?

Hotels 4 and 5. A view from the road, Fairfax and Staunton (3/11/2022)

My travel and in person teaching has resumed in earnest. Driving to the locations, in motel rooms and even in the classes there is no way of avoiding of being exposed to and talking about the stupid war that Russia is waging in Ukraine. It appears that everyone in my classes is willing to accept the higher gasoline prices and know whom to blame for it: the Russian president (more about this below). But, as I mention in a previous post it is good to be back out. Since the last post on teaching, I have taught live in Richmond (no overnight travel), Fairfax and in Staunton (all of course in Virginia, more about that later in this post, as well).

At the Homewood Suites by Hilton i  West Falls Church in Northern Virginia.  This is a great place, were it not for the view from my room which was of the back of a strip mall and dumpsters.

No this is not me after drinking a beer, but I was demonstrating how the timer on your camera works to my students in a photography class that I taught this week.

In the meantime, it has been difficult to tear myself away from the television these past few weeks to do something productive, like writing a blog post. The war in Ukraine, the atrocities that Putin and his army is inflicting on that country and its people (like bombing a maternity hospital and killing innocent women and children) is keeping me in its grip. What is really upsetting me are the falls pretexted that he is using for the war and from what I am hearing the way he is preventing the people in Russia of finding out that it is all based on a big lie.

There are no Nazis in Ukraine that are killing ethnic Russians. The president of Ukraine is Jewish and calling him a Nazi is an insult to the Jewish people. Soldiers are killing civilians, and they are slowly becoming war criminals by the order of just one deranged crazy person: Putin. On top of all this countries like China, North Korea and Vietnam are telling their folks the same shit. Honestly, the international community should issue an arrest warrant for Putin for war crimes and revoke his diplomatic status. When he sets foot in any other country, arrest him and haul him in front of the International Court in The Hague!

Enough ranting. My travel did afford me some distraction, including the ability to try out some different restaurants and different beers and believe it or not, wine. For example in Fairfax, I got to eat Lebanese and Korean, while in Staunton I ate an exotic grilled cheese sandwich and a cup of tomato soup that I washed down with a glass of wine at a wine bar named the Yelping Dog. The second night an old friend and his wife took me to their favorite local pizza shop. In other words, it was a somewhat cheesy week for me but enjoyably so. I even visited a new microbrewery for me: the Seven Arrows Brewery in Augusta County (Waynesboro). They make some darn tasty beer!

The red IPA by Seven Arrow.  A very nice a good tasting one!

The final hotel photo!  This one was taken in Staunton at the Holiday Inn. A nice hotel, I have been coming here many times.  I love the view of the golf course.  All the photographs I take of me in my rooms based on an exhibit we saw a few years ago at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts on Edward Hopper the American Painter. 

The one thing that I found to be different now is the room service. I always stay two nights in a room. Pre-COVID folks would come in your room to clean it, give you clean towel and make your bed. Now, probably to save money, this does not happen. I have to go downstairs to ask for more coffee for my in-room coffee maker. I think it is fine, I am sure it is difficult to get good help for the wages these hotels are willing to pay.

In both overnight travel cases; however, the drive was bad. At those times, I miss Europe and the ability to jump on public transportation like the train and zip from point A to point B. We had a big storm this week and there were many trees down on the road between Charlottesville and Richmond. This meant tree cutters everywhere and traffic delays. The week before I was stuck in Northern Virginia traffic with bad tires that were losing air. C’est la vie.

As you can see here, just a very superficial update and in the hope that this blog still penetrates the Russian sensors (I used to have a lot of Russian readers) I wanted to let them know about the big lie that they are being told about the need for this war. As I mentioned in my past post, my heart goes out to the Ukrainian people and to the Russian folks as well, especially those who oppose this insane war but are afraid to express themselves.

I need to write more (12/22/2020)

Usually and the end of the year, or sometimes at the beginning of the new year I take stock of what happened during the year that has just gone by. Well’ I am not sure if this is my definitive blog for 2020, but I somehow feel like writing and excusing myself for not writing as much as a should, have been in the past, etc.

I am finding that it is more difficult to be creative after having to be creative for my job day-in, day-out and having to create on-line classes that keep people’s interest. In addition, being stuck at home and looking from my perch is somewhat boring and I do not get the inspiration that I usually get from traveling, listening to the radio and meeting people. Do I have the COVID blues? I do not know, but look at the graph below and you can see what funk I am in in my blogging (the 17 includes today’s blog). 

