Autumn Travels

A few weeks ago our daughter and I took a road trip east and spent some time in Virginia. She was visiting a university she's interested in for her Master's degree, and naturally we added a few extras while we were back there.

One day we drove into Washington and spent several hours at the National Gallery of Art. Unfortunately, the two areas that we were most interested in were closed while they were making some changes, but, we did manage to have some fun in their gift shop, and brought several things home with us.


While we were in the Charlottesville area we spent one day visiting Monticello, Ash Lawn-Highlands, Michie Tavern, and Carter Mountain Orchard. The weather was beautiful and the trees were just beginning to change colors. You can see a few of those trees in my last post.











This is Michie Tavern, although it's not as crooked as it looks in the picture :) I was taking it as I drove around the curve and apparently had the camera at a tilt.











This is the General Store at Michie Tavern. Lots of great finds in there!!










This is the view walking up towards Ash Lawn-Highlands. The red building you see is actually the one that holds the gift shop. Yes, I did some shopping in there, too :)











Here's a close-up view of that beautiful flower garden you see in the picture above.











Here's a cute cow who wanted to be remembered in a picture :) This was on the road up to Ash Lawn-Highlands.










This picture was taken on the road up the hill to Carter Gove Orchard. In the distance by that group of trees on the left you can just see the orchard barn and store. By the way, they had some delicious apple cider donuts! Those rows you see along the hills are grapes.












This is a better view of them.











Here's one of the apple trees on the other side of the mountain road.












We also spent a day at Colonial Williamsburg where we've been several times. I did a little Christmas shopping while I was there, too :) It was a rainy day, but I took this picture from the porch area of our motel room. I just loved their grounds with gardens, a pond, and a pretty pool area. The rooms were all decorated in a typical Williamsburg style. Some looked out on the courtyards and gardens, and others looked out on the surrounding woods. Very pretty!!






One day I had the chance to meet and spend the day with an online friend, Linda, who I've known for several years, and we had the best time shopping, having lunch, and getting to know one another in "real life". Unfortunately, there were no pictures taken that day :( We spent several hours at the historic town of Occoquan. Lots of great, great shops!!!




We've been back home for a few weeks, but just this weekend my husband and I spent a night at a nice beach hotel on the Gulf and visited a sea fair in a nearby town. We took a walk on the beach after dinner Friday evening and the weather was just beautiful. This is the view from the balcony at our room, taken about 8 AM.









Unfortunately, it was so hot and humid Saturday morning that we skipped the walk on the beach we had planned. I did manage to get a picture of some pretty flowers growing along the Gulf as we walked towards the sea fair.











We spent some time at the fair and managed to enjoy things before the rain arrived as we were driving home. I took this picture from the car window as we were driving over a bridge on the bay. Aren't those building clouds pretty against the color of the sea?