Day trip: Luray Caverns

Luray Caverns is one of those requisite field trips like Mount Vernon and Monticello that all Virginia grammar school students take.  Somehow, I never got there.  I assume our family was living overseas at the time.  No bother - Evan took me there today for one of our last couple outings before our baby girl arrives.  Evan was convinced that we went while dating but having gone there today, I can confirm that I have no memory of it.

It was the perfect day to go because it's unbearably hot outside and it was quite cool underground.  The only negative is that some of the pathways are wet so I had to be extra careful to not slip.  I walked really slowly and held onto the railings when needed.  I was so focused on my footing that Evan took all of the pictures.

I didn't get a whole lot out of the guided tour (I didn't listen most of the time), but I really enjoyed the amazing rock formations. As Evan said, it was like being on another planet.  It doesn't happen often but I was in awe.  I wish we could've toured independently, though I understand why they don't allow that.  It would've been nice to take our time observing and analyzing. Anyway, it'll be a fun family activity one of these days.  We definitely want to take baby girl to Mammoth Caves in Kentucky and do one of their specialized tours that we didn't do when we were there two years ago.  So many activities!  

Pictures:

This looks like something slimy and nasty straight out of Alien:

So I can contribute something to the photo collection, here are a few cell phone pics I was able to get:

Road Trip: Longwood/Nemours Gardens

This was a little more than a day trip as we ended up spending the night in West Chester, PA to break up the driving.  The B&B where we stayed really isn't worth mentioning.  The mansion itself, is quite beautiful and a lovely setting for a wedding, but the bed was too soft for me (I need extra support now as I get in/out of bed) and the breakfast was very disappointing. The innkeeper is pleasant enough.

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On the way up we stopped at Rocky Point Creamery, a farm-to-table operation.  You can see the cows and farm right behind the creamery.  They also sell eggs, milk, and beef products.  This is a place we had heard about in the past, but hadn't had the opportunity to stop in for a taste.  We made sure to not bypass it this time around.  We both really enjoyed our samplings, but I was especially impressed with "banana puddin'", which tasted EXACTLY as advertised.  Superb!

The main draws for this trip were Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA and Nemours Mansion and Gardens in Wilmington, DE.  

Not everything worked out in our favor.  For instance, I mistakenly thought that Longwood Gardens was open until 9:00pm daily, but it turns out that those hours only apply Thursday-Saturday.  When we arrived at 5:00pm we were disappointed to learn that we only had an hour to explore.  It made for a rushed experience.  It also meant that we missed a lot of the highlights.  C'est la vie.  

In the case of Nemours, we had plenty of time to explore the gardens but opted out of visiting the mansion so we could return home by a decent time.  I guess you can't miss what you don't know!  The mansion was inspired by Marie Antoinette's Petit Trianon (personal quarters) at Versailles.  The gardens also reminded me of Versailles and I have to say, walking through the more limited grounds of Nemours, brought to mind one my favorite moments of our honeymoon - walking hand-in-hand in quiet solitude through the magnificent grounds specifically curated for a king.     

Longwood Gardens:

We got to witness a brief fountain show accompanied by some mediocre music:

      

The best part of the gardens was randomly spying a bunny having its dinner:

And then we saw what we think might've been a baby copperhead (?!?!):

Nemours:

All in all, we had a nice time.  I was pretty tired by the time we got home though.  I felt hot, dehydrated, and my feet were swollen.  Consequently, I didn't feel up to going to a concert I had been looking forward to for many months.  I also feel like my belly has grown exponentially the past few days and I'm increasingly uncomfortable.  Blah!