Travel Rabble: Heading up the Coast

Having two days to hang out with Family was great. On Sunday we went to the Fun Factory in Franklin. One of those "one stop shops" for everything fun. They had an Arcade, a 9-hole mini-golf, go-carts, laser tag, and a bowling alley. We got there just as they opened at 2pm and stayed until they closed at 8pm. It was SO MUCH FUN! They had online coupons for the Pizza Buffet and then $20 worth of games/things (like mini-golf etc). It was $15 per person and that's all we spent. It was incredible. It would have cost us a bit more but as it was a slow day the lady behind the counter let us do everything for free. Bowling? Free. Laser Tag? Free. We did pay the $2.50 to do mini-golf and the go-carts were bo-go. It was way more fun than I had expected. Jamie can have fun at any arcade (especially ones that have credits on the Simpsons Pinball machine like this one did) but I tend to get bored really quickly. But I loved it. I think I liked the deal of the whole thing. Generally I'm not good at video games so it feels like a waste of money to play when I die within 1.5 minutes but getting everything for free and having had a deal in the first place made me really enjoy it. I even got to play little Eric in Mario Cart and I BEAT HIM!! You might say that beating a fourth grader at a game is no real accomplishment, but YOU try to beat a kid at a video game that he plays all the time! I think I won because I made him play the "easy" round and he over-thought it as he's used to the "expert" level.

Overall, It was a great visit and we woke up early to see the kids off to school monday morning and then we were out the door by 9. We drove about 7 hours up to New Market and stayed at the Blue Ridge Inn. A random place we got a $30 coupon for from the rest area. Originally we were going to camp but we are both getting a little tired of traveling and once we started we decided to just splurge. The hotel was really cute. Free and fast wifi, clean rooms, resident cats (outdoor) and a wagon wheel decorative motif. I was happy to be in a hotel because it makes getting up and out much less of an ordeal and I wanted to make a stop in Front Royal before we got to DC.

I had read online about a donut shop in Front Royal, Virginia that a young woman had opened called "Naughty Girls." The shop has a 1950s pin-up style and the local churches started to picket and boycott her. Throwing trash at the windows and other such stupid things. I wanted to detour and support them. As a perk, the donuts were DELICIOUS and they deliver next day across the country. If you want donuts, and you do.

After our "carrot cake" and "wakin' bacon" donuts, we continued on to DC to visit Aida. A friend I've had since High School. She's just had a baby and I wanted to see her (both Aida and the Baby). Both are beautiful and I really enjoyed seeing my old friend again. The baby slept the whole time and Aida's wife was at work so I didn't get a full family visit but it meant I got undivided-Attention from Aida. Which was, really, what I wanted.

Tonight we are camped at the Greenbelt Recreation Area oustide of DC and tomorrow we are visting Eunjeong, a friend from Korea and then we're headed up to see my Aunt Kathy and Aunt Anne in Philadelphia!

Heading up the Coast! Almost home!