Check out my new book inspired by my visit to Culpeper. Available on Amazon and my website. Read about my visit below.
This morning I woke up at 8 am and flipped a coin. Heads, I drive to and tour Culpeper, VA; tails, I go back to sleep. It landed on tails, but I went to Culpeper anyways. Sometimes you just have to force yourself. Glad I did.
East Davis Street in the Historic District of Culpeper, Virginia.
The 100-mile round trip began with a stop at MinuteMan MiniMall, and ended with a peek into Country Shoppes Antiques. For an hour each I perused both for interesting items. It's crazy how much stuff they pack into these places. It's also odd to be in a booth full of antiques, then see flea market items like DVDs on the same shelves. I could spend a day in each place.
Here are just a few pictures from these two antique malls.
Aisles and aisles of booths. Always afraid I'll miss something if I don't pay attention!
Real alligator heads. You never know what you'll find in these places.
I actually owned this same tool chest as a kid. My first set of tools.
The only item I bought in the antique malls was this cute little cabin ornament.
First stop in the Historic District of Culpeper was the Museum of Culpeper. Admission was $5 for an adult, but their computer was acting up so the nice lady let me in for free. Here are a few pictures.
I just love handmade log cabins. I used to collect them a few decades ago. Still have one.
They had other displays with Civil War items, dinosaur prints, and relics from old houses and hotels. Lots of history in the area. Next door in the same building is the Culpeper Visitor Center.
Next, I walked up and down Main Street, Davis Street, Culpeper Street, and more. I stopped into a few garden centers and spoke to some of the shop owners. Notice the nice architecture in some of the photos. I've captioned each photo with more information.
The trademark Virginia LOVE sign made out of film reels. Look closely.
I thought this man was a town Santa, but he told me he was just visiting, too. I think it's him. ;o)
Nice architecture and colors along Davis Street.
I'm a sucker for buildings with old hand-painted advertisements.
This painted sign in an alleyway caught my eye. Always speak truth to power.
An old State Theatre. Looks like they turned it into a restaurant.
A real theatre down the street.
Shame to see these historic houses turned into these kinds of businesses. At least move the sign.
Look up! You'll see a few gargoyles and several church steeples along the way.
I'm not sure what they are trying to say with this sign. Any ideas?
A garden gift shop called Botanical Dwellings has a motorcycle parked inside to hold items for sale.
Some pretty impressive mansions along the South East Street Historic District.
This house is named Wysteria. It was built in 1885 and designated as a Virginia Historic Landmark.
My final stop in town was the Culpeper National Cemetery, established in 1867.
Culpeper has lot of shops, restaurants, and breweries, as well as vineyards on Route 29 and 15. My final stop was Messick's Farm Market in Bealeton, VA, where I purchased a pasta salad and Mallo Cups. When did you last see Mallo Cups? Earlier, I had the best McDonald's Daily Double burger just north of downtown Culpeper.
It's amazing how a little time away from your surroundings can help change your perspective on life. So I've decided to take some day and weekend trips to do just that. In the past three or so years I've only been more than 100 miles from home once, and so trips are definitely in order.
For this first trip, I was propelled to travel to the natural waterfall attraction in Falling Waters, West Virginia. I wasn't sure of the surroundings, which makes it all the more adventuresome. The 200-mile round trip included an overnight stay in Martinsburg, WV, and a leisurely stroll through the historic downtown.
The best part of the trip was definitely the scenic hills and open land along Route 17.
A farmhouse and land along Route 17 near Paris, Virginia.
Once I reached the small town of Falling Waters (population 876), I had to ask a gentleman at the local Sheetz, "So where are these falls?" He told me to follow him and pointed to the obscure sideroad exit before going on his way. Needless to say, the falls did not disappoint. Here is a relaxing video of them that I uploaded on Youtube.
As green as all that looks, I will say it was quite chilly! Almost looks like it was filmed in mid-summer. But the temperature was in the low 40s with wind chill near freezing.
Afterward, I checked into a Comfort Inn and took my afternoon nap. Old people thing. ;o)
One room, king bed, warm breakfast for $108 plus tax. Will try to go lower next time.
