-JTH and I woke up Sunday morning to find it snowing outside. The parking lot of the Day Inn had already accumulated powder. I had not driven in snow in some time, which was evident as I skidded out of the parking lot. Thankfully, after we merged onto the interstate, we did not encounter snow the rest of the day.
-Our first stop of the day came after 44 miles on the road. We visited a shopping center called Harrisonburg Crossing in Harrisonburg, Virginia. It was built in 2003 on the site of what was once the Dunham-Bush factory. In said shopping center, we frequented a Wal-Mart, Barnes & Noble, and a Circuit City. Circuit City announced on January 16th that all locations were closing. Liquidators have already taken over as the store was no longer accepting Circuit City credit cards. Everything in the store was 20% off with the cashiers calculating discounts with a calculator. We were among the many vultures who stopped.
–We also drove downtown as we kept seeing signs for a Visitor’s Center. We thought we could pick up a map. Not only did we pick up a map but we were asked to stay for a free two-hour musical performance from 1:00 pm-3:00pm. The local group Nonesuch was playing in the Hardesty-Higgins House to promote the release of their new CD. They were described on the website as follows: “Join us while the music of Nonesuch grafts an English Morris dance tune onto a 14th century Italian tune, works a Native American Flute into a medieval mummers song, introduces a rare Irish song with fiddle, mandolin, and cowbell and then pumps it up on bass and djembe, and even throws in a popular Macedonian folk tune for good measure.” We respectfully declined the folk offering.-Before leaving Harrisonburg, we naturally stopped at their Goodwill as well.
-We made a similar stop at Woodstock Square in Woodstock, Virginia. As the day continued we continued stopping at Goodwills and Wal-Marts. This was the most disturbing site of the day. Who would buy briefs (aka "tighty-whities") from a Goodwill?
-Our search for local cuisine came up short again and on Sunday night we wound up dining at an Applebees in Front Royal, Virginia. It was, however, the nicest Applebees facility I have ever been to. The menu was also slightly different from Tennessee franchises. They offered Pepsi products instead of Coke and like most out of state locations did not serve potato skins. To switch things up, I ordered the house sirloin. JTH and I watched the Arizona Cardinals win the NFC Championship game on the televisions that were mounted throughout the restaurant and chatted with our waitress Brenda E. Among other tidbits, she noted that she had served time in jail for driving on a suspended license. Naturally, we liked her.-While there, we also discovered that the closest Metro to DC runs through Vienna, Virginia, approximately 48 miles up the interstate.
-We spent the night in room 133 of the Super 8 in Manassas, Virginia. Manassas is where the first major land battle of the American Civil War was fought in 1861. As you can see, the top amenity featured on the inn’s sign was for “interior corridors”. When interior corridors are your key selling point...-We were greeted by a duo that reminded us both of Harold & Kumar. They scoffed when I asked if their were rooms available for the following night.
-Among the unique aspects of the Super 8 was that our interior corridor did not have a Coke machine, but rather a Red Bull Energy Drink machine. Either JTH really liked this or did not. I am not sure. We walked across the place and found a Coke machine. It was the first time I have ever drank a Mr. Pibb from a bottle.-We had a relaxing evening as we hung out while watching the Starrcade: The Essential Collection DVD. It had been released the previous Tuesday (January 13th) and we had picked it up at a Wal-Mart earlier in the day. It was a nice, relaxing Sunday night.
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