The Three Winston Girls in Charleston, S.C.

Anne, Ruth and Susan Winston

What a wonderful weekend we had in Charleston, South Carolina June 21-24, 2013 - a time to remember forever. Anne and I drove down from Richmond to meet Susan, who is doing a clinical for a doctorate in physical therapy. Susan's boyfriend Chris Curtin was there as was her friend from high school Andy Lassiter and his girlfriend Weatherly, shown below.

Susan and Chris

Weatherly and Andy

 

Chris had a birthday June 11 so we all went out to a great seafood restaurant Andy recommended and celebrated. That's were these pictures were taken. We had a great time! Andy lives at Folly Beach where we had spent the day near the pier. Chris has taken up surfing, Susan was two weeks into it, and Anne had her first time on a surf board. Seven foot tides in Charleston so wide beach at low tide and little sand at high tide.

 

Lodging-wise we stayed in the old town on Meeting Street a block from the market. The three Winston girls did some shopping and then headed back to the beach where Susan got in another hour of surfing ahead of dinner. Anne did a long run and the two of them took cold showers at the pier less than an hour before the picture above was taken.

 

When Chris went back to Asheville NC, the three Winston girls went out on the town. We took a trolley to check out the historic district and had dinner close to our hotel at a restaurant named after a dog, Poogan's Porch Restaurant. We ate on the second floor balcony, very nice place. We walked around old town before and afterwards and I shot some video.

 

Oh, the ice cream! We got ice cream cones on the pier and at an ice cream shop close to the market in the historic district.

 

The weekend was over way too soon but will go down as a favorite. It was our second annual beach weekend. Last year we did the boardwalk at Virginia Beach. We got ice cream there too!

 





April Flowers!

Yes! April is here, and that means flowers! Here are the tulips on my Easter dinner table today.

In Memoriam: Andrew J. Green Jr.

My brother Andrew was my biggest supporter on my writing endeavors and now he is gone. Affectionately known as "Butch" in his youth, we are pictured here in our 20s during happy times. Andrew called me frequently with article ideas and I mailed him all my travel columns as well as quite a few of these blog posts. God bless you Andrew. We will miss you.

Andrew J. Green, Jr.
September 24, 1948 - January 19, 2013

Andrew was a free spirit, a fun-loving guy with a great wit and sharp mind who loved his family and friends, veteran of two tours in Vietnam. Died in his sleep at our mother's home in Venice, Florida, after a 2 ½ year battle with respiratory illness.

Christmas Morning Traditional (for us) Breakfast

 

Christmas morning 2013 - Here we are about to eat our traditional country ham gravy over toast breakfast with fruit. Pictured left to right are my daughter Anne, myself, daughter Susan and her boyfriend Chris.

Thanksgiving in Key West

 

 

Here's the view from my lounge chair on Thanksgiving Day in Key West. Daughter Anne and I sailed out of Miami last Monday, shopped at the famous Straw Market in Nassau on Tuesday, then took a taxi to Cabbage Beach on beautiful Paradise Island for the afternoon. We had a nice day at sea and woke up Thursday in Key West.

Anne and I shopped the quaint stores in Old Town and had lunch on a second floor balcony in the thick of things, then went to a state park where I shot this picture with my cell phone. A bright green critter wandered by my lounge chair and stalked some sea gulls (see below).

We both came home with good tans from our four days in the sun. There was no rain all week though the wind made for high waves (6-9 feet with 11-foot swells) - got my sea legs! The temps were in the 70s, it hit 80 two days.

Oh, about Thanksgiving, there were 59 nationalities aboard and only 1 celebrates Thanksgiving but the main dining room included turkey on its menu so of course as Americans we ordered that with our five-course meal afer we watched the sunset from the deck of the ship pictured below.

 

Was not expecting this visit....

 

 

Sunset from the deck of Royal Caribbean's Majesty of the Seas.

