To The Trenches!

March 27, 2015

Soft morning light crept in through our hotel window as Jason and I began to wake, stomachs rumbling with hunger as we lay in bed. We had overslept and regretted nothing. It was 10:30 and too late for breakfast. After getting ready, we left our room for lunch. We noticed on the door handle outside the room a large, white bag filled with towels. We had left the "do not disturb" sign up for so long that it appeared housekeeping had given up on us, probably gratefully so. As luck would have it, a housekeeper was in the hallway and saw us leave the room. She asked if we needed any service for today. We thanked her and said the towels were all we need. Appearing somewhat relieved she thanked us and crossed our room off her list to clean.

The elevator door opened up to the beautiful yellow lobby from the night before, revealing the strong smell of eggs and an older gentleman asleep on a nearby chair, mouth agape. We chuckled to ourselves and left for downtown Staunton. We briefly walked down the street of West Beverly for places to eat. It wasn't too long before we noticed our favorite restaurant from two years ago. Baja Bean. We walked in and seated ourselves in a nearby booth. A waiter (the same waiter from two years ago) took our order and left for some tortilla chips and salsa. Only moments later, our food arrived. Here are pictures. I apologize for taking these pictures after having already taken a few bites into the meal... it was too good to wait. The top picture was my order (Tostada with ground beef) and the bottom pictures is Jason with his (Tostada, no meat).

After eating lunch, Jason and I headed to the nearby Suntrust to deposit my check. My work is odd and wouldn't let me deposit it until after 11:00 a.m. on Friday. Lucky for us, the only bank in downtown Staunton is our bank. We made our deposit and then returned to the hotel to digest the rather large amount of wood we had consumed. Not too long later, we decided to take advantage of our Woodrow Wilson Museum tickets. Here is a picture of Jason and I about to leave for the Museum tour.

 We walked through the wind and cold to the beautiful Woodrow Wilson Gift Shop, where our tour begins. We walked in the home shortly before another guest had arrived. It appeared this woman was from Louisiana and was taking the tour by herself. It looked like it would be just the three of us for the tour. A jolly, white-haired man greeted us and took our tickets. He said we were right on time and that the tour was about to begin (as though they would have left if we had arrived just a few moments later... you know, all zero of them).

Soon a tiny, white-haired woman in a large wool coat walked out behind a wooden door to greet us. As most tour guides do, she asked where we were from. When we said "Atlanta" both the tour guide and the white-haired gentleman gave a sound of excitement. She asked where exactly because she, too, was from Atlanta. She was from Buckhead. We then learned that Woodrow Wilson also lived in Atlanta, Rome, and Augusta Georgia for some time. Small world.

Unfortunately we do not have any pictures of his birth home (The manse--his father was a minister and this was the home his church had provided for them). Although not every piece of furniture was from Woodrow Wilson's childhood, many were. It was a three story home with big, beautiful windows. We began the tour at the bottom of the house, where the "servants" (as Woodrow Wilson's mother called them--even though it appeared they were in fact rented slaves) lived. We saw tiny baths which were used rarely; a small pile of cloth which the servants slept on; an ironing station near the fireplace; and the first type of range stove stop that existed during this time period. Additionally, we saw the cook's room and the ordinary dinning room table that was used for everyday occasions.

We then walked up the stairs to the formal dinning room where they ate when having guests or Christmas dinner. She mentioned how horrible it had to be for the servants to walk constantly up and down the stairs with large platters of food. The rooms were fairly large and made with dark wood and large fireplaces. She pointed out how low the chairs were to the ground. This was not because they were short people, but because the large fireplaces filled each room with smoke. The lower to the ground, the less smoke you would inhale. She walked us to the parlor, the study where drinking and smoking occurred, and then to the minister's bedroom. In the bedroom there was a hair-bowl. Apparently back in this time period, women kept their hair in order to make things out of it, such as a wreath or stuffing for dolls. It was extremely creepy and slightly impressive all at the same time. The last part of the home we were unable to see. It was the third floor which consisted solely of empty bedrooms.

Once finishing the tour, we made our way to the actual museum. Here we were able to take some pictures, as seen below:

The last picture above is of a few items from a soldier in WWI. Jason noticed the canteen and how there were clearly bullet holes in it. Crazy.

There were three sections of this museum. The first was a walk through of Wilson's life (who, by the way, was called "Tommy" until going to college. His full name is actually Thomas Woodrow Wilson). The second section was down in a creepy basement and it depicted scenes from WWI. I was a little too creeped out to take pictures, but there was a replica of a trench from WWI in the basement. They also played sounds of war as you walked through, trying to give you the full experience. We saw machine guns from this time period and different types of weapons. After finishing this section, we made our way to the last part of the museum... Woodrow Wilson's favorite car. This car still runs and is actually used to this day in the annual Fourth of July parade in Staunton. Below are pictures:
 

 

After finishing the museum we headed back to the gift shop for a movie about Woodrow Wilson's life. It was a short 10 minute movie with pretty much the same information that the tour guide told us about earlier. We thanked the white-haired gentleman and left for a warm, comforting beverage. There is a small coffee shop called "By&By" near the hotel. We popped in and ordered some drinks from a kind waitress who noticed my Candy Land band-aid. Everyone in Staunton is so friendly, kind, and sociable... I love it! Here are pictures of us enjoying our drinks.

