El Galeon

A few weeks ago, the Spanish tall ship El Galeon docked in Alexandria. It's a full-scale reproduction of a 16th-century galleon. I took a tour of the ship with my friend Jan and got some good pics. Enjoy!

Retreat

Last month I went on a Fellows retreat with the C.S. Lewis Institute. We went to White Sulphur Springs in Pennsylvania (just a stone's throw from Bedford Springs, where I spent my 30th birthday). It was very peaceful and rejuvenating.

This is the original guest house where the staff now lives. The current guest house (where I stayed) is a modern building that's not nearly as photogenic.

Most of the weekend was spent in lectures and discussions, but we did have a large chunk of free time on Saturday afternoon. So I went horseback riding (naturally).

This is the second time I've been riding in as many months, which is odd after such a long dry spell. I could get used to this!

After the trail ride, I spent some time walking around the vast property and bonding with the horses.

I'm not sure if these were ponies or miniature horses. Either way, they were adorable!!!

I also went bowling in this 1886 bowling alley. It was so cool! I was totally geeking out.

Everything is original. Which is cool, except the floor boards are totally warped, causing the bowling ball to go all over the place.

The weekend was over before I knew it. Here's a final parting view from the guest house...

Country roads

It's been a long, hot summer in DC, y'all. I needed a vacation and I needed to get out of the city. I didn't have the means to go anywhere exciting, so I took a few days off of work and headed out to the Shenandoah Valley. I stayed at the beautiful and historic Mimslyn Inn in the small town of Luray.

The town is about 10 miles from the entrance of Shenandoah National Park. And it just happened to be "no fee" weekend in all national parks! So I drove down Skyline Drive and took a short hike to the top of the mountain.

I then spent the afternoon at Luray Caverns, the main attraction in the town of Luray. While I was waiting for my tour to start, I took a stroll through the Car and Carriage Museum, which is right next door and included in the price of admission. I've never been much of a car nut, so I wasn't expecting much, but I was pleasantly surprised! I actually found it to be rather interesting. The first object you see upon entering is this beautiful 18th-century carriage.

It was actually used by the royal family of Portugal! Here is their family coat-of-arms on the back.

There were lots of other interesting items; I'll highlight just a few.

An 1880 sleigh

An 1840's road coach (and baby carriage)

An 1892 Benz (precursor of Mercedes-Benz)

Some old-timey cars

An early Rolls Royce

The property also boasts the Luray Valley Museum, with buildings from various time periods.

The caverns themselves were spectacular. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it. The caves are ginormous and sprawling. During the 90-minute tour, we covered about 1.5 miles.

This is called Dream Lake. The water forms a perfect mirror-image of the stalactites on top. It totally looks like there are stalagmites coming up from the ground. Even standing there in person, it's hard to tell there's water there.

This type of formation was really cool. They call it drapery. 

The rock is so thin that it's actually translucent. 

This is a stalactite that fell millions of years ago, and it's still lying there like a giant tree trunk.

My final activity in Luray was horseback riding! It's been a while since I've been on a horse....I don't remember it making me so sore! I must have been more resilient when I was younger.

On the trail.

Me and my horse Joe.

And for comparison's sake, this is me around age 13.

On my way back to DC, I saw this place on the side of the road. So naturally, I had to stop in.

And I am so glad I did. Because Cooter himself was there!!

The good ol' boys. It's unfortunate that the networks won't show it anymore.