VA Day 7 - Lost Arms, Lost Colonies, and Leaving Virginia
Today was my last day in Virginia, before the long drive to Lexington, Kentucky. I started out by getting one last big meal with my cousins. We went to Amy's Cafe in Falmouth for an amazing brunch. The cafe is in a lovely 200 year old building, and the food is nothing to scoff at. I got biscuits and sausage gravy with an over medium egg on top. It was perfect way to start the day, and a nice way to bid farewell to my cousins who were nice enough to host me. Hopefully it won't be another 23 years until we meet again!
All fueled up from brunch, I started out on my long drive. My first pit stop was to finish some unfinished business from my first day in Virginia. I'd seen where Stonewall Jackson had died, but not all of him had made it there. He had been shot in the arm and had to have it amputated. The amputated arm received it's own burial and memorial and has since become one of the stranger historical tourist attractions. They must do alright. Everyday they get a handful of visitors.
After having seen the last of Stonewall Jackson, my next pit stop was in the town of Roanoke. While it's probably most famous for being mysteriously abandoned, the town has since developed into a bustling mid-size city with lots of shops and restaurants and very minimal hauntings by the tortured souls of missing colonists. That's actually their tourism slogan.
I got lunch at Jack Browns Beer and Burger Joint. They had a special burger on Sundays called the Showalter which was a cheeseburger with egg and bacon on top with a glazed donut as a bun. Not wanting to disrespect the Sabbath, I felt compelled to order it. It was incredibly tasty and incredibly sticky, but think it should probably come with a little white flag so your arteries can just surrender. To wash it down, I ordered a Star Hill Little Red RooStarr Coffee Stout, so as to continue the theme of taking something associated with breakfast and making it much less suitable for general consumption. While I wouldn't want to have it instead of my morning coffee, it was still a damn fine beer.
To work off the burger a teensy bit before the next leg of my journey, I walked around downtown Roanoke for a little bit and discovered that they had a playable Pinball Museum, similar to the one in Asbury Park. The selection wasn't quite as gigantic, but they made up for it with quality. I did not see my old rival the Elvira pinball machine, but I did unintentionally lose close to an hour playing Ghostbusters Pinball. If you hit the right button a giant plastic Slimer comes down into the main area until you hit three times, and it was one of the most oddly satisfying experiences I've yet encountered to hit that little green ghost with metal balls. I guess busting really does make you feel good.
My last stop in Roanoke was seeing the Mill Mountain Star, the largest man-made star in the world. It was pretty impressive, but real treat was the overlook over the city. It was unreal.
From there it was just a straight five hour drive down to Lexington, Kentucky to see one of my best friends from high school Sonya. I didn't see much of her because by the time I got there I was totally beat, but I was very excited to spend the week and the holiday with her.
Favorite Random Sightings: Palm Nails (that's like the main part of the hand that doesn't have nails); Fat Boy's Smokehouse; Alan Alan Alan and Alan (commas probably would have made this a little less ridiculous); Turkey Sag Road; Awful Arnold's; Greasy Ridge
Albums Listened To: Ivy Tripp by Waxahatchee; The J. Geils Band by the J. Geils Band; The J. Geils Band Anthology by the J. Geils Band; Jack and Fay by The Mountain Goats (Just an Inscription at Salonae; Jackknife to a Swan by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones; James Taylor by James Taylor; Jasmine by Keith Jarrett and Charlie Haden (just two jazz greats playing together in a living room); Jazz by Ry Cooder; Jazz at Massey Hall by The Quintet (Mingus, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, and Bud Powell, possibly one the greatest ever assembled, but unfortunately the recording wasn't the greatest in the world); Jazz Samba by Stan Getz & Charlie Byrd
People's Favorite Jokes:
Paraphrasing From Nick Swardson: An old man took his cat to the vet and said, "Doctor My cat's been having terrible diarrhea" The vet asks, "Well what have you been feeding him?" "Well," the old man says, "Diarrhea"
What do you think happens when superheroes get old? Spider-man starts shooting blanks
Virginia Superlatives:
Favorite Coffee: Sefton Coffee Company in Richmond
Favorite Ice Cream: Bev's Homemade in Richmond
Favorite Bar: Penny Lane Pub In Richmond
Favorite Restaurant: Food for Thought In Williamsburg or Foode in Fredericksburg
Favorite Beer: Devil's Backbone Black Lager
Favorite Attraction: The National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle; The VMFA was a close second though
Favorite Mic: Plant Zero in Richmond
General Impression of the Stand Up Scene: Very Supportive, it seems like there's definitely distinct scenes in different regions in VA but they do seem to drive out to visit each other not infrequently. Material tended to be more story or social commentary based than one liners or set-up punchline type jokes
Songs of the Day:
This song is amazing but i can't hear it without thinking of The Cable Guy
