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Published: March 29th 2018
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March 28, 2018
States: West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina
City: Beckley, WV
Miles: 460 miles
Hours: 7 hours 43 minutes
Hotel: Fairfield Suites Marriott
Food: free Marriott breakfast, sandwiches in the car, The Shrimp Factory
Sites: Big Walker Landing
Books: To Catch a Thief (Elizabeth) Jurassic Park (Matthew)
Gas: 1
Toenail clippings: 10
While driving on Tuesday night, I happened to talk to my sister-in-love, Missy, and she said she was only two hours from Savannah. They live in Jacksonville. Jokingly, but hopeful, I said, “why don‘t you meet us?” She said yes! I was so excited. I did not tell anyone else in the car that she and my brother were coming. Paul had been saying I should ask them but I felt bad because we were only staying one night and we had a tour the following morning. I love surprises. We were not supposed to get into Savannah until 7 or after so I had to adjust the plans to come in earlier so we could see them longer. ”Hoooney’” (tuesday night), “what if we drive as far as we can tonight and cut off
some drive time tomorrow?” He likes to do that if he is in drive mode. That’s why we got in at 1 AM. At 8 AM, “Good morning everyone! Rise and shine.” We got on the road to Big Walker Lookout. I digress...
On the way to Savanna, just about 10 minutes off the freeway near Wythville, VA is a unique little place where you can, supposedly, see 5 states from the top of a 9 story tower. It was a neat little country store nestled in the mountains in the shadow of an ominous metal and wood tower. It was 60 degree (sweltering for us Michiganders) with patches of snow still on the ground. We paid a small fee to scale the tower. The man running store, the grandson of the original owners, was very welcoming. Lots of goodies and foodie treats and souvineers. This is in the middle of nowhere. At the top, there were views of blue ridge mountains and farms and fields. It is probably beautiful at all different seasons. I did not like the gentle sway of the tower as the wind blew, though. There wasn’t much of a thrill but it is a
neat side stop. Mama Walker came into the shop when we were done and we got a little history of the location. The battle of Wythville was fought there. “Into the Valley of Death.” Which is what I thought as I imagined the tower crumpling below us. I posted a picture of the history. Everyone thought it was a worthy stop.
Now I am updating Missy on our ETA and we were planning to arrive around 5:30. Perfect. Hard keeping it secret. We got to our hotel in Savannah (another Marrriott, SpringHill, 3 beds and free breakfast). About a 1/2 hour after we arrived, there was a knock on our hotel door. “Who could that be?” Surprise!! Everyone was excited. We walked down by the river and first found a restaurant that didn’t have an hour and a half wait, the Shrimp Factory but did have a 45 minute wait which gave us enough time to hit the adult slushy bar. We all got a slushy (the kids a virgin one). By the time, we walked back to the restaurant, our table was ready. Instead of ordering meals, Paul filled the table with all of the appetizers
of shrimps, scallops, wings, fried tomatoes and on and on. Everyone enjoyed eating a little of everything. We had a great time visiting with Jeff and Missy. It was so nice of them to drive up from Jacksonville. We love seeing them anytime we can.
Thursday, we have a walking and eating tour of Savannah. Hope you will check back again. Let me know if you have been reading.
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