Sisters-in-Love at Baptism

There is something really special about baptisms - new life to celebrate for sure but also strengthened family ties. When my niece Laura Winston Gallanosa and hubby Christian baptised their beautiful baby Victoria Taryn last month, it gave me a chance to reunite with my sister-in-law Janet Winston. Wait ... our husbands (brothers) are ex's ... what does that make us? Soul sisters? OUR bond never broke -- in fact it became stronger. Plus our children are first cousins forever. How about sisters-in-love? That's it! It's love that brought the baby into life and to the alter and us back together ....

OCHS High School Reunion

The Orange County High School (OCHS) Classes of 1970-71 Reunion was held last night. Pictured here is me with my old high school chum Ann Fitzhugh Schwind ahead of the main event. We saw friends we had not seen in decades! It was a great party - lots of food, fun and fellowship. Wow, the catching up we did! People looked great for the most part. The oldies tunes were hand-picked for the event and had people dancing! There was a tour of the old high school and an afternoon social before the reunion party which made for a wonderful day.

Weekend at Virginia Beach

Susan and Anne are seen eating crabs on our balcony at Virginia Beach. We went down for a three-day weekend earlier this month. The girls and I strolled down Atlantic Avenue to an ice cream shop the first night. Susan's boyfriend Chris joined us the next day and the four of us walked along the boardwalk to the pier where we had dinner. Susan played in a soccer tournament Saturday and Sunday while Anne and I were beach bums! We had great weather and a good time.

A grand hotel in a railroad town

Second floor veranda overlooking the railroad tracks

Gordonsville was a railroad town on the junction of two lines, the Virginia Central Railroad and the Alexandria Railroad, when a grand hotel was constructed there in 1859.

My great-aunt frequented the elegant hotel during the heyday of passenger trains in the early 1900s on her way home to Culpeper from boarding school in Richmond.

Lucy Green Duncan, who was born in 1893, said passengers would get off the train and climb the outdoor staircase to the second floor veranda. She relayed that it was quite a social event there on the shady porches overlooking town as they waited for their connecting trains.

In the day, ladies and gentlemen traveled wearing their finest, and the hotel was a fitting setting. Inside the Georgian building, there is a central hall flanked by parlors with high ceilings. Dinners would go into the English basement for food and drink, and of course people who had longer waits or were on holiday could spend the night in the rooms on the upper floors.

It was in 1978 that I took my Aunt Lucy there. She was delighted that the building was still standing and in good shape, especially the verandas as she fondly recalled her times there. Historic Gordonsville, Inc. had acquired and began restoring the property in 1971. The Exchange Hotel was recognized and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

The hotel opened in 1860 and it wasn’t long before it became the Gordonsville Receiving Hospital. Tens of thousands of casualties, both Confederate and Union, were treated there. The grand hotel became the place of unspeakable suffering.

During reconstruction, the building served as a Freedman's Bureau Hospital.  It was acknowledged as an African-American Memorial Site in 2002.

The war and its aftermath came and went, the railroads boomed, and this lovely building once again became a hotel with all its splendor and grandeur. These were the years my great-aunt told me about.

Today the Exchange Hotel houses a museum. As Virginia’s only standing Civil War Receiving Hospital, it has extensive exhibits on the Civil War, as well as railroad memorabilia and a gift shop.

Some people claim that the Gordonsville Exchange Hotel is haunted and indeed it does offer private ghostly tours at night.

Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge

For a different beach experience, you might want to check out Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge, situated about 15 miles south of Virginia Beach. This 9,250 acre wonderland includes miles of unspoiled beaches, sand dunes in their nature state, and boardwalks and trails through woodlands, fields and marshes -- all habitat for a variety of wildlife. 

The "rivah"

It's that time of year again! When working folks head to the "rivah" on weekends. Pictured here is the Rappahannock River from the Lancaster side, across the river from Urbanna.

Boat landings on the James

One of my favorite activities is taking my dog to the river. The Richmond area has a number of good access points on the James. Pictured here is Watkins Landing in Powhatan County, now easily accessed via the 288 bridge.

