Southeast Tour Stop 6 ~ West Virginia

By Calla (2/25/20)

In 1992 an underground nuclear bunker (which Congress would have used if needed), under the Greenbriar Hotel in West Virginia, was exposed and decommissioned. We stayed at the Greenbriar Hotel (not in the bunker, thankfully).

Let’s start in the mountains, though, we entered through the Appalachian Mountains. I think we were above the clouds! It was so beautiful. We could see for miles.

Then we went to the hotel I was talking about earlier. The first thing I noticed when we drove up was that it looked like the White House! The inside was wild and fun! It had so many different patterns, colors, and shapes. It had chandeliers in almost every room, even one that was used in the movie “Gone with the Wind”!

We enjoyed swimming for a few hours, then headed to Drapers for dinner and ice cream. Side note: Dorothy Draper was the interior decorator, they named the restaurant after her. We went back to our room after a Shirley Temple and learned more about the history of the building. Then we found a Hallmark mystery movie, which I personally really enjoyed and hope to watch another one soon!

We woke up this morning, got smoothies (not from McDonald’s) (family joke), and drove away for Kentucky.  

God has blessed us with many memories. Over dinner we were talking about our previous and future travels. I hope we remember these travels long into our blue hairs!

Southeast Tour Stop 5 ~ Virginia

By Taite (2/24/20)

Virginia, the great state of Virginia. Our time in Virginia has been a wonderful time for our whole family. It was stimulating to all the senses.

To the eyes with it’s beautiful scenery. The majestic mountains only a few hours away from the grand Atlantic. The 17 mile bridge and tunnel over (and under) the Chesapeake Bay was also pretty cool.

 To the ears with the sounds of history ringing strongly in national historic sites like Yorktown and Williamsburg. Williamsburg kept all of us in rapt attention as we walked through the town straight out of the 18^th century. Watching the blacksmiths, gunsmiths, and shoemakers. Learning about gunpowder, the governors, and court systems. And Yorktown gave us an audio tour of the last major battle of the Revolutionary War. While in Virginia we have come to more appreciate the French’s role in the Revolutionary War. They saved us.

To the hands (and arms and legs) Virginia gave us the joy of tennis, mini golf, and an unlimited arcade. A family set of tennis proved that mom could play despite her denial of any tennis talent. A game of skins was won on the last hole by dad (much to the discontent to the rest of us who played). And hours of Guitar Hero, PS4, and old-fashioned arcade games were loved by all. Even mom rocked out on the Guitar Hero. The girls might have stayed in Virginia if only to play more Guitar Hero, they loved it.

To the taste buds Virginia offered many scrumptious delicacies. Like Duck Donuts, a donut shop that made the cake donuts to perfection and then added more goodness on top. Food for Thought, a restaurant with wisdom plastered onto the walls (literally). Chowing’s Tavern in historic Williamsburg with colonial style cuisine that was incredibly delicious. And 2^nd St. Bistro that actually allowed me to enjoy squash (when blended with the savory combination of sausage, white beans, and barley).

And lastly we have the nose. Unfortunately the only thing I could think of for this was the extremely large number of farts that were expelled while we were in Virginia. I don’t know what it was, but we really cut the cheese.

But overall (minus the flatulence) Virginia was an awesome state that is deserving of its rich history, delectable delicacies, beautiful scenery, and unlimited arcade.

P.S We also stopped at Polyface farms (dad saw his hero of a farm), Sketchville U.S.A (Calla will remember you forever), Bruster’s Ice Cream, and ate at an Italian restaurant called Giuseppe's.

Southeast Tour Stop 4 ~ Maryland

By Travis (2/20/20)

Juan Moore!

Plus 1!

This trip started out with a 10 state game plan. Upon deciding that we would cross the CBBT (more on that in minute), it became an option to add a state because we would only be 70 miles from Maryland. I announced that Kate and I had a surprise for the kids today (Thursday, 20 February) and in perfect fashion they all responded with “oh boy, now what”. I simply answered with “we are adding a state to our trip and going there today”.

What is the CBBT? The Cheasapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel is a 17.6 mile architectural phenomenon that is both bridge and tunnel. You should do a little wiki homework and see it from google earth. Lincoln was the most fascinated yet I think all of us will remember driving into a whole in the water in order to be 75 feet underwater. 

This awesome roadway brought us to the eastern shore of Virginia and Maryland. For my geography buffs this is the out of place peninsula that people see on maps and wonder what is really there. I found it unique that it was a combination of Atlantic coast beach/fishing culture with mainland altlantic coast farming culture. There was this strange mesh of tobacco and cotton farms with seafood sold everywhere. The farmer in me also noticed a Tyson, Perdue and Mountaire chicken production plants with naturally an overwhelming amount of chicken houses (just like our turkey houses in MN). 

