Ninety-Nine Red Drifloons

getting close to the end of our stay in WV.

we took one flight to Charlotte, NC, had a 3 hour layover, and then a 40 minute flight to Charleston, WV. after a short drive plus stops at New River Gorge Park and Tamarak (gallery with the best of West Virginia artisan crafts), we checked in at the General Lewis Inn, grabbed some snacks and crashed. my dad and I each had a room to ourselves, which was nice :o a lot of people see the rooms and think they're displays of antique furniture, not the actual hotel rooms.

the memorial service was on Saturday, and it was nice. my dad spoke, and probably had the best speech, since he was just sharing memories of his dad and talking to everyone like they were family. my uncle and his lady-friend also spoke, though we couldn't hear her speech (she spoke too softly). my uncle quoted from a book and sent everyone into tears. something along the lines of, "I realized when my father winked at me, that he was teaching me how to die."

after the service, we headed back for a reception at the inn, and talked with all the locals while enjoying delicious food and wine. there had also been a service that day for one of the Tuckwillers, who I later met while visiting their farm (today, actually). we went with a few people to Applebee's for dinner, which was awful. we got to our table, waited 40 minutes to have our order taken, and then it was just bad :/ how do you mess up broccoli?

I crashed again, then got up to go to mass with my cousin's wife (I say cousin, but he's my grandmother's cousin. idk what that makes him to me). she drives like a bat out of hell, and i was pretty sure I'd die before getting to church D8 we made it, anyway, to a tiny church in Ronceverte called St. Catherine's. I had to try not to laugh when we prayed for all the poor souls trapped in Purgatory (because seriously purgatory??? who still believes in that lmao).

afterwards dad and I had breakfast at the inn, and felt almost guilty (we eat free because we're owners OTL). then we headed over to my grandparents' house to help clean, organize and photograph for the appraiser. there were a few things set aside for us already that didn't need to be inventoried: a set of sterling silver, an owl bolo tie, and an assortment of jewelry and horse goodies. I spent my time cleaning out the kitchen - fridge, pantry, etc. the only thing we left there was the liquor, since it's not going bad any time soon.

afterwards we had dinner at Ruby Tuesday's, which was the BEST EVER. serious foodgasm. there was the 'shrimp fondue' which wasn't really fondue, but a dip, and we also had salad bar, biscuits, and then the main course for me was a mushroom swiss burger with broccoli (a common theme for me) and baked potato. so freaking good. \o/

my dad and I headed back to the hotel, where he moved rooms since we're just staying in spare/unsold rooms, and I played some of my White version before crashing.

Monday we spent wrapping up and shipping the silverware and jewelry, plus packing an extra box for the things I'd bought at Tamarak. I also talked him into taking me antiquing, where I found a unicorn tapestry plate (yaaaaaay) plus two classic pepsi character glasses for my mom. I grabbed Speedy Gonzales and Woody Woopecker~ lol not looking forward to shipping those.

aaaaand today, we had breakfast from Hardee's, which sucked. I hate fast food breakfast ^^; then instead of going to the New River Gorge Bridge like we planned, we went to the Northhouse Museum and then to visit the Tuckwiller's horse farm. they showed us around their house, which has been in the family for 6 generations =O the house itself is amazing (log cabin + an add-on) not to mention the furniture inside - lots of victorian and empire pieces, all either minty fresh or restored with love and care.

then my favorite part: we got to go outside and meet the horses and see the carriages B) the Tuckwillers train and breed Canadians and Morgans, which they use both in competition and in re-enactments. we got to meet the 9-month old foals, Buck and Bess. Buck was utterly adorable, being a completely rude, bitey troublemaker. Bess and her dam were more reserved, and Bess is going to be a big girl, despite both her parents being the same size. Doc was the stallion, and very sweet tempered for a stallion. he had an amazing mane and tail to go with his pitch black coat~

we also got to meet Traveler, named for her looks - she's a near perfect match for Robert E. Lee's horse Traveler, who was bred in Greenbriar County (where we are). Lewisburg and Greenbriar County are Southern sympathizers ^^; there's quite a few people who still mention the "recent unpleasantness."

speaking of the south, I got to hear a wonderful story about my grandmother. Elizabeth, who's worked at the inn for 36 years now, had been waiting tables in the dining room when a child called after her, "n----- n----- n-----~" and the adults at the table laughed about it. Elizabeth was hurt and totally in shock that a) the child had called her that, and b) the parents had laughed. not knowing how to deal with it, she went to the office and told my grandmother about what had happened. my grandmother walked right into the dining room and up to their table and said, "Get your things and leave now. You're not welcome here, and I'd better not see you again." she didn't give them a refund or anything ♥



and now I'm getting ready for bed again. tomorrow I'm going shopping a little more, and hopefully we'll get to go to the bridge if the weather's good. then I'll hit up the post office and start packing =A= our flight leaves Thursday morning, and we'll be back in Phoenix by 7pm. I'll have three more days of 'vacation' and some packages to gleefully tear open when I return~