Anytime I pass through McGaheysville on Rt. 33 heading to Harrisonburg, I stop by Gayle’s Market. Last week after we played Heritage Oaks Golf Course and were heading back to Charlottesville, I convinced my golf buddies to pull over and check out the country ham sandwiches at Gayle’s. The small rural store keeps them stacked high in a small refrigerator beside the counter, and we quickly … [Read more...]

Nags Head is a family-type place with many terrific oceanside and soundside cottages for rent. The prices, naturally, go up in July, the heart of the tourist season, but they are most affordable in spring and fall and rates in late June weren’t that bad. We often rent a cottage on the sound, but you generally have to stay a week in order to make advance reservations, so that was out for us this … [Read more...]

By Sherman Shifflett   For those who have not been, put this at the top of your bucket list. Consider flying to Vancouver, B.C. and taking the Rocky Mountaineer train thru the Canadian Rockies to Banff, about 2 days. Banff is a beautiful town surrounded by snow-capped peaks. It is located within the Banff National Park. Wildlife is everywhere. It is also a snow-ski mecca. Banff Avenue … [Read more...]

We were at Lake Norman near Charlotte this past weekend and Nancy got the sniffles. “Ahh tink ahm ketchin a code!” she said. I looked out at Lake Norman, saw a bunch of yellow pollen on the lake and diagnosed her with an allergy. She took a couple of antihistamine tablets and squirted Flonase, but she still had a “code.” On the way home, I saw why. We were driving up I-85 near Durham … [Read more...]

  For our 50thwedding anniversary on March 3 last year, Nancy and I went on a cruise to Hawaii. It was magnificent. This year, we stayed a little closer to home since we only had two days to get away. Nancy said, “Surprise me.” It had to be near water, since we are both enchanted with those water views. We love Nags Head, the Eastern Shore and anyplace with the smell of salt water in … [Read more...]

  It’s been years since I’ve had a speeding ticket. In fact, I usually don’t speed. My wife Nancy says I drive like a cautious snail, but they nailed this snail last week. I was on Rt. 460 heading for Princeton, WV and passed through a little town along the New River called Rich Creek. Remember that name, Rich Creek, one of the world’s great speed traps. Rt. 460 is a nice four-lane … [Read more...]

  It all started with the arrival of the American Indians. The Nimcocks were the first to settle along the shores of the Chesapeake around 1,000 BC, farming and fishing. The built their huts within fenced villages to ward off attack. It may well have been the first gated community in America. In 1607, Captain John Smith sailed into the Chesapeake watershed. It is said that The Good … [Read more...]

The best way to get to the Outer Banks is to hop in a twin engine Cessna at the Charlottesville Albemarle Regional Airport and touch down in Manteo about 45 minutes later. The next best way is to avoid I-64 from Richmond to Hampton Roads and take Rt. 460 from Petersburg to Sussex, then over to Great Bridge. It takes maybe a little longer – depending on traffic - but you don’t have to contend with … [Read more...]

(View from the Heron House)   I spent the weekend in Eastern North Carolina over Labor Day. I would define that area as east of Raleigh, south of Rocky Mount, west from the Pamlico Sound and north of Jacksonville. This is tobacco country – hot, sandy and flat. A pile of mulch in somebody’s yard qualifies as a genuine hill. It is really flat. Pecan trees grow here and moss slithers along … [Read more...]

Besides poking around in grocery stores, looking for bargains and ideas, I enjoy rummaging through the racks at consignment stores – not the junky ones who sell goodwill hand-me-downs and leftover printed tee shirts from company promotions, but nice stores with quality, stylish clothing. One of our favorite such stores (Nancy likes to rummage as well) is the Hall Tree in Richmond. I have several … [Read more...]