Floyd jamboree

The past week has been crazy. My travel plans changed when I got the new job contract and I am now leaving the US two weeks earlier than planned. Which means I only have one week left to sort everything out. So crazy stressful. I have managed to sell nearly everything and early Friday morning finally got everything inventoried and the paperwork (excessive amounts of paperwork!!!) sent and shipping sorted. 

My apartment is a mess. (And actually now looks even worse as I have sold even more furniture so there is more on the floor!)

Chaos!!!!!

However the YMCA must love me. They got a ton of stuff and I still have more! It all has to go.

1/4 of the YMCA donations. 

 So Friday, after finally getting the shipping sorted, I took a bit of time off to chill out and watched some of Game of Thrones (playing season 5 catch-up). And on the evening I meet up with Steve. He was teaching in Floyd for a few hours in the evening, so I tagged along. We headed out early and went to get BBQ. We have been hearing about this place and it did not disappoint. It was only a truck stop really but the food was so good.

True south BBQ

With Beans, Sweet potato fries and the required sweet tea!

It was a bit uncomfortable as there were a group of guys standing by the truck near where we were eating, showing off their guns to each other. It was a true complete American experience. :-/

We had a bit of time before Steve's class so we grabbed a glass of wine, true southern style.

In the mason jar.

As Steve had to teach, I amused myself at the Floyd Country Store where they have a Jamboree every Friday night. The first band was gospel. The music was very pretty but I'm not really into religious music or gospel. 

Gospel

It was standing room only which was actually great as I found a stop near an AirCon vent. As it was so hot in there, it might have been the best spot!

Enthralled. 

I chatted the the couple in front of me who were lovely. And when they found a seat, they snagged me one too. :-)

The country is still a store, with the front section selling all sorts of interesting foods and cute signs.

The store

The second band were more to my taste, with some great mountain music. And at this point the dance floor was packed. I am not really sure about the dancing. It was, for amateurs, hopping from one foot to the other, and for the more advanced, doing the same with a few tap shuffle steps throw in. I decided to just photo it and not join in .

Second band.

Dancing

Having a great time.

Fiddle on fire.

Waltzing.

I chatted to lot of people and just lost out for the free cap for the the furthest travel to someone from Norway. :-( But the people were all so lovely and the music was fun. 

It was a good way to spend my last Friday night in the US. (This time next week I will be home!) I am hoping to weather improves before I leave. With the UK in a heat wave, it really doesn't seem fair we are having heavy rain! 

Floyd Mardi Gras

On Friday night, Steve convinced me to go to a fundraiser for a school in Floyd.

Honestly to start with, I was not keen. It is so cold around here at the moment (I mean seriously freezing, barely getting above freezing most days) and once I got home I did not want to go out again. Plus it was fancy dress, and I had a few hours notice. So we had to go to Marty's house to get costumes together. (She sells vintage clothes so had tones of things to choose from we could borrow- it took a while to choose.)

But it was fun. We got some Jambalaya and wine and headed for the pavilion where the bands were. Unfortunately like I said, it was really cold (around 17F/-8C) and I could see my breathe for most of the time. Plus I had (stupidly) dressed in a dress and lace flat shoes. They had patio heaters around so a lot of people (us included) stayed very close to them, even danced around them. (Later in the night I ended up putting my shoes up the heaters to get heat to my feet - I got some funny looks but I had warm feet so the laughs on them!)

Back of the room.

Crazy costume and a smoke machine

Near the stage

They had a costume competition so some people went to great lengths with their costumes.

Marie Antoinette. 

They also had a belly dance display which I seriously hope was tongue in cheek. It was not good! Though fair play, they must have been freezing in those outfits and 3 of them didn't even have shoes on.

Belly dancers

The music was actually really good (light rock) and much better to dance to (in my opinion) than the house music last weekend. So we had a lot of fun dancing. Steve really got his groove on. He said his 70s/80s shirt made him dance like that. But I'm thinking it was just an excuse. :-)

Dancing away.

The last band were really good so we carried on dancing despite the crazy cold, though we had to fight for a place on the floor then. Apparently Spoon Feed are a very popular band.

Dance floor.

Spoon Feed

However it jet got to the point where I was just too cold so we found a spot in the restaurant next to a big heater. Heaven! It took while to defrost. And we ran back to the car and blasted the heater all the way home. 

Mabry Mills and vineyards

This past weekend I hired a car and managed to get out a bit. Friday night (when I picked up the car) involved a trip to Walmart. Not very exciting but I did find pumpkin flavored marshmallows! They actually taste like ginger bread to me but still good! I also got some bits for Thanksgiving. And takeout from Red Robin.

Most exciting Walmart find!

On Saturday, after brunch with Cait and a trip to Bollos (for treats) and Home depot (window insulation - not very exciting but my bank account will thank me later),  I headed to the south section of the Blue Ridge Parkway. I have been wanting to go for Mabry Mill for a while, apparently the most photograph place in Virginia for a while. Though my photographs don't look like any I have seen. It has been a little chilly recent!

Mabry Mill and frozen pond

Really big Icicles. 

And I mean huge!

All over the place.

A small broken off section, with my bag for scaling purposes.

I want to go back when it is open. (There weren't many people there but I was not the only one very sad when the restaurant and bathrooms weren't open.) In the summer that have demonstrations and activities on. And I had been planning on the hot chocolate. :-(

Cart

Mill pond.

More ice

I loved the wheel and icicles though.

It's been very cold.

And had a lot of fun watching the ducks ice skating.

Much sliding involved (though annoyingly more graceful than me on ice!)

The mill

After the mill, I attempted to get to a winery I have been wanting to visit for a while. But my GPS said not happening. Maybe next time. I ended up at Chateau Morissette. This is the local wine you find in the supermarket. And not very good. Still the tasting room was pretty.

Chateau Morissette

Inside.

I ended up with some sweet wines, including a ice wine which were ok and pretty cheap (VA wines are usually seriously overpriced). And I got some final christmas presents so not a bad stop. After the vineyard I went to a Meade winery. It was an interesting trip. (Alongside "find fastest route" on my GPS, I want a setting saying "Route I am most likely to live through". Currently we disagree on what route that is!) I also spent most of that trip wishing for a bring orange car as it was as hunting area.

I was a bit nervous when I got there and it looked like someones house. Thankfully there were other people there doing a tasting so I figured I was in the right place and my GPS hadn't sent me to the middle of nowhere. (Seriously around some of these places you have to be careful. They will come out with a shotgun if the think you are trespassing.)

The Meade winery

Different Meades

Meade is a honey wine and I didn't realize there were so many different types. (Honestly I went there hoping they were selling the honey too. But it seemed rude not to try them as I was there!) I got 2 different ones, a pumpkin spice Meade and a raspberry Meade.
I just managed to get to my last stop before they shut (and 2 other groups had the same last minute idea) at Foggy Ridge Cider.

Outside

Inside

Tasting options

This was the first good cider I have had in a while. (Most of the cider here is apple juice - I have been disappointed here more than once.) I got a few plus the one on the end in the photo above, an apple brandy. very tasty.

I ended up sitting outside for a while before driving home for obvious reasons!

On the evening, it was work and takeout. (Most places here don't deliver, assuming everyone has their own car so I took advantage and got thai from my favorite place.) And some more wine, of course. :-)