Travel...food...it's all good

So many things to talk about I have no idea where or how to start. Let's see...many of you know that I decided to go to WV with my parents the middle of last month. I'm sure some of you may be wondering how I managed that when I announced I had a job. It's simple, yet complicated. Bottom line, the job seems to have fallen through. Not enough funding. So I'm back to looking and talking to headhunters. Oh the fun.

But it did allow me to drive my parents to WV for my mom's 55th high school reunion and some time with family. We got such a late start on the 15th that we stopped for the night in SC. Then we took our time getting started the next day so that we barely arrived at my aunt's house in time for dinner on Wednesday.

My mom's class joins with the class before and after to have their reunion and for the last several they have had a picnic on Friday and a dinner and dance on Saturday. I love going to the Friday night picnic because it's relaxed and they have so much fun talking about all kinds of things. It's also when some of their old teachers show up.This is my mom on the right and the woman who was her "Home Economics" teacher. I was knitting on a sock when she stopped by where we were sitting and she wanted to know if mom had taught me how to sew and knit. My mother did teach me to sew as a child, but never could teach me to knit, my friend Kathe did that. Mom told her yes to sewing, although I never have sewn as well as she has, but that I am a much better cook then she is. My aunt said her teacher wouldn't believe that since mom was always the "golden child".

Coach D'Antoni stopped by...no not Mike, his father.We asked him if he'd been to NYC to see Mike coach and he said yes, but he missed going to Phoenix...NYC is colder!

The evening was held in the school cafeteria. Mullens High School no longer exists, the building is now a middle school. We had a good time talking and having some really good pork bar-b-que.

This trip I managed to get to visit some places I hadn't been. We took a day and went to Fayetteville, WV. We spent some time shopping in the Ben Franklin there. They had some great fabric. I really wish I'd had my box of ornaments that I need fabric for finishing with me. Then we went looking for a place to eat and found ourselves at Cathedral Cafe. I had a veggie sandwich and tortellini salad that was delicious. My aunt had quiche and mom had a Reuben. We all thought it was excellent and would go back again, next time maybe leave some room for desert. I highly recommend it if you're in the area for Bridge Day or some white-water rafting or visiting one of the really wonderful state parks near there. (Hawks Nest comes to mind.)

We also took a day and went to Lewisburg, WV. Eat lunch at The Stardust Cafe. Amazing food. We really should have left room here for desert since the owner's brother is the Crazy Baker and bakes all the deserts for them. I really would have loved something off the pretty red tray the server brought to show us the desert choices. We walked the main downtown street and checked out most of the shops. I even stopped in O'Shea's All About Beauty where you could get your hair cut and find some really pretty yarn. I managed to leave with just some sock yarn, which I don't have a picture of. We took a look through a few antique shops, but didn't find anything we couldn't live without. Finally I scored a glass of Iced Chai at The Wild Bean. My aunt had told me there was a really interesting Irish Pub there we would check out. Unfortunately they aren't open on Thursday's so we didn't get to try it out. We'll be going back though, because they have Irish Stew, Guinness and something called Chocolate Guinness Cake. When I read this description I knew I'd want to start with desert, "Brought to you by the Irish Pub and the Crazy Baker: A deep chocolate cake infused with the elixir Guinness Stout. The cream cheese frosting has a generous dose of dark Jamaican rum." Now that sounds like something worthy of the numerous calories it has to have. What I'd really like to do is stay at one of the B&B's in Lewisburg and be able to hang out one night when they are having traditional Irish music.

Another first this trip was lunch at King Tut Drive-in in Beckley. This is the first place my aunt ever had pizza. Mom & Nora say it hasn't changed much since they first went there in the '50s.
Mom volunteered to hold up my sock at the sign. Have to say that I've always thought the hot dogs at the Dairy Queen in Hinton were some of the best, but the one I had here surpassed it. Now I want to go back and try the pizza which my aunt says is really good. Oh, and again with desert. For some reason we managed to never save room for it and they have home made pies.

So, that about takes care of the trip. There were other side trips, but nothing major. I did I lot of knitting and reading. All in all, a really good vacation.