Robin & Bluejay: Dad Would Be So Proud

After touring the Biltmore, we had to hit the gift shop. After browsing through some amazing toys and ornaments, we were mesmerized by some little jewelry boxes. Now these were no normal jewelry boxes that you find on the shelves in JC Penny's; These were the cutest sparkliest things you have ever seen. Not only were they sparkly, but they were in the shapes of little animals. Georgia became partial to a little Blue Jay! and I fell in love with a little Robin. Inside these little jewelry boxes were tiny little necklaces that matched. Needless to say, we think Dad will be proud that we are now owners of a Blue Jay and Robin, the sidekicks of BatThumb and Batman.

 

Tiger!

And here is the coolest, craziest thing we did yesterday.  I was intending to just flip a U in the parking lot of the Natural Bridge Zoo.  While I was turning around, Lucy saw a sign that said you could get your picture with a tiger cub.  I said wow, there is no way that is possible...how in the world could this little teeny-tiny zoo out in rural Virginia have real tiger cubs?  And why would they let you pet them?  I said maybe the animals are fake...I mean we ARE right next to a wax museum.  Lucy was kind of curious though.  I said well, I'll park and you go ahead and run inside and ask them if their animals are real.  :) 

So Lucy ran inside and came back out practically giddy.  Turns out their animals ARE real.  You CAN pet a tiger cub!  So we did.  We pet a tiger cub.  I'm not even kidding.  It was awesome.  We got our picture petting a five-month-old white tiger cub named Zeus.  Of course they charge 20 bucks a person for the privilege...but it goes toward feeding the tiger.  And sadly we weren't allowed to take pictures with our own cameras.  So the below is a picture of a picture.  But it captures the general awesomeness of petting a tiger cub.

The Pink Cadillac Diner

So we were looking for the Pink Cadillac Diner in Natural Bridge Virginia because we knew it was near by.  We were driving down the road and suddenly there is this neon pink building on the side of the road.  I said, well...I think that is probably the PINK Cadillac Diner.  Lucy said no...I think that is the Budget Inn.  I said...really?  You really think the Budget Inn would be bright pepto bismol pink?  And that made us both laugh.  By then we rounded the corner and saw the sign - it was indeed the Pink Cadillac Diner.  Not only was it bright pink - which was AWESOME - it was also FILLED with Elvis paraphanelia.  Double awesome!

Natural Bridge, Virginia

This is the Natural Bridge.  It was GORGEOUS.  We walked under the bridge and then followed the trail back to the waterfall at the end.

And here we are waiting for our tour into the Natural bridge Caverns.

 I love shiney rocks.

 This is column.  It's where a stalagtite and a stalgmite join.

The guide pointed out that this particular formation looks like a sea shell.  And it DOES.  You could also see a "willow tree" and a "T-Rex" but sadly the photos of those didn't turn out.

Monument Avenue

Here we are in Richmond!  We went walking up and down Monument Avenue to admire all of the monuments and the row houses.

 This is General Robert E. Lee behind me.  Thanks for getting the traffic sign in the picture, Lucy.  :)

 We stood outside this church for like 20 minutes waiting to see the bride and groom come out of the church.  Of course we had no idea it was going to take that long...all the guests came out, and we figured the bride and groom would be out any second.  But they were taking forever!  After like ten minutes Lucy said...eh, let's just go.  I said NO!  I haven't waited this long for nothing!  I want to see the wedding dress!  FINALLY the bride and groom showed up.  And admittedly the bride's dress was gorgeous...although maybe not twenty-minutes-of-waiting-to-see-it gorgeous.  Oh well.

 We took this picture mostly for comparison purposes.  This is the lovely porch of a home on Monument Ave.

 And this is the porch of the home right next door.  Obviously this one is occupied by students.  Male students.  Obviously.  If the dead Christmas wreath hanging on the porch light doesn't give it away, I don't know what would.

Couldn't Miss This Guy...

A life-size replica of an albino sperm whale that inspired Herman Melville's Moby Dick.  Awesome.

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

We survived moving day(s)!  It was extremely stressful...I was kind of a spazz during the whole thing.  But the movers FINALLY got everything packed up and Lucy got all our bags in the car and I turned in my apartment keys!  We headed out to our first exciting destination - the Cox store in Herndon.  I turned in my modem and with that, my final moving chore was complete.  Yay!

Saturday morning we hit the road for real!  And the very first thing we did when we got to Richmond was head for the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.  We, (well, actually, mostly me) wanted to see the Faberge exhibit!  But Lucy was a great sport.  Here are the pics of some of the very prettiest things you have ever seen.

 These are cane handles.  And they make me wish I had a cane.

 This is the fanciest letter opener I have ever seen.

 Faberge cigarette cases.

 More cigarette cases.  So shiney!  I'm sure I could use one as a coin purse or something.

The fanciest cigarette case of all.

Centipede - Viewer Discretion is Advised

Hey Lucy,

Ok so you remember me telling you how super creepy the centipedes here are?  And you asked if I had ever taken a picture and I said "No, usually when I see them I just scream, run and grab the raid and then spray the things until they stop running and their legs stop twitching (that part takes a while)."  I never stop to think about getting out my camera.  BUT, since you asked me to take a picture...here you go.  See?  What did I tell you?  Gives you the heebie jeebies, doesn't it?  The worst part is the centipedes are quick as lightening - seriously, I have rarely seen a bug that can move so fast.  If you blink, it could disappear.  And you have NO idea where it has gone.  But you do know that it will come back.  And it will probably wait until until you are at your most vulnerable, to come out of hiding and scare the living daylights out of you.  Try getting a good night's sleep knowing that THAT is in your house.

You are very welcome,

Georgia