Our Maryland destination was Crisfield, the self proclaimed crab capital of the world. When in Maryland you seek the blue crab. We unfortunately are here during the off-season so missed on this important part of the little community’s story. We did find a great seafood place to eat and were happy to support a local family. 

(Lincoln’s “This is awesome!” face.)

As we close out this “extra” state it will likely be remembered for the Wilsonisms of strange happenings and for another one of mom and dads great surprises. That is, in fact, one of the rules for our travels - we have to be able to tell an engaging story about our time there. I can already hear each of the kids making comments like - “that bridge/tunnel was so cool,” “of course it is not crabbing season, why would we think any differently,” and “yep it snows wherever we go.” I will remember this day because we really don’t have to do anything extravagant to create memories as a family. 

On to Virginia 

Southeast Tour Stop 3 ~ North Carolina

By Parker

North Carolina was our next destination so we left SC after lunch on Tuesday, February 18 and drove straight to the Davenport’s. Our dad has worked with Mr. Van for over 15 years at Family Heritage. Their house was like a castle! Even the front door! Jack crushed Taite in ping pong while we were outside hanging out in their sweet backyard. My parents and their parents watched a ball game or something on their big TV that was above their outdoor fireplace. Ava, Calla, and I hung out and we played basketball with the boys. Then our families ate dinner together at a fancy restaurant called J. Alexander. My mom wouldn’t let me wear my sweatpants with holes in them. 

Calla and I enjoyed spending time with Ava. She was really nice and fun to talk to. She is really talented in gymnastics and works really hard at it. She said she practices 20 hours per week! That takes a lot of dedication. She has a lot of medals to show for it. 

Then went to a hotel and spent the night in Raleigh.  In the morning we went swimming because we really wanted to. It was really cold. It might have been the coldest pool I’ve ever swam in. I’m glad Dad found a hotel with a pool, but it felt like we were doing the Polar Plunge...with our swimsuits and goggles...in North Carolina. We stayed in the pool for at least two minutes. 

UNC and Duke are located really close to Raleigh. We have often visited college campuses along our travels so we did here, too. I thought Duke was most interesting because it looked like a palace. There were a bunch of tents in K-ville. I learned that students would live in their tents up to three months so they could get tickets to watch the UNC-Duke basketball game. Weird. 

After a couple haircuts and some ice cream, we drove to Castalia, North Carolina, to visit Auntie PD and Uncle Bayou. PD is my Grammy’s youngest sister.  She made some delicious lasagna for dinner and had Atlantic beach pie for dessert. It was really good (and similar to key lime pie). We spent time talking and playing games. It was kind of like hanging out with Grammy - really fun. 

Then went to a hotel somewhere in the middle of nowhere and stayed the night.  It was NOT fun because it was really cold, only had two twin size beds (at least that’s what it felt like), and there wasn’t a pool. In the morning we went to Waffle House for breakfast, which fulfilled one of Lincoln’s  goals for this trip.    

But it wasn’t really that great. 

Southeast Tour Stop 2 ~ South Carolina

By Lincoln 

We drove straight to our first tour in South Carolina, The Old South Carriage Company. We got a wonderful and historical tour through Charleston. It was most interesting to me that in the 1800’s, people used a pineapple emblem on their door or gate to indicate the fact that the husband was home from his travels and they could now entertain guests.  

Then we checked into our hotel. Once we got settled into our room we decided to eat at Swig & Swine. Parker and I crushed the rotisserie chicken. Delicious! We ordered the family platter and had a lot of leftovers! 

When we got home, Parker and I went down to swim in the pool. We were the only people in the pool so we had an even better time. Later Taite and Calla came down to swim with us. Once we were done swimming we went back up to our room, took showers, and laid down on the bed. We were so exhausted, it only took 5 minutes until we were “gone.” 

On Tuesday, the 18th, we had breakfast at the hotel then drove to the Middleton Place Plantation. We took three different walking tours. 

1. Meet the Breeds - a 30-minute tour of the animals that the Middleton family had on the plantation in the 1700’s and 1800’s. 

2. Beyond the Fields - a 1-hour tour of slavery and life on the plantation. 

3. Garden Overview - a beautiful 35-minute tour. It was like walking through a tunnel of flowers. 

They were all very historically fascinating. I really liked watching one lady make a clay bowl on a potter’s wheel.  I would definitely suggest this for something to do in South Carolina. Charleston is very historical and amazing in many ways, although I personally would not want to live there.