Ed's Birthday Surprise Day 3

Day 3 of Ed's Surprise Weekend offered us another gorgeous day in the mountains. Sadly, it was our last day so we enjoyed as much of the morning in the cabin as we could. After cleaning things up and packing our bags, we took our final drive on the crazy mountain road and headed South on I-81. Where were we going you ask? JMU of course!!


I have not been back to visit my Alma mater since graduation day, so this visit was WAY overdue. And since we were so close, I thought it would be a great time to give Ed the grand tour of the campus. It's amazing how much things have changed in 11 years (OMG ~ how has it already been 11 years!!!) - but in a way, it was exactly the same.

As we pulled into campus, the feeling of nostalgia was overwhelming. From Zane Showker Hall Business building where I spent much of my time, to Mr. Chips, the small convenience store near the railroad tracks (yes...there were tracks that went right through the center of campus), to D-Hall, our main dining facility where many a brunch was had, I was transported back to my days as a student.

Our first stop was the brand new bookstore which is now located in a lovely building in the Godwin parking lot. After grabbing some new JMU gear for the arsenal, we started the tour. We headed first to Warren Hall which was essentially the student union back in the day (and home of the old bookstore). This is where the Post Office resided (and still does) along with the famous "Ride Board" - a huge bulletin board connecting people like me who did not have a car and needed a ride home to people that did have a car and were offering rides.


We then made our way through the area known as "The Commons" - a place where many an event took place since it was right in front of the main entrance to D-Hall (a popular hang out place, especially during chow time). After a quick pose with good old James Madison himself, it was off to the Quad.


Now, I'm not one to brag, but I have to say that JMU is one of the most picturesque universities out there. Gorgeous Bluestone buildings flank the Quad and are so impressive it's hard not to get chills. Okay...I'm being over dramatic, but it's a damn fine looking campus! One of my fondest memories of this place are the thousands of tulips that are planted in the spring ~ so gorgeous.

This part of campus is the oldest and most original and houses classrooms, administrative offices and dorms. The Quad is usually packed with students who are "studying" ie. sun bathing, playing frisbee, taking naps, etc. :)


We made our way over to the "Kissing Rock" a famous spot on campus that dates back to the days when the Quad was built. The legend goes that the person you kiss at the Kissing Rock is the person you are going to marry. Not so much in my case, but it was fun to kiss Ed on the rock anyways! A lovely couple visiting the campus snapped this photo of us ~ love it!


After a quick walk past the under construction stadium, we got in the car and headed over to the other side of campus to check out the rest of the place. JMU is split in half by I-81 ~ old campus that I am familiar with is on the West and new campus is on the East. When I was in school, the only buildings on the East side were UREC (student gym), the Convocation Center (site of Duke baseketball games, concerts and large meetings) and 1 new building that house the ISAT Department. And the only real way to get there was through the tunnel under I-81.


Now, this side has completely EXPLODED with dorms, a library, a dining hall and many academic buildings. There was also a new Alumni Center that we of course stopped in and got a shot of the Duke Dog statue!


It was awesome to see it all again and it has inspired both of us to visit more often. After our 3-hour tour (well, more like an hour and a half), we took a quick swing by the old Delta Sig Frat house and then headed to downtown Harrisonburg to grab lunch at an old favorite ~ Dave's Taverna. Many a happy hour was spent at this place and in my opinion, they have THE best Steak and Cheese sandwich around. The restaurant has expanded since I graduated, but the food was still the same. YUM!


After lunch, we treated ourselves to some Kline's Dairy Bar and then were on our way back home. It truly was an amazing weekend not just for Ed, but for both of us. I love that we live so close to both the hustle and bustle of DC, but also to the quiet countryside of the Shenandoah Valley. I have a feeling we will be back again for another visit.

Ed's Birthday Surprise Day 2

Happy Birthday Ed!!!! After a restful night's sleep in the cabin, we awoke on Sunday morning to sunshine and birthday gifts!! Ed was a good boy this year and managed to NOT open gifts that arrived in the mail from friends and family until his actual birthday. He dove right in and got himself some awesome loot that included many a Best Buy gift card (courtesy of Joe and Sue), the PlayStation 3 Move console (from yours truly), a game for this new game console (thank you John and Adriana) and a book that he asked for. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, he actually asked for a book. :) It helped that along with this book, there was some cash to put towards his MacBook Pro (thanks Mom M.)!

In addition to his birthday gifts were 2 more clues meant to reveal the day's activity. Sorry there are no pics - was too excited to unveil the surprise that I simply forgot! The clues were this...


...and this.After much speculating about going to a water park, I came clean and revealed that we were going tubing down the Shenandoah River!!! This made him very happy ~ I think he immediately put his water shoes on at that moment!

Before hitting the river we needed some grub so we headed back to Uncle Buck's for a country breakfast. Well...not so much country, but it was mighty fine eats! It was then off to the home of the Down River Canoe Company to pick up our tubes and floating cooler for our lazy river ride. More amazing views ensued on the drive there!

All I have to say was that the day was AWESOME!!! The sun was shining and the river water was nice and cool - it was the perfect afternoon. :) I'd show you the photos of our experience, but they are being held hostage by the Walgreen's Photo Technician until next week so you will have to wait. For the moment...pretend this is us:


The only real difference was that our tubes were yellow, we did not have a child with us and that we lugged a big red floating cooler for all the snacks and beverages I packed. The whole experience took about 3 hours ~ and I can tell you we enjoyed every minute of it. Well, except for the last 30 minutes where we were being attacked by swarms of gnats...but other than that it was great. I will have more details about our river trip once the photos are in my hand.

