Travel Diaries: Front Royal to Pigeon Forge

Anniversaries are all around me. Today would have been my seven year anniversary with B. Weird... So, seven years ago, I got drunk and high and jumped my best friend...

Anyway, I'm still in the midst of the giant overhaul of my life. Today's activity? Continuing on the cleaning and reorganization of my apartment. I just haven't been as up to blogging lately, but the blog is important to me, so I'm trying my best to stay steady. And I do want to tell you all about my trip with Brick. So, here's the next leg of it...

Where was I? Ah, yes! I left you all just as Brick and I were about to hit the road. The drive from NJ to VA was a nice one. We did pass through one absolutely tremendous thunderstorm near the Delaware River.

Giant cracks of lightning split the earth so near to us that I was genuinely afraid. We were also waved through the toll booth there. Later, when we heard about all of the flooding to the region, we realized we were passed through the toll due to the massive evacuations.

As we drove South, the landscape changed-- from towns to farms, and then from one type of farm to another. It's hard to describe the subtle shifts, but the sense of leaving "New York" was palpable. As we hadn't really gotten on the road until around 4:00 pm, it was after 11:00 when we finally arrived at our first destination-- Front Royal, Virginia.

We checked in to the motel and asked the guy at the desk if there was anywhere we could still get a meal around there at that hour.

"Do you like steak?" he asked.

"Um, yeah..."

"Well, there's a steak house just next door."

Perfect!

Brick and I set off on foot. There was, however, no steak house. When we got there, we saw a hot dog cart/sausage stand. And it was closed. We turned to walk back in the other direction, ducking the low tree branches along the side of the road. Passing our motel again, we found a bar on the other side that also seemed to be a restaurant. We decided to try it.

What we found was really most bizarre. The bouncer checked our ID's and we asked if they were still serving food. While he went to ask the proprietor, a very drunk blonde girl approached us to see what we were looking for. She seemed to know everyone in the place. She offered us some advice about where to go for food, but it all seemed dreadfully complicated at that late hour in that foreign town. Just then, the bouncer returned and told us that bar food was available. We went up to the bar to order. (They were only serving beer and soda-- no hard liquor). And as luck would have it, our diet cokes were free refills! Behind the counter was a giant mural of the World Trade Center.

When we sat at the table and began to take in our surroundings, we started to realize the truly strange nature of the establishment we had stumbled into. First of all, it was karaoke-night. The karaoke host was behind a DJ booth on the other side of the room. In front of him was a sparsely populated dance floor under a cheesy disco ball with rotating colored lights. The customers were another issue all together. There was one table of middle aged/senior couples. And there were women everywhere. A lot of women. Half of them were dressed like men-- in wife beaters, baggy shorts, with cropped hair and tattoos on their biceps. All of the girls seemed to know each other and they seemed to be swapping partners on the dance floor, all sitting on each other's laps. Had we walked into a lesbian bar?

Brick decided to ask our very friendly waitress (a proud tattooed grandma who took our numbers for when she comes to visit New York). She explained that it wasn't a lesbian bar, per say, but that the only other joint in town was riddled with drugs, gangs and chains, and that this place was a better option "for the ladies." I guess her explanation made sense, but the whole thing was just so odd. (We took a few pictures with Brick's cell phone, but he hasn't emailed them to me yet, so I can't post them!)

I sang a few numbers, and then Brick and I sang "Summer Nights." We did a great job, I must say (despite my scratchy throat) and it was the first time I got Brick to sing with me in public. The best part of the night? We could smoke in the bar! Ah, how it reminded me of my youth! So, we basically just sat there chain smoking, drinking diet cokes and taking in the crowd. At one point, the drunk blonde girl who had greeted us took a friend behind a curtain and they disappeared. It's as if she lived upstairs above the bar. We finally decided to take off at around 1:00 am.

That night, I was feeling anxious. I wanted to read "the Big Book" in bed. Brick didn't really want to. (For me, that was the last moment of me really working the program with AA. I MUST get back to it this week. I've been lazy and awful and can't stay this way!)


The next morning, Brick loaded up the Jeep and we set off on our way. Our first stop? A crumbling diner with an interesting message for it's patrons.

Our waitress was very slow and very snippy and barked at Brick when he asked for cheese on his eggs. As we pulled out of the diner and turned towards Shenandoah, Brick realized he had rolled right over some freshly paved cement, leaving tire tracks. Oops!

In any case, we made our way into the park, the weather immaculate, the top down on the Jeep. And the views? Absolutely breathtaking. I was filled with an absolute resolution-- a peace that can only come when one contextualizes human foibles within the majesty of nature.

We snaked our way South down the Blue Ridge Mountains along Skyline Drive, pausing at overlook points along the way, taking amusing pictures. It was a fabulous time. And the whole way, we were blasting our music-- the same three CD's I had compiled right before we left, with as many country tracks as my tired eyes found among my iTunes collection.

At about 40 miles in, we stopped to go horseback riding. Unfortunately the only stable we found would only allow walking trail rides. I asked them if I could use their bathroom, but there were so many flies around that I really didn't want to. Brick was upset because he got an "ugly" horse.

Mine, however, had a beautiful red mane-- the color I would love my hair to be! I tried to take pictures from the horse, but got yelled at by our guide. Also, at one point, Brick wanted to take off his hat and didn't want to hold it. I volunteered to hold it for him, but we couldn't get our horses to walk next to each other to do the trade off. I guess they're just super-trained to stay in a straight line. It was frustrating.

Brick wanted me to sing while on the horse. I didn't go that far, but when we were back in the Jeep, I had a magical musical moment. We were speeding through the mountains, the air smelling sweet, the sky a perfect blue, and Brick singing to me "If I Loved You." It was a dream come true! Really!

So, I thought Skyline Drive was amazing. We had only one difficulty. At one point, a park ranger was driving behind us and Brick got anxious, as he was sure he would be pulled over for speeding. But it all turned out to be nothing.

Anyway, at the bottom of the park, we reached the town of Waynesboro. We drove into town a bit to look for a place for lunch. The place we settled on was a real culture shock. The building was entirely run down, a flimsy screen door on the outside, and the inside covered in wood paneled walls, country music on the juke box and paper "Budweiser" decorations hanging from the ceiling. There were about five people there, and everyone turned to look at us when we came in, interested in where we were coming from and where we were headed to. One large old man at the counter suggested that we stop off in Marion, VA before pressing on to TN. He said that the ride to Pigeon Forge was too much for one afternoon. Then he limped out to the bathroom which was located outside of the restaurant. Our waitress was very friendly. We asked her what hush puppies are (they're balls of fried dough, usually made of cornmeal) and she told us that she had been to Dollywood on her honeymoon. (Brick and I tried to imagine that once in Pigeon Forge. It was hard.)

So, we relaxed, re-read the map, finished our barbecue sandwiches and were on our way.

We continued on the road for about five to six hours. Finally, at around 11:30, we reached Pigeon Forge.

To be continued...

Oh, and PS: Narc has been ignoring my texts since Saturday. Ugh! When will I EVER learn? I've been feeling nauseated ever since yesterday afternoon. PLEASE write back, Narc! Please!