Week starting 4th August – The Vineyards of Virginia
On Sunday we drove from disastrous Delaware to Virginia – first port of call was Leesburg in the North West of Virginia. We then headed down to Charlottesville heading for an appointment with an orthopaedic specialist. We got here on Monday evening after a fairly long day on the road (though, OK, we did go to Breaux Winery en route! But since Lisa is unable to drive, guess who is the master taster now and who gets to try an occasional sip).
On Tuesday, the day was largely taken up with the University of Virginia Medical Center. Lisa had been keeping a secret from me – the doctor in the MedExpress center had told her that she expected an operation would be necessary. So she was more than a bit happy when the two doctors told her that not even a plaster cast is required, just 6 weeks in a walking boot – black knee length boot with a rigid sole and back with lots of velcro straps and buckles – very S&M. Though things went a bit downhill when she discovered that she has to sleep in it. And it proved a bit warm in the American summer – like “having a sheep wrapped around your foot”. We’ve been taking the opportunity of our revised schedule to stay in one place for several days, catch up laundry, organising suitcases and sleep (not a lot of hope of the latter when sharing the bed with a foot sheep!).
Wednesday was completion day on Denmark Road sale. The solicitor rang at 10am to confirm that all had gone through OK. Only problem was that it was 10am UK time, so it was a 5am wakeup call for us! So now we are officially homeless wanderers. The early rising experience was repeated on Thursday when my bank rang me at 9:30 UK time to check that I was not kidding when I put in a request to transfer lots of money to our US bank account. Trying to remember all those passwords and security questions through a sleep haze was a bit of a hassle. But it seemed to work eventually.
We have seen some of the beautiful Virginia countryside, driven down part of the Skyline Drive along the crest of the mountain ridge overlooking the Shenandoah Valley. And we visited a few wineries (another surprise to you all, that, I am sure). We have visited Barboursville, White Hall (where we were told that the day before Vivienne Franks, a wine educator and writer I know in London, had been visiting) and Keswick, as well as a local microbrewery. I’ve has plenty of opportunity to practice driving on the wrong side of the road (wrong for me) in a grossly oversized vehicle, too. And we have managed to find a few good meals (all American cuisine is not made of oversize portions of chemicals and synthesized plastic, in spite of reports to the contrary).
On Friday and Saturday, we moved to a small cottage in the country next door to the Flying Fox vineyard. We were staying close to Veritas Vineyard for a party night there on Saturday. I spoke with the owner, Andrew Hodson, who remembered me from my previous visit two years ago and from meetings at the International Wine Fair in London. We shared a table for dinner on the deck with a number of extremely friendly people who live in near Veritas – we hope to see them again soon, maybe when we return to Virginia with Lisa more mobile. A great night out – and just as we got back to our cottage the heavens opened with thunder, lightning and torrential rain.