Previously, I wrote about inspiration in which I debunked this idea of not being inspired or not having a creative mind (somehow, the illustration was lost). Therefore, I cannot blame it on that. Am I depressed? Not really, in the sense of the word. Maybe slightly depressed, but I think we all are in a bit of a funk having that Sword of Damocles (the sword of COVID) hanging above our head on that tenuous string. When will I get it or a loved one, like my almost 94-year-old father-in-law get it? And how will I or they react to getting it? Yes, I can finally say that people in my direct orbit have gotten COVID. One survived; she reported that when her husband brought home her favorite ice-cream, it just tasted wet and cold. Esther, the 90 year-old (ex?) girlfriend of my father-in-law who has Alzheimer is currently in the hospital with COVID. We fear the worst. But by now, we are all waiting until it is our turn to get the vaccine, at least when you are not an anti-vaxxer.

What is my daily routine like? I usually wake up around 6:20. After getting dressed, I put on the coffee and get the newspaper with the dogs. They get their morning snack when we come back in, and we read the paper. Then it is breakfast and a dog walk, followed by “hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to the office we go” and that is just one flight of stairs away. Coffee around 10:30 and lunch at 12. We walk the dogs again, and I may spend a few minutes out back with my trees (bonsais). Back to work, which is interrupted by coffee around 3. I usually quit around 4:30 and take a shower. The shower is a great ritual for me to end the work day. Then it is time to make dinner and settle down for the evening. Boring isn’t it? Thank goodness, I still enjoy cooking, and at least once a week, the monotony is broken up by the need to bake bread. Baking bread requires more frequent trips down the stairs to fold the dough and to do something to it (“hey Google, set the timer for a half hour”).

COVID weekends are not any more exciting. One of the days is a dog park visit (Waller Mill in Williamsburg) and a walk in the woods (one of three trails). If the weather is good, we may stop for a brief visit for a beer at one of the microbreweries (usually the Brass Cannon, we sit outside of course). The other day is spent around the home. It is all very inspirational and I am sure, something many of you also spend your COVID year. Listening to my colleagues during our staff meetings that is about right.

So how should I get my writing mojo back and again write at least 30 posts per year? Maybe for next year I just need to take a word out of the dictionary and write a blog post around it. Just what comes to mind, but that would be crazy, wouldn’t it? At least now, I still have room to write my review of 2020.

Time for an update (10/11/2020)

Not sure why I have not written in my blog for such a long time. It is not because I am depressed; however, I think I lack the motivation and external stimulation. “What” you may say, most of us are over-stimulated by all the events happening in the news. Let’s look at them all:

• We are looking at hurricane Delta, which is aiming for New Orleans or somewhere around there.
• Trump has COVID-19 and is acting like a baboon. Moreover, it seems that he has become a super spreader and is proud of it.
• Talking about baboons, if you had the stomach as I did to watch the first presidential debate, you know what I mean.  On the other hand you may wish to buy a fly swatter.
• It looks like the entire western U.S.A. is on fire.
• And, let us not forget Jerry Falwell, one of the subjects of a post of mine earlier this year, was fired from Liberty University, in Lynchburg. Best of all, because he enjoyed watching his wife having sex with other (younger) men.

These are just few of the wonderful things going on around us and I am sure there is so much more I can mention, or you can come up with. Maybe I should mention that we have an election coming up. While I am a news junky, when push comes to shove, and it is the end of the day, I just want to veg out and watch a YouTube bonsai show, or play a Sudoku game. I simply forget to update you all about my life. Oh well, my excuses for not keeping you apprised of my life’s events. I telework, and sit behind my computer somewhat around 7 hours every day. The other morning while walking Jasper the dog, one of my neighbors was complaining when I commented what a beautiful day it was. “Who cares, I have to go sit behind my computer for 8 hours,” Ed said. I reminded him that he could always take a break and briefly step away as I do. I water my bonsai, and we eat lunch out on the deck.  Still, I feel depressed at times.  But then, I am not depressed all the time; overall, I am doing ok.  My world has just become very small.  I have been to Richmond twice, and my other trips consist of going to the grocery store and picking up my father-in-law for dinner.  We have our daily walks around the block, and of late we have started going to a dog park in Williamsburg which we sometimes end with a visit to one of the microbreweries.  We choose the on closest to the dog park, that has outdoor seating and is the least known or popular, but has a pretty darn good IPA.

Our regular brewery stop in Williamsburg (the Brass Cannon Brewery).  They make some decent beer and a killer IPA.

So what work things have I been doing since the last time I wrote?  I have developed and presented a few webinars where I talk about soil and vegetation restoration and one about vermin in our stormwater structures.  I have also converted some of my regular classes to web-based classes.  They keep me in touch with the outside world.  On a personal we have kayaked twice, I have hand split a huge oak that had fallen in the neighbor's yard, and redid our deck (almost).  As you should have seen I even did a sermon at church.  So no, I did not sit still.  I just have enough of this, and I can imagine that many do and want to break out, don't care if they get sick and want to believe that jerk in the White House who claims is is less severe than the flu.  But don't get fooled folks, it is a killer.  I'll write ssome more about me and my thoughts soon.

