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My galpals over at teamTENN have been holding the fort down on the road trip circuit. While reading about their travels, I have been whisked away to my early twenties. I spent quite a bit of time on the road and in the air over the past decade enabling me to check out what the U - S - of - A has to offer. The teamTENN blog has reminded me what I have been missing while I have not being doing cool stuff on the road over the past few years.

I bought a new car two weeks ago that gets killer gas mileage. Me and Tracy couldn’t think of a better way to break it in other than a trip to southwestern VA.

A friend had recommended we spend the 4th in a little town called Buchanan right off 81. We did a little Internet research and it seemed like a pretty cool way to spend July 4. 

Our destination was the Wattstull Inn. A classic motel up on a huge hill overlooking the mountains. Situated on the hill was a pool which was pretty much the selling point of this journey. A wild getaway that would include basking in the rays, reading, sleeping and listening to country LPS poolside. PERFECTION.

We woke up early Sunday morning and hit the road. Our first treat was THIS:

You know you are off to a good start when you pass by the Weinermobile. I have had not one, but two former co-workers that have actually driven this thing. Ha!

We sped across 64 and 81 and arrived at the Wattstull Inn. Our weekend of R and R was all set to begin.

..EXCEPT THE POOL WAS OUT OF ORDER…

This threw a little wrench in our plans. The motel was also much scarier in person. Crap.

We decided to head down Route 11 and check out our options. They didn’t really exist. What to do???

We were fairly close to Roanoke at this point and figured we could check out the flea market until we decided what to do. Enter Happy’s.

Happy’s is this ridiculous flea market that has vendors on the inside and outside in a huge parking lot. It is mostly filled with garbage, but I am sure on the right day you could end up walking out with a few treasures. At least it was entertaining.

The rest of the day is sort of a blur as we drove around in search of the perfect hotel pool, watched a hot dog eating contest (on tv), and ended up eating dinner at applebees. It was a very AMERICAN 4th of July.

We decided that we would take back roads to get back to Richmond. Not only was it a really nice day, but it provided quite the adventure. About 5 minutes into the trip home and we passed this:

I whipped the car around and we stopped at this “antique shop”. The owner seemed to be everywhere shouting out prices whenever someone grabbed an item. They have a framed picture of Colonel Sanders which I have heard a rumor about from another friend. Someone needs to buy that thing. I didn’t inquire on pricing as I had already spent $15 on a sweet fisher price airplane.

Our next stop was in Buchanan. The pharmacy we were told to eat at was closed, so we settled for another antique store. This shop never seemed to end. Every time you thought you were done, another room seemed to appear.

At this point we were starving. We ended up pulling over in Lexington for a quick bite. There was a little cafe in an odd shaped building that was calling our name. It is really weird sitting in a dining space with no music playing. I would love to tell you the name of the place, but I tend to not remember these things unless it is really worth mentioning (re: I have a horrible memory when it comes to restaurants and bars).

The local routes end for a little bit on this part of the journey. Hopping back on 81 was a freaking nightmare. I must have looked annoyed, so Tracy suggested we stop in Charlottesville for another round of adventure.

I adore C-ville for a few reasons, but over the past few years, I have grown to love a vintage store on the downtown mall called Antics. They always seem to have some sort of deal for me and Tracy. We both left with prizes per usual. I am now the proud owner of this t-shirt:

You might remember that bar from the movie Urban Cowboy. We watched it last night in celebration of my new shirt. I hadn’t seen the movie in awhile. Yikes! What a jerky cowboy.

Our final stop in C-Ville was a little ice cream shop on the mall. It is real deal retro and even has flies all over the place to prove it. I loved the sassy old women behind the counter. You can tell she runs the show around that place. Tracy spotted a record hanging from the ceiling of the joint (of course she found the one record in the establishment).

In order to prolong the tail end of our trip, we took route 250 (broad st) home. It is soooooooo much better than 64. The only drawback is that you are greeted with the short pump town center when entering the greater Richmond area. But hey, I wanted to stop at Whole Foods anyway.