Evening meal was a turkey and cheddar panini from a nearby restaurant called Laddies. Not the best panini, but the fries and mac 'n' cheese hit the spot. Then I settled in on a Lifetime Network movie, Sinister Switch. Daughter gets kidnapped and a stranger claims to be the daughter until the parents figure it out. How many times has that been done before?
I started the next morning with a delicious warm breakfast of scrambled eggs, biscuits, and gravy.
I had seen these pumpkins the day before on the porch of a house just outside downtown Martinsburg, so I unrolled my car window and snapped this funny photo before traffic caught up to me.
Downtown Martinsburg has a lot of to offer, but not many people were out and about on this cold November day. Still, I managed to check out a few shops before returning home. Here are some pictures.
Wide shot of Historic Old Town Martinsburg in the early morning.
A holiday window display.
Looks like this store is long closed.
Rooms of tribal masks in one of the antique stores. I collect masks, but resisted a buy this time.
Peppers followed me around in the antique store.
An elderly man talking to himself while riding his bike on the main street.
A glass store. I spoke to the woman at the checkout about the weather and Covid.
Lots of tattoo places around the area.
The backside of buildings off the main drag.
Birds flocking for food next to the private lot above.
Caught this antique store just before I left. Lots of great stuff to look at.
It's apparent in some of these photos that the economy has dealt a blow to this quaint little town. I'm sure the pandemic has not helped. But there are those small businesses that are making an effort to keep the spirit of the town alive, and I can only wish them well. I may return in the summer if I am nearby to see if things have picked up.
One more picture along the route. I could have pulled over dozens of times more to take photos.
The grass in this photo reminds me of Andrew Wyeth's painting "Christina's World."
When I was 14, circa 1977, I was introduced to the '70s macramé craze, probably through my sister. I can't quite remember what I first made, but it was probably an owl or a simple pot hanger. For at least a year or two after that, I'd whip out everything from elaborate wall hangings to three-tiered floor-to-ceiling plant hangers--even a purse for my mom. A local nursery, Muchow's Floral Shop, actually sold my plant hangers on consignment.
I didn't have an elaborate setup back then; I'd usually just shove the top end of the project into a dresser drawer and work from there. I have fond memories of traveling on my bike to Arlene's Craft Store in Medina, New York to pick up cord and beads and rings and hoops--whatever the project required. Then I'd rush back home and follow the instructions from the many macramé books I'd purchased. Here's one of them.
You might find it hard to believe that a young man would want to tie knots in his spare time. But I was also an avid tennis player and I biked a lot. One of the benefits of my alone time doing this hobby was learning all the words to '70s pop music. There I'd be with two center strands of jute in my mouth as I pushed out knot after knot to the rhythms of Vicky Sue Robinson's "Turn the Beat Around" or "Rock the Boat" by the Hues Corporation. I'd later learn that macramé was popular among sailors out to sea. They'd need to learn knots for making ladders, etc., and often bartered their work on shore.
Since Covid began, I was looking for something to occupy my home time. I do a lot of hiking and some camping, and started back biking this summer. Exercise is also on the top of my list. But I wanted to get back to creating something. Macramé was the easy choice.
Though there's been a resurgence of macramé over the past few years, cord and supplies are a little harder to find at your local craft stores. Most macramé cord sold at Walmart and Michael's is for bracelet making. To get the big stuff, you have to go online. Amazon, of course, is a good place to start.
On the other hand, patterns and instructions are abundantly available. Check out Youtube for easy-to-follow tutorials. Also become a member of the many macramé groups on Facebook. Everyone is very inspirational and you get a lot of good feedback and assistance on your projects.
As far as a setup, invest in a clothing rack. I purchased this one from Walmart for $9. It is height adjustable so you can sit or stand, and it will accommodate most any project. You can even wheel it to another room so you can watch TV while you work, or place it in an area where you can easily vacuum up stray jute hairs. I also spent $3 for some metal shower curtain hooks to hang projects. As you can see, my clothing rack is now home to what I call my macramé garden. These are some of the plant hangers I've made over the past several months. I think I'm running out of space!
Sooner or later, I'm sure I'll move on to other hobbies. I figure by the time I run out of the remaining spools of cord, Covid cases will be on a final decline. At least I hope they will. Or maybe this is something I'll continue to do now and then. It's great hand and arm exercise, and it teaches you patience. Here are a few of my other recent projects. I'd love to read about your macramé work in the comments below. Vic
