A Day in Norfolk

I just love the layers of mountains in this picture taken in Norfolk. We headed up to George's hometown of Norfolk today to participate in some of the festivities they had going on.  I didn't take any pictures of the farmers market which we enjoyed and brought home some edible souvenirs. :)

Our first stop was the Immaculate Conception Church to view the stained glass windows. They were so beautiful.

At another stop we enjoyed the stained glass windows at Battell Chapel. Our guide gave us more details about the work that goes into the various types of designs. The last five were Tiffany stained glass.

We then went to the Historical Society where George aced a little quiz on identifying architectural pictures in town.

This was an interesting display of buildings that were once in Norfolk but no longer stand. 

This was the sign from George's doctor.

Then our day took an interesting turn. We were told of a scavenger hunt that they were starting today and it ends September 4th. We became the first team signed up, "Team Washington". We were given 15 clues of things we were to photograph.
Having grown up in Norfolk, George figured out a couple pretty quickly. I even was able to figure out a couple and we set out driving around Norfolk deciphering the clues and photographing our answers. This kept us busy for over an hour and we thoroughly enjoyed it. This is our kind of fun (though ask us about the road race we did the month before we got married--we each had second thoughts after that!)  We have 5 stumpers left but fortunately we have until September 4th to figure this out and we are determined. 

As we rode around, I was able to take some other pictures besides the scavenger hunt ones. These were other photos of the day. I wish I had my good camera, but my little one does a decent job too.

George made me take a picture of this house because it was a Sears & Roebuck house. It came as a kit bought through the catalog.

A friend told us about this field of brown eyed susans. This was the same spot that I got a great autumn picture last year. I think I need to return with my better camera, but not sure if the owners want me on their grounds. I'll have to do the best from the road.

It's hard to capture that these keep going down the hill. Thousands of them!

Creek was pretty dried up underneath.

It was great to be able to have a "go with the flow" day with many surprises.

Roseland Cottage

Today we decided to take a day trip to the Roseland Cottage in Woodstock. We had been by it several times but never took the time to tour the building and beautiful flower garden.

This was the summer home of Henry and Lucy Bowen built in 1846. Henry Bowen was a self-made successful businessman. The docent told us how he made his money, how they ended up in Woodstock and of his family life. I will leave the details for those who wish to visit. One interesting point though, was that four different presidents had come to Roseland Cottage at one time or another.

The cottage is Gothic Revival design. They say that some of the boxwood in the garden is the original that was planted in the 1800's. The flowers were beautiful and let me stop blabbering and show you.

Find the butterfly.

Butterfly again

Before we entered the cottage, we had to put booties over our shoes to protect the carpeting.

And now some pictures from inside:

On the ceiling.

One of his jobs was tax collector.

A disguised safe in the bathroom.

This is the same exact doll as in the following picture.

This is the servant's side of the house.

This is the nation's oldest bowling alley. President Grant bowled here.

Chimney cap

The left side of the building are the servants' quarters.

It's a beautiful place to visit and we're glad we finally went inside.

We then went down the road and ate at a spot highly recommended by the locals. It was just a simple roadside diner with inside and outside seating overlooking a pond. The food was okay but afterwards we treated ourselves to kiddie sized ice cream cones and the ice cream was really delicious. George had plain vanilla and I had coconut chocolate almond chip. Yum!!!!

The pond in back.

Cute swings at the diner.

So, it was a nice day. Now I don't mean to end on a bad note, but I have to mention one side note. As many of you know, George is a big advocate for the proper use and care of the American flag. Well, I have my "thing" too. Notice anything in this picture (like find Waldo) that would upset me?

Well if you look carefully you will see a US Mail flat tub. The gardener was using two of them to put the weeds in. After 34 years of the postal service, I cannot get it out of my blood and am still "on the clock" informing people that each of those boxes costs the post office $4. and that they are not for personal use. Well, I did inform them very politely and they entirely agreed that it was inappropriate use and promised me they would return them the next day. I am glad they listened and seemed to truly agree. I just can't get it out of my blood. If you like "Where's Waldo?" there are at least five photos with them in it. I was not intentionally photographing them. 

Finally let me add that this is a beautiful spot and quite an enjoyable place to visit in a pretty part of our state. They said to spread the word and they would love more visitors. It costs $10 ($9 for seniors) to tour the inside. There is also an old crochet set that you may use on the grounds next to the garden.