So, the Mad Farmer and Miss Mercy have the beginnings of a trip plan. Historically the Homesteading duo has a destination in mind, including activities they want to pursue and, in most cases, the trips kind of plan themselves by working backwards from the destination activities and the time allotted to be out-of-town.
Side note: Isn’t “Out-of-Town” a wonderful phrase? You can tell people “No, I can’t do that, I’ll be “Out-of-Town”. I’m sorry I cut you off in traffic or did something stupid in front of you, please forgive me I’m from “Out-of-Town”. Where’s a wonderful place to …, I’m from “Out-of-Town”. Some of the best things to do and places to eat have been discovered because it was mentioned that I was from “Out-of-Town”.
So the Farmer is excited to have tickets to the farm tour at Polyface Farms. So that’s set, but the tour only takes about two hours on a Saturday morning, so clearly we have some time to explore the area. It’s been many years since the Mad Farmer has been back East (more of a Pacific Northwest, Parrothead, type of guy lately), so possibilities abound. Miss Mercy was attending a presentation on Presidential Gardens (has it been mentioned she is a Master Gardener?) and Thomas Jefferson’s gardens at Monticello were in the presentation. Miss Mercy asked the Farmer if he wants to go check out the gardens at Monticello? “Heck Ya” (sometimes, when the Farmer gets excited and forgets he was born in the Midwest, he slips into a Southern style exclamation).
So putting Monticello on the list brings up other historic places in the area (apparently there are just a bunches of them), so the Farmer is asked “how about Colonial Williamsburg”? Another “Heck Ya” later and that’s on the list. Hey, we haven’t been to the Smithsonian together, and D.C. is right there, and the Ocean is only two hours away, and we could go to Newport News. The Farmer says “I’ve always wanted to go to Kitty Hawk”, then suddenly realizes they are currently only planning on being out “Out-of-Town” for about eight days, including almost four days of travel time. Doing some basic math the Farmer realizes, he won’t get to eat or sleep on the trip based on the expanding itinerary. Suddenly, it doesn’t sound like much of a vacation. So gingerly (because Miss Mercy loves ginger) the Farmer points out they only have a few days to work with. Miss Mercy’s travel balloon deflates a bit, but, because she’s such an excellent wife, she agrees that perhaps a more moderate travel plan might be in order – but hey, we can still go to the beach.
So, it was eventually settled on that the intrepid duo would go to Cape Charles (apparently there is an awesome bridge across Chesapeake Bay), Colonial Williamsburg, Monticello and Polyface Farms (the whole reason for the trip). It sounded like a do-able plan, and so things were now coming together.
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