All in all, I did have a good time. Spent time with the parents on Saturday, and with Katie on Sunday. We had a blast, too.
First of all, on the way in, as I mentioned, I photographed the Starbucks in Waynesboro at the request of a coworker, and here it is:
They don’t have freestanding Starbucks locations around here as far as I can tell. I think that the drive-through is a little excessive, but as you can see, people use it.
I also finally got my parents to go out to dinner with me. So we went out for Chinese food. All in all, it was awesome. Ming Garden in Waynesboro. And we got to ride out in Mom’s Scion. It’s a nice ride. Mom rode in the back on the way up, because, as she said, she’d never ridden in the back seat before. Makes sense. I’ve never ridden in the back seat of the Sable. I have, however, been a passenger in the Sable before.
Then Sunday morning, I left the house to go spend time with Katie. But first, I swung by the former Outlet Village, which has really come along since last I gave you an update on it…
Yes, the new shopping center is coming together, as you wouldn’t recognize it for what it used to be. The two holdouts, #14 in the northwest corner, as well as #17 in the center, have now been demolished, and the silo has also been demolished. It’s likely that the only vintage element will be the tall sign, which has been repurposed for the new shopping center:
Then meanwhile, the entrance sign, originally all bright and cheery, has that “last man standing” look to it:
Note that Shenandoah Village Drive has been realigned to go behind the sign’s location. It previously ran in front of that sign. Speaking of which…
The old alignment contained a Park and Ride, which has now been separated from the main roadway. Right now, it’s been turned into a cul-de-sac, but I’m guessing that the Park and Ride will not be closed. It sees a lot of use. My guess is that this new cul-de-sac will remain as such, possibly existing solely as an access for the Park and Ride. We shall see, I suppose. As it is, the old roadway beyond the Park and Ride is being used to store gravel:
Then after shooting all those photos, I visited with Katie, where we went to Shoney’s, and then I took her to her work. We had a blast, too. Katie’s always a lot of fun to hang out with, and I’m really looking forward to when she comes to see me in DC at the end of this month.
And finally, the trip home sucked. I tried a different route, taking I-81 to New Market, and then taking US 211 to its terminus in Warrenton, and then US 29 from there. Word to the wise: 211 is not a fun ride. There are a lot of two-lane segments, and you have to cross two mountains – Massanutten Mountain, and Thornton Gap. The road gets very windy over both of those mountain ridges. No fun. The route was certainly scenic, though, going through Shenandoah, Page, Rappahannock, Culpeper, and Fauquier Counties, before being dropped on 29 Business in the middle of Warrenton. Still, it’s not likely I’ll be taking that route again. It is NOT a good idea to combine the westerly route (I-81) with the easterly route (US 29) by linking them with 211. It’s more trouble than it’s worth.
So all in all, I had a fun weekend.