Bank to Restaurant

We visited Fredericksburg, VA with friends Janet & Will on Sunday to Monday of this week.  This is the first of several posts on what we saw.

We had lunch at Foode.  They didn't take reservations and being Mother's Day and a graduation weekend we took our chances at getting seated.  We arrived at noon and got on their list for an hour and 3/4 wait.  Turned out to be only an hour which we used to walk around the old town.  They called Will and we were only a 5 minute walk away at that point.

Foode is in an old bank building.  A great use of the space.  

We were surprised to see Lincoln's face above the mantle in this southern town.

Even the old vault is used for seating.

No photos of the food.  It was good.  Janet and I had the grits and eggs served with a tomato cheese small salad mix on top.  Dan had a large salad with grilled chicken and Will had waffles and fried chicken.  As an appetizer we had pimento cheese toast. 

Joining Tuesday Treasure

Airplane Noses

A second post from our visit to the Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum

I was taken by the decorations on the various planes, mostly in the front or the nose.  And that part of the airplane came in a variety of shapes.

I think the first one is a Corsair.  Someone who knows their planes may correct me.  Very popular among pilots in WWII.  Women flew these in the States but not in battle.

Compare the nose above to the Blackbird which flew incredibly fast and used in Cold War aviation.

Skunk on the Blackbird has something to do with how it smelled.  The plane is made of titanium which the US didn't have access to so dummy corporations were formed to purchase titanium from the Soviets.  The plane was then used to spy on the Soviets but never flew over their airspace.

This one as insignia on the fuselage.  Recognize it?

Here's a close up.  It's the USA throwing its hat in the ring to join the war.

Love this eagle!

Look closely at this image.

Yes, daring young men on the flying trapeze.

Here's the nose of the Concord.  It may have been a fast flight over the Atlantic but required so much fuel that it wasn't economical to fly.  Notice the very small windows - necessary because of its speed.

This one is really shiny.

Here is one of the smallest planes.  7 foot wing span!

You know what this one was famous for.

Interesting pattern on this nose.

Can't remember what this was

Here's the nose of the space shuttle.  

To get the shuttle in the building the roof had to be removed above the doors.

It is a fascinating place.  More to come in another post.

Tuesday Treasures - Old Airplanes

Joining Tuesday Treasures

We visited the Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum on Saturday.

Here is a quick smattering of some of what we saw.  More to come.

From the Wright Brothers and other early attempts at flying to the space shuttle Discovery it was all there.  Worth the trip.

Underground Railroad Experience Trail

Tuesday of this week dawned as a lovely day.  We'd had rain the night before to clear out the heat an humidity.

The fitness staff here at Vantage House organized a hike for 8 o'clock that morning, so 9 of us boarded the bus with Vivian and Andrea (our great fitness instructors) and with Chris driving we were off to Sandy Spring, MD to the Woodlawn Manor Cultural Park where the Underground Railroad Experience Trail is a highlight.

The manor house and museum is only open on Fri-Sunday.  Dan and I plan to return later this month on a Sunday to visit there.  Here's some background on it.

Other park literature says that the Palmer family lost their membership in the Quaker assembly because they owned slaves.

Off the bus Vivian led us in warm up exercises prior to starting the hike.  Our driver, Chris, joined in. She's in the back left in the black shirt.  She took the hike with us but turned back when one participant decided the trail in the woods was too difficult for her.

Walking to the start of the trail took us past the side of the manor

And this lovely stone barn built in 1832.

Checking out the start of the trail.

First we walked in the grass skirting the pasture for the horses stabled here for the Montgomery County Park Police.

That field was full of buttercups.

The trail went on into the woods.  Slaves often escaped at Christmas since they had three days to a week of leave.  Rainstorms were also a common departure for freedom time.

These woods are filled with some interesting trees.

Dan and I set a faster pace ahead of the rest.

The jack in the pulpits were in bloom and the birds were in full voice.

This hollow tree is like ones that fugitives would use as hiding places.  Fires could be built in the tree and smoke would not be visible.  Sometimes these would be spots where friends would stash supplies for runaways.

Springs like this would have been meeting points for runaways and trail markers.

The spring date of 1745 refers to the first meeting of the Quakers in Sandy Spring.  The concrete archway was built in 1914.

Another view of the barn as I walked back.

All around a great excursion, one of many I've enjoyed since moving here.