Springtime in my back yard

Yes! My backyard dogwoods and azaleas are in bloom!! Still too early to put the geraniums back outside -- they have wintered indoors.

Cocker Spaniels are the best!

Watching the Westminister Dog Show - here's my beloved! Anne with Hayley.

Scanning project to preserve old photographs

I've started a project scanning old photographs and am having fun posting them to a Facebook group with old friends from my hometown of Orange, Virginia. My mother Doris Farrell Green was a photographer. I am pictured here at right with Jeanette Sale holding an American flag during a Girl Scout color guard ceremony at the Orange County Courthouse in October 1965 when I was in 7th grade.

2012 Free Virginia Travel Guide

A family enjoys an overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway

The Virginia Tourism Office is offering a free and updated travel guide for 2012 with new destinations, family favorites, and attractions “that put love at the heart of every Virginia vacation”.

New features this year include vacation ideas for all four seasons, a special section on small towns, scenic drives and a listing of the newest attractions to open in Virginia. 

The guide is full of trip inspirations and travel resources. Visitors can request a free copy of the 2012 Virginia Travel Guide in print or electronic form by going to www.Virginia.org or calling 1-800-VISITVA.

Montpelier Races in Orange County Nov 2011

 Horses race toward the jump!

 Ruth and Ann chumming it up.

 Sara and Grandma Edith taking it all in.

Liz walks the children to get closer to the action.

Fall color grandeur in the Blue Ridge Mountains

Peak fall color has come on fast in higher elevations the past week according to Virtual Blue Ridge, a supporter of the non-profit Blue Ridge Foundation out of Boone, North Carolina, and this weekend may be the best time to see the season’s grandeur in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The 469-mile Blue Ridge Parkway begins in Virginia at Rockfish Gap on Afton Mountain between Charlottesville and Waynesboro, Virginia, 78 miles from Richmond. Brilliant yellows, oranges, deep scarlets and reds are reported from there south to the Peaks of Otter. Points north in the Shenandoah National Park also offer stunning vistas and there is an online update on fall foliage.

On the parkway south of Roanoke down to the Blue Ridge Music Center the scenery is also in peak color.  Higher elevations like Grandfather Mountain near Boone are past peak but still have beautiful color remaining.

The Virginia Department of Forestry offers weekly updates on its website along with a "Fall Foliage Hotline" at 1-800-424-LOVE (5683) providing the latest in fall color throughout the state from the Atlantic seashore to the Appalachian Mountains. These reports are available through early November.

Virtual Blue Ridge publishes weekly fall color reports online or you can call their fall foliage hotline at 828-298-0398.

Fall foliage reports for Virginia and free maps

The Virginia Department of Forestry begins its fall foliage reports around September 29, 2011. The state agency will provide weekly updates on the progression of fall colors in Virginia.

Typical dates for peak season are mid-October to early November for the western mountainous region, late October to mid-November for the central and piedmont regions, and early to mid November for the eastern regions.

Free Maps

Check out Virginia.org/Fall to find the best places for scenic viewing, when the peak is nearing and other fun activities and getaways to enjoy this season.

Order a Map of Scenic Roads in Virginia to get you on your way to see beautiful Fall foliage. The map comes with a Virginia Travel Guide to help you plan your trip. You'll also receive the supplemental 150th Anniversary Civil War Map of Scenic Roads.

http://www.virginia.org/TravelGuideForm/?guides=SCEN&t=eNewsFall11&eW=1&eNL=scenicmap

 

New Virginia fall travel planning website

The Virginia Tourism Corporation has launched a new fall travel planning website featuring destinations and events where loved ones or loners can celebrate the season.  Visitors looking to take in stunning fall foliage on a scenic drive can use http://www.Virginia.org/fall to plan the perfect trip. 

The new website features interactive mapping using GPS technology so visitors can search by zip code or locality to find the ideal fall experience.