We drove from Newport News, VA to Cornelius, NC: about 325 miles of backroads and state highways. We stopped for an amazing barbecue lunch at Smokehouse at Steve’s Garden Market in Graham, NC, and had a lovely dinner on the water at Hello, Sailor on Lake Norman.
We left Josh and Karla’s and drove down to Newport News, VA to visit Sarah and Karl and their menagerie: it was great to see them after over five years! Even with Meg squeezing in a lot of work and Matt getting a long overdue haircut, we still managed to spend a lot of time on their screened-in porch catching up, and also visited a few of their favorite breweries and a few new restaurants: Sly Clyde Ciderworks and Masala Craft were standouts.
Back on the road today for a 200 mile drive to stay overnight with Karla, Josh, and Milo in East Petersburg, PA. We took the back roads through Pennsylvania coal country. The towns we drove through were mostly very small and arrayed on either side of one Main Street. The buildings were all crammed side by side, like row houses, crammed in very narrow valleys.
Slept in again and then did a little work before going out and about. We visited the Livingston Manor Covered Bridge, Waneta Lake, and then had an early dinner at Upward Brewing Company.
Our primary goal today was to relax and recover from two difficult work weeks. After sleeping in we had a late breakfast from a small family-owned cafe in town. In the afternoon we drove to Arrowood Farms, a brewery we’ve been wanting to visit for a while. On the way we stopped for a short walk along the Liberty Rail Trail.
We took to the back roads yet again, and drove across the Catskills (for the last time, for real) to Livingston Manor, NY, stopping at a few of our favorite places one last time: Mama’s Boy Burgers and frozen custard, Café Marguerite for pastries and coffee, Wayside Cider for a few bottles of cider, and Catskill Brewery where we met a new sweet doberman friend! The AirBnB in Livingston Manor is spacious and charming, and we enjoyed an amazing dinner at The Kaatskeller.
The past two weeks have been work weeks for Meg. Wicked Bodies performed at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in Becket, MA. We’ve tried to balance late night work in the outdoor tent (during a very lengthy heat advisory) with some morning adventures. While Meg was working, Matt interviewed for a new job, accepting an offer just before we took off for some recovery days in Livingston Manor, NY (actually our final stop in the Catskills, for real this time). The new job is 100% remote so we’ll get to finish the road trip, with a few scheduling changes.
Today, after a return to the floating bridge at Sunset lake, we left Vermont and drove to Stockbridge, MA, winding through the Green, Taconic and Berkshire Mountains for just over 150 miles: the views were stunning the whole way!
