Blogs from Virginia, United States, North America - page 125

My first summer trip is a trip out to Virginia to visit my old college roommate and good buddy Dave and his new house. It just so happens that my other college roommate and long time buddy Mike is staying with my buddy Dave right now in Virginia....a reunion of sorts. We usually get together quite often, even though we all live in different areas. I got into Virginia really late on Friday night and after a short walk through Dave's new house, we all hit the sack. Woke up to some really crappy weather, so we were stuck in the house for most of the day. Mike and I helped Dave with unpacking a bunch of his boxes from the move. Had homemade pancakes for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch and Don Pablos for dinner. Good ... read more

5:30 AM and most everything is quiet at the Sadako Sasaki House of Hospitality in Norfolk, also known as the "Norfolk Catholic Worker House." The birds outside are rustling as the sky warms into view, and a diesel locomotive idles less than a mile away. Calvin the cat is eating his breakfast, and I can hear Victor's soft footsteps upstairs as he prepares for another day of teaching school. I've just finished my breakfast and a couple of pages of William Stafford's collected writings, and now I'm focusing on updating my Friends as to my new adventures at the Norfolk Catholic Worker. I've been living at the Catholic Worker for a month now, although I was on the road for a week photographing trains, and my weekends have often been spent with my fiance Jennifer. Yes, ... read more

This isn't so much of a blog as it is an invitation to a potluck lunch at the Virginia Beach Friends Meeting House, following which I'll give a presentation about my bike trip, including ...{drum roll, please!}... PICTURES! Yes, that's right, Friends, for the first time you can see some of the many images that I shot on my trip. If you were lucky enough to receive a copy of my Christmas card, then you know what delights are in store for you! So here's the schedule of events for this Sunday (or First Day, amongst Friends), 1/18/04: 10 AM- First Day School 11 AM- Meeting for Worship 12:30 PM- Pot Luck Lunch 1 PM (or thereabouts)- Friendly Slide Show & Presentation by Wes The address for the Meeting House is 1537 Laskin Road, Virginia Beach. ... read more

Getting back home has meant taking care of mundane household chores, such as getting the car inspected. So last week I mounted my bike on the roof rack of my Saab and drove over it to the garage before work. I left the Saab there & rode into work on a morning only in the 40's. While it was brisk, I enjoyed my ride nonetheless, grateful that I had on a pair of pants over my tights. A couple of hours later I got a call back from the garage- they wanted $300 to get the Saab ready for inspection, plus they saw a couple thousand dollars more in repairs that would have to be completed in the near term. And I thought, "Why am I doing this?" I need to renew my car insurance, the ... read more

We are going back in time. The reason for our stop here is to visit Colonial Williamsburg. If you aren’t familiar with the area here is the history. John D. Rockefeller decided to fund a complete restoration of the original settlement of Williamsburg Virginia, the second capital of the colonies. They developed the village to be a very detailed replica of the Williamsburg of 1774. Jamestown (about 100 miles away) was the first British settlement of the new world, when they gave up on Jamestown they moved the capital to Williamsburg. 88 of the buildings are original and the rest are restorations. Everything is authentic from the buildings to the merchandise for sale in the stores to the people who live and work there. We took a few of the walking tours available, one was about ... read more