Zion Crossroads, VA
Well, it's come to this--the rationale for the hashtag. We partly came down here to attend a timeshare presentation (and get a cheap hotel, travel points, and a gift card in the process).
We drove about 20 minutes from the hotel to the resort (where they chose NOT to house us--probably not the best way to ingratiate themselves with us). After filling out a form basically saying we wouldn't slip out during the event, we sat in a conference room and got the spiel. If you've never done the timeshare thing, you get handed from one smiling person to another, part of a battalion of salespeople. There's videos, testimonials, talk about your dream vacation--and then comes the hard sell (which they swear isn't one). Think about the last time you bought a car, and multiple the "what do I have to do to get you in this Corolla?" bit times ten. We got a quick tour, and the model homes seemed very nice. The math just doesn't work, especially when a quick Google search shows people selling the same places for pennies on the dollar (if that), and a class action lawsuit underway. So, we politely said nyet, got our stuff, and left.
On to lunch at the Well Hung Vineyard--an andouille crostini, a chicken sammich, and a flight of wine slushies. It was all very good.
We had originally planned to go to Monticello on this trip. I went there as a kid, but Mindy has never been. Unfortunately, we discovered that a) you have to reserve a time weeks in advance to avoid being rushed through at the end of the day (which we couldn't do vs. an unknown time for our timeshare event) and b) someone decided to go the Disney route and charge you an arm and a leg. With these in mind, we chose instead to go to Highland, just down the road from Tom's colossus, and the home of President James Monroe. We walked in, paid a reasonable fee, and took a tour with a knowledgeable docent. The grounds are lovely, and the whole place is well maintained.
A 300+ year old white oak.
The earliest surviving Presidential china (the War of 1812 took out the dinnerware before that).
Then back to the still-elevatorless hotel for a nap, followed by a trip back to Charlottesville (getting very used to the 15 mile trip) to visit the Downtown Mall , and the Citizen Burger Bar. I had a huge burger, while Mindy had fries with burger on the side.
Enough for today--more from VA tomorrow.