Last week when my sister Bet and her teacher friend, Sonia, visited us from SC, we planned some special outings for all of us girls while the guys were at work. I love girl outings. :)
On our first day of adventures we drove over Afton Mountain to a little shop--Rockfish Gap Country Store. Here's a picture of the outside with lots of gardening ornaments...love it all...couldn't you just take home one of everything?!
Next we headed back up Afton Mountain and made our way over to the Blue Ridge Parkway for a picnic lunch. It had been many years since my sister had traveled the Parkway, and Sonia had never ever been on this scenic route! We looked forward to showing her how beautiful the mountains were!
The day actually was quite hazy, and Rockfish Valley from the top of the Parkway wasn't very clear. That's illustrated by the photo on the top left below, but at least it gives you some idea of what we saw.
Our picnic was just delightful! And for a special treat for dessert we planned smores...hmm...can you tell we had quite the time getting that bag of charcoal going! Everyone pitched in, and finally we had fire!
While on the Parkway, we visited Humpback Rock Visitor Center. Here are Bet and Sonia posing in front of the ranger station before we walked down to Appalachian Farm. We always enjoy seeing the gardens and chickens, strolling through the old cabin, and talking with the interpreters. Here are some photos:
This man below is caning a chair bottom, and the lady interpreter enjoyed having her picture taken. Sarah posed in front of the antique quilt and old baskets inside the cabin.
Other days we visited Green Valley Book Fair, browsed shops at Shenandoah Heritage Farmer's Market and shops in Harrisonburg, walked downtown, toured some gift and antique shops, and lunched at the historic Depot Grill.
And on their last night in VA Granny treated us all to ice cream at The Split Banana. Here we are on the street in front of the shop--Jonathan and Tom were able to join us on this outing. Yay for the guys!
We had a terrific week with our company! Come back soon, Y'all!
In another post I'll show you a couple of antique pieces I ended up with during our travels.
~Deb
It was fun! I keep thinking I'm going to get a post up about it with pictures too! But you did such a good job, now I don't have to!!! :-) I will anyway though--have to get back in the blogging groove.
Granny says she had a great time too!
Posted by: Bet | Friday, July 22, 2011 at 08:20 AM
You have some great pictures, Deb.....I have lived in Staunton all of my life and these pictures made me think, "Such a cute town! What a nice place to live!"
Posted by: Leslie from Virginia | Friday, July 22, 2011 at 10:11 AM
Looks like a wonderful girls' day out - I had one yesterday and love them too!
Posted by: kathie | Friday, July 22, 2011 at 11:55 AM
My kind of a day too, would have loved it. I wish I had a cabin like that for my sewing corner!
Posted by: Connie | Friday, July 22, 2011 at 02:33 PM
Looks like a lot of fun! I enjoy "girl days." :) I haven't been on the Parkway since our honeymoon, almost 27 years ago, and even then we only went as far north as Asheville. It's beautiful!
Posted by: Susan | Saturday, July 23, 2011 at 12:57 AM
Looks like it was a busy and fun packed week.Nice that Tom and Jonathan joined in for the ice cream part.
Posted by: Tammy | Saturday, July 23, 2011 at 11:22 AM
What a fun time ya'll had! You have a gift with turning even a simple picnic into a special memorable time. Your collage photos are beautiful. And what a nice three generational photo!
Posted by: Lisa Spivey | Monday, July 25, 2011 at 08:36 AM
I've been going over Afton mountain to Staunton since 1968 and I've never even heard of the Rockfish Gap Country Store but you better believe the next time I go to Staunton I will go by there. It looks like fun! I'm glad you had such a good visit with your sister but I'm sad that Granny isn't in Va. anymore. Hurry back Granny!
Posted by: Bobbi | Tuesday, July 26, 2011 at 08:41 PM