On the road to Durham

Yesterday, Sparkling Squirrel (SS) and I drove from Glenville West Virginia to Durham North Carolina to attend the 49th Annual Society for Economic Botany Conference. We drove a combination of Interstates and more scenic routes. It was a good trip - we did see mountain laurels and azaleas in bloom. We did not find a good place to stop and take pictures though.

As we ere driving through White Sulfur Springs, West Virginia, we started talking about the fancy resort there called Greenbrier. From what SS tells me, this is the oldest resort in the country, which once catered to Thomas Jefferson. On a whim, SS decided we needed to check it out to see what it looks like. We pulled up to the little gate house, and the very nice security guard welcomed us to look around and enjoy the shops. We drove around and the place was gorgeous, in that perfectly manicured, clean way. Very Great Gatsby.

They had wonderful, vibrant displays of snapdragons. Another highlight was a perfectly manicured croquet lawn. My camera battery ran out, so unfortunately, I did not get many good pictures.
After driving around a bit, SS asked if I wanted to see anything else. My reply - "The bathroom". I had to go and I knew they bathrooms would be nice. We went into the main building, through many of the fancy shops and into the main lobby. Very elegant. The website, linked above, has nice interior shots. The bathrooms were nice - they even had cloth towels for drying your hands.

From there we drove through Virginia, stopping at Napoli's in Alta Vista for a delicious lunch.

I did some knitting along the way. Introducing my newest sock, which I am calling "Candy Orange ", as the color of the yarn and the pattern remind me of those jelly, candy orange slices. The pattern is "Primavera" by S(t)ockinette, which is available as a free download.




We arrived safely at Duke yesterday afternoon.
Tomorrow: The challenges of a Kansas Jayhawk in Blue Devil Territory.