Travels in Virginia's Appalachia (April 2016)

April was spent in the far western part of Virginia; in Abingdon to be exact.  I have either had people who expressed their sorrow when I told them this, or their envy.  For example my buddy Ben at the yacht club told me that if Abingdon was on or near the ocean and he could sail there he would move at an instance and I think I would too (but I guess and hope ocean level rise will never make it there).

I tend to stay away from selfies on my blog, but ok, I took this picture on the very first day in April that I arrived in Abingdon at the beginning of the Virginia Creeper Trail.  Amazing that people who take selfies have these terrible grins.

I spent three weeks of April in Abingdon, and yes it could be lonely living in a motel room, away from home, but the first day of each week was with someone from my office, so that was great (most of the time).  On Wednesdays the Wolf Hills Brewery (the local brewery in Abingdon) has trivia night and the first night I was there, two young couples adopted me and I played trivia with them.  We actually won and they got a $25 gift certificate for the tasting room.  So you guessed it, I was adopted by them the two following weeks as well, and every time they saw me I was greeted by them as a long lost friend.  Nothing better than getting a hug from two mid-20-ish (female) school teachers and handshakes from their hubbies, while being away from home.  I don't think you see that happen in a big town.  Abingdon is just fun small town living.

Tasting room at the Wolf Hills Brewery

It was there that I learned that one of the teachers had a run in with the police the weekend that the NASCAR race came to Bristol that weekend in April.  She was tased and cuffed; truthfully not something I would have expected to see happen to this small (5'4" maybe 130 lbs maybe) school teacher.  The three cops let her go once they figured out who she was and what her profession was.  But she had the bruises and the taser mark to show for it.  This well educated and what appeared to me well mannered girl was somewhat proud talking about it, that it took three cops and a taser to take her down.

I am definitively not planning to make this a travelogue, but want to highlight some commonalities I experienced during all three visits.  I felt at home and accepted.  Naturally, Abingdon is not off the beaten track, and Damascus is on the Appalachian and the Virginia Creeper Trails.  So they get a lot of influx from people who are from the outside, but still there is a difference between being tolerated or almost accepted.  I can feel that.  I travel so much that even in local restaurants or so the ambiance or the friendliness of the local waitstaff give you that feeling.  Some people just give you the feeling they really care, others just fake it or don't even do that.  Only once did I feel alienated when traveling out in the mountains of Virginia, but that was only the result of listening to conservative talk radio, which is difficult to escape on the AM when you drive through the area, and so are the religious stations.  I wrote about it on March 4, 2015 in my blog.  Yes people are more conservative and you notice that on the radio.  I sometimes use that as a learning moment, as long as it does not become hate speech and intolerant; anyway NPR almost reaches everywhere.  Otherwise, best to download a book or a podcast.

Walking back along Main street from the restaurant to my motel in Abingdon.  It would great to have sidewalks, but we don't even have those in York County.

The Appalachian region has been in an economic downturn for a long time.  Driving through towns like Pulaski you can see the empty furniture factories and other industrial area.  On top of that you hear about coal mines shutting down and that the area has not really returned from the depression that started at the end of the Bush presidency.  National Public Radio Morning Edition had a whole special on it; click <here> for the link to that program, you can actually listen to it.  It played one Thursday morning when I was sitting in the car and just leaving town on my way back home.  I swore that the next week I would bike part of the Virginia Creeper Trail and somehow end up at the Damascus Brewery that is mentioned in the piece to have a beer.

The Damascus Brewery serves the best Dam(ascus) beer!

Well I did it the next week.  The bike ride was wonderful, I left town and went left as recommended by the bike shop owner, away from town.  Biking through the national forest along a creek was a great experience, but you know my need for nature and my battles with nature deficit disorder.  While I only biked 3 miles out (total ride was 6 miles) it was an easy ride and the beer tasted extra good afterwards.  There I got in a long and very pleasant discussion with a through hiker on the Appalachian trail who stopped over for a few days to recharge his system.  Again, what great experiences to be had, to get off the main road and just take your time to explore and interact with people.  Books can be written about these experiences.

Along the Virginia Creeper Trail, this photo and the first photo are the two bookends of my experiences along the trail.

What did I learn or what stood out?  I did not encounter many African Americans or Hispanic during my stay in the area.  I am sure they are there, but I had none in my classes; I saw none in restaurants not even as waitstaff or cleanup staff, not even at Wendy's, but I did not eat in any Mexican restaurants this time; none of the household staff at the motel was black or Hispanic.  I think I saw one, who appeared local, African American gentleman putting gas in his vehicle when I was doing the same one morning, but that was all.  I don't want to conclude that the area does not have any minorities, but it seems much more segregated.  I also learned that it still is economically depressed, but people in generally seem to have a positive outlook on life.  The people out there are like everywhere else, they genuinely care about their fellow human beings.  But they have an edge, like my school teacher who did not think twice about taking on three cops and getting tased as a result of it (and she was not ashamed of it, to say the least).  They live in a beautiful part of the state, that they should be proud of.