After cleaning up and changing out of our wet bathing suits we headed into town for some lunch at Artisan's Grill and then back to the cabin to rest and relaxation before heading out to dinner later that night. Remember when I said that we technically had birthday dinner the night before at the Local Chop & Grill House since they were closed on Sunday? Well, a lot of things are closed on Sunday when you are in the country. And if they are not closed, then they are quite dead around 8 pm which was about the time we landed at Sonny's Place Restaurant & Pub for dinner. This is what it looked like when we arrived:


This places was listed 3rd best restaurant in the area on Urban Spoon (Uncle Buck's is #1, Artisan's Grill is #2) so I figured we would give it a try. They are known for their BBQ and I have to say, Sonny's DELIVERED! I ordered the baby back ribs and Ed had the Brisket sandwich and both were REALLY good. I wanted to take a bath in the BBQ sauce that drenched the ribs! You can tell that everything was home made from the mac and cheese to the brownie in the birthday sundae we had after dinner. All in all, dinner was a success.


After dinner we headed back to the cabin, caught the latest episode of "The Killing" on AMC (great show BTW!) and hit the sack. Another good day was had by all in the Shenandoah Valley!

Ed's Birthday Surprise Day 1

OMG - I just pulled off the biggest and best birthday surprise for Ed this weekend. I hatched the plan while I was sitting on an Acela heading up to NYC back in April. And FINALLY I was able to execute. The waiting was KILLING me!!! So here is the scoop...

We woke up Saturday morning and all he knew was that we were dropping Lucy off at Affectionate Pet Care for the weekend and heading somewhere in the car. He had no idea where we were going or what we were doing the entire weekend and my plan to was to unveil things as the days went on. Clever, huh? :)

We hit the road at 9 am and after some tears seeing Lucy off (I'm an emotional Mommy!), we grabbed some breakfast on the go and were on our way. Our first destination was about an hour and a half Southwest on Routes 66 and 340. I used to do this drive to get to JMU and I forgot how beautiful it was. The scenery is 100% amazing filled with mountain peaks, farms in the valley, train tresses and much more. GORGEOUS!


The address of our first destination was 101 Cave Hill Road, Luray and since he saw me type it into the GPS, I knew the jig was up - it was time to give him his first present/clue.


In addition to his new Mason hoodie, there was also a pamphlet for Luray Caverns. He has been wanting to go there for a while and since I've never been, I thought it would be a great way to kick off the weekend. We pulled in around 11:30 am and booked it to the ticket booth to get our passes.

After a 15 minute wait it was our turn to head into the caverns and all I can say is WOW. I don't know that the photos will do it justice because it was absolutely beautiful! Words really can't describe...so really what you need to do is get in your car and go. Just go because you HAVE to see it for yourself!! Here is a glimpse to peak you interest ~ see all the photos here:


We were put in a group of about 30 people consisting of 5 or 6 other couples and what seemed like 100,000 little kids ~ in actuality, there were probably 10. Our tour guide Matt was a little rusty, but he managed to get the facts out. The Caverns were discovered in 1878 by a local tinsman named Andrew J. Campbell. Essentially he and some buddies felt a whole lot of air coming out of a sinkhole they had found. So they decided to dig and what they found were Luray Caverns. There is a lot more to it than that and you can read about it here.

Some interesting sites inside the caverns include Pluto's Chasm, Saracen's Tent, the Stalacpipe Organ (actually plays music - check out our video here) and the Wishing Well.


The tour was about an hour long and it was worth every single penny we paid for it. After we came to the surface, we decided to check out the rest of the Luray Caverns grounds which included not only the caverns, but the Stalactite Cafe, the Car and Carriage Caravan Museum, and the Garden Maze (which of course was SO MUCH FUN!!).


Check us out trying to navigate the maze before the big rain storm set in:

Okay...now onto surprise number 2. After a quick lunch in the very small town of Luray, VA at Uncle Buck's (so small there is no website!), we headed to our home away from the home for the weekend. Ed kept going on and on about checking into the hotel and which hotel and where is the hotel. Little did he know that we were not staying at a hotel. Instead, we headed up the mountain to a very remote, very adorable, very secluded LOG CABIN!!! Andrea and Rich tipped me off about this amazing place (named Fern Bank Cabin) and WOW did it deliver!


If you saw the road that led up to this adorable little house, you would truly understand the remote-ness. I'm not even sure they qualify as roads...but instead really, really long gravel driveways. Ed kept asking me if I was bringing him to his death...ha ha. :) Nope...just a really awesome cabin on the top of a mountain with some really awesome views.


As if the day was not exciting enough, there was 1 more surprise in store. DINNER! It is tradition that we go to an exceptional steakhouse to celebrate Ed's birthday. In New York, we would go to Jimmy Hayes. Last year, we went to Sam and Harry's in DC. So the pressure was on for me to find a great steakhouse in the Shenandoah Valley. Enter the Local Chop & Grill House in Harrisonburg, VA.


We had to go on Saturday night instead of birthday night because the place is closed on Sunday (that's small town America for ya!), but it was well worth it. Great ambiance, great food, great service and great location. It is in downtown Harrisonburg, home of my alma mater JMU, and the best part is that it is located in the city's old Produce Exchange building.


After a delicious steak dinner and some birthday ice cream, it was time to drive home to the cabin in the woods. I think it may have been the scariest time I've spent in my car in a while...but we made it safe and sound and rested up for the excitement of Day 2. See you tomorrow!