West Virginia, Virginia and Maryland (11-12 May 2007)


My birthday eve and it was time to hit the town of Charleston, WV. Being the capital of West Virginia and, according to their website, a ‘happening place with lively nightlife’ we thought it would be the perfect place for a night out. What we didn’t know was that most people go away at the weekend according to our friendly waiter who served us at a great French restaurant (depicted below). Quite a big place which apparently attracts senators every once in a while, but it appeared to be a one man band as far as staff are concerned. Whilst the restaurant is owned by the waiter's mother, the waiter was alone and would disappear for significant periods of time. It wasn't until he described his impressive resume which involved attending the best chef schools in France and working in lead chef roles in various restaurants that we realised that he was actually heading off to the kitchen to cook our food whenever he disappeared. Oh well, keep it in the family, that's what I say. After our French Connection, we found the only bar in Charleston which contained people and chatted to some locals who were very friendly but suddenly disappeared with no warning. Trying not to take this personally, we talked to the manager who provided me with some road trip advice until he also disappeared rather suddenly. But we weren't deterred and despite me spilling drinks, dropping a glass and nearly falling off my stool, we had a jolly ole' time.


My b’day started well with a muffin complete with candle and we drove the many, many miles through West Virginia, Virginia towards Baltimore, MD. The view was beautiful and apart from meeting an ice storm with golf ball size hail stones threatening to spilt the roof of my convertible, the journey was fairly uneventful.

The outskirts of Baltimore was a place of momentous events as I said farewell to M at Baltimore airport and visited my 7th Circuit City. But most importantly, I bought my first laptop of the trip which still works one week later. Perfect for writing lots of blog posts.....and perfectly timed for Phil's absence so he cannot vet my grammar, spelling and incorrect use of commas and apostrophes prior to publication. Im muchly looking forward to his reactions on his return.