Day 76, Year 11: South Carolina to Virginia
Date: Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Weather: Sunny, High in the 40’s F
Location: At Home with My Aunt Ethel in Roanoke, VA
Slowly we are making our way back to Cape Cod. Today we left Windbird in Little River, South Carolina, drove through back-country North Carolina, and then over the Blue Ridge Plateau to Roanoke, Virginia. We are spending the night with our favorite centenarian. In fact, my Aunt Ethel is the only person either of us has ever known who has passed the test of time and is living healthily and happily at 100 years+. She is an amazing woman who lives alone in a split-level home with her cat, has an active social life, and drives, sews, gardens, mows her own grass, and shops. Oh, how she loves to shop. She goes up and down the steps in her home like a teenager. And she still wears stiletto heels. They are not nearly as high as they used to be, but short as they are, I’d kill myself if I tried to walk anywhere in those things!
It should have been a six-hour drive to here from Little River, but it took us seven and a half as we made a little side trip. When we got to Blacksburg, Virginia, instead of heading directly west to Roanoke, we headed north to Clover Hollow. On the way to Nashville we stopped by the Giles County (VA) Courthouse and discovered that this is where my father’s mother was born. My father was born somewhere in Clover Hollow as well, but I don’t know the exact location. On today’s side trip we actually stopped and knocked on a couple of doors inquiring about the location of where the Goodwins lived in the late 1800’s. Of course, no one had a clue. But I had to try. We also visited a cemetery, but had no luck there as well. When we got to my Aunt Ethel’s she was ready to take us out to dinner. We had a wonderful evening and can’t wait to continue our visit in the morning.
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| 160106 Day 76 Nashville Trip–Arrival at Aunt Ethel's |
