Virginia is for Lovers

Lovers of hiking, lovers of biking, lovers of beaches, lovers of nature, lovers of mountains, lovers of good food....Need Sparky say more? Well, yes....Virginia's slogan is one of the most recognized and popular ad campaign slogans....It's so popular Jordin Sparks ( no relation to Sparky), American Idol winner, recorded a song, "Virginia is for Lovers" in 2007. Virginia is the tenth most popular state to visit in the U.S. Sparky can see why...It's beautiful!

Sparky spent six great days with her daughter, helping her get moved in...Unpacking, assembling furniture, whatever needed to be done. We went shopping for organizational stuff.....

We ate at some terrific restaurants and took pictures of our food and ourselves.....

We saw some sights....The same artist who designed a branch sculpture in Sarasota, FL designed this sculpture in town....

And Sparky went on a fabulous bike ride on the Washington/Old Dominion Rails to Trails trail.....Sparky rented a bike from the Green Lizard Cycling Shop in Herndon, VA. It's a great shop with great service, and close to the bike trail, right outside the shop's front door. Bike rental is expensive here, because it's so close to the D.C. area. FORTY dollars for a four hour rental. Compare that to 19.00 for four hours in Bar Harbor, ME.  But it was worth it! The bike was a "Scott" bike...considered by some to be a high performance bike.

A great trail.....Sparky rode 26 miles the day she went....longest ride so far...The trail was VERY well maintained...The first part out of Herndon, was like this....like a highway! Later down the road, (heheheheh), the trail becomes a little more worn and a little bit rougher, still paved. But the entire ride today was rated as "easy" even though there are some hills. Sparky had no problem riding the distance and could have gone farther today on the really nice rental bike, but didn't want to over do it.

The cool thing about this trail is that there are lots of access points along the way.....Like access to a brewery, (too bad Eldo wasn't along, we could have stopped for sure! haha :-)

A sweet shop, AND a fantastic BBQ place called Carolina Brothers. LOTS of people on the trail today, and LOTS stopped here for a lunch bite. Sparky decided she would stop on the way back when it wasn't so crowded.

There's a quarry along the way....

Beautiful trumpet flowers......

Nice rest stations.....

A beautiful mimosa tree......

And wildlife...This deer was grazing RIGHT beside the trail....There were a LOT of riders this Sunday, but that did not faze him a bit! Sparky got off her bike to take his photo, and he didn't budge.

On the way back, time for BBQ! Carolina Brothers was a GREAT place to eat. The smell wafting outside the restaurant was enticing! By the time Sparky was on her way back and near the restaurant, she was FAMISHED! Inside, it was a simple restaurant, very plain, wooden tables and chairs, with a deli counter, and they advertised several things. One, where they get their pork for the day....

Two, interesting cold drinks...Sparky had never heard of this pop/soda....She didn't try it, but it sort of looks like a Dr. Pepper or a cherry coke drink.

But what about the BBQ you ask? Sparky had a pulled pork sandwich, and it was THE BEST PULLED PORK EVER! WOW! That's all she can say, it was AMAZING!

A great ride today.....Loved the trail and all it offers.....

All too soon, it was time for Sparky to head back to Bradenton/Sarasota....She was sad to leave her daughter, and sad to leave the wonderful temperatures that Virginia had for the week...low seventies and high sixties...cooler than normal, the weather people said. That was fine and dandy for Sparky! No more trips planned for a bit until August...Sparky heads to Myrtle Beach to visit a friend in early August and to her daughter's in Texas later the same month. August will be busy! For now...time to get back on the bike back home and see what we can see..... See you later......