Jason, with his Irish Cream Mocha.

Me with my white tea.

After warming up, we made our way to a few antique stores--the number one activity for Staunton visitors. We stopped in a small, new age store filled with different types of religious items and nicknacks. I bought a beautiful little elephant, which I named Daisy. Here are pictures:

I realized right before going to sleep that Daisy was perfect for holding my glasses and rings. 

 After my purchase, we made our way to a small bookstore. It was a beautiful shop that held mostly old books and records. They played Nat King Cole and Louis Armstrong while we browsed their shelves. Nothing seemed to capture our attention so we decided to return to antique shop we loved during our last visit. We went through aisle after aisle of old razors, clocks, dishes, wooden furniture, etc. This was the same shop where I bought my picnic basket from two years ago. This time, however, nothing caught our eye--nothing within our price range, that is. After browsing, we decided to head back toward the hotel to regroup and put Daisy away.

After resting a bit, we decided dinner was in order. We settled on another favorite restaurant from our last trip: Mill Street Grill. This was luckily right next to the hotel. We walked across the street, cold wind blowing from every angle, and quickly made our way to the host at the front. It was a 20 minute wait. We patiently waited at a booth by the door. Soon a group of older people headed our way, a few sat down on a few of the remaining spaces. Jason leaned over and said he was going to get up for them. I followed suit. They thanked us but said we were more than welcome to keep sitting down. Jason, being awesome and kind, thanked them in return but moved farther away for them to take a seat. This is why I love him. It wasn't but a moment later that our table was called.

We were seated not too far from the door by a group of older women swearing and laughing at something I can only assume was inappropriate (based on overhearing later portions of their conversations). We gave our order and soon were given homemade bread with raspberry butter. It was delicious! It was a little different than we remembered from last time (a chewy and no honey butter), but still very good! Here is a picture of the bread and butter:

 Soon our Dinner arrived. Jason ordered the Beef, bacon, and cheddar sandwich with broccoli, as seen below.

 Quickly followed by my chicken stir fry in a peanut sauce.

 After devouring our meals, we were given our check with a small cup of peppermint ice cream, as seen below.

As we ate our ice cream, we overheard the hilarious women next to us. Jason began laughing when he heard one woman tell another "If you touch that ticket I'm going to kick your ass." They had been fighting over who was to pay for dinner... I'm assuming she won. Haha!

As we left the restaurant, the sun was setting, giving a warm glow to our hotel. Below is a picture I took from the restaurant. 

 There was a creek between the restaurant and hotel that was just breathtaking. It was surrounded by stone walls with paintings on it. Below is a picture.

 Lastly, Jason in front of the restaurant.

As we walked toward the hotel garage for my car, we began to play a little "Where's Waldo" game. The last time we went to this restaurant we found a picture of Hugh Laurie on a white door. Sadly, no Laurie within sight. We assume someone must have removed it since it was graffiti. Oh well, some things will change.

Jason and I escaped the cold by finding my car in the hotel garage. We decided we wanted to visit a nearby brewery called Queen City Brewery Company. It was only a few minutes away and an easy drive. We made our way through the small crowd to the wooden bar and had a seat. The smell of beer wafted in the air, only to be interrupted by the occasional whiff of BBQ from the nearby food truck outside. Jason ordered something called a Smitten Rabbit (a Pale Ale) and I tried to order a Diet Dr. Pepper. Sadly, no soda for me. Jason drank his beer as I stared longingly at the sign that read "Diet Dr. Pepper." Soon a band began to play and all hope of retaining any hearing in my old age was lost. We watched as a woman played with a 3-4 month old baby as the man next to her tossed pretzles at the dog resting underneath the bar. Jason then ordered a flight of beer consisting of: ginger beer, Triple Belgian Ale, King Rabbit, Daddy Rabbit, and one other IPA we can't think of. As Jason sampled his flight, the bartender took the baby from the woman at the bar. He went into the back and came out moments later wearing a baby bjorn with a smiling baby girl inside it. Jason laughed and then pointed to the beer list in front of me... specifically to the beer Daddy Rabbit. The Daddy Rabbit was described as having more grains than the brewery has children. Haha! Guess so! Here is a picture of Jason at the bar... first time Jason had ever opened up a tab at a bar.

Soon drunk people began to dance in front of the band and loudly sang along to each song played. Everyone was happy, well-behaved, and having a good time. I told Jason that if this is the underbelly of Staunton... it's a really great place to live. Jason agreed and reminded me that where we're from there is the dreaded corner tavern... the true underbelly of Newnan. Once finishing up his beer, Jason and I ordered a growler of ginger beer (so good!) and paid the tab. As we walked out of the bar Jason came across a man looking at naked women on his phone... well, there's one in every town, right? Gotta love Staunton.

We took our growler and headed back to the hotel. One night in staunton down and not enough to go!