My Thanksgiving Trip To Virginia

I was off to Virginia Beach, VA this year

to spend Thanksgiving with my parents.

I grew up there, in the Kempsville area.

image from Google Maps

As you can see, the whole family 

has a thing for red cars.

I flew in Wednesday night, which turned into

Thursday morning at 1:20 a.m. after some

flight delays.

The next morning found Mom cooking up a 

big dinner for three.

The kitchen was warm and

smelled wonderful.

The toaster oven pitched in to melt 

marshmallows over yams.

Corn souffle and green bean casserole 

cook side by side in the oven.  

Mom said it didn't turn out right.

I thought it was good.

Nonetheless we enjoyed the feast.

A turkey breast and a HoneyBaked ham,

mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, iced tea

and for dessert, a Costco pumpkin pie.

On Saturday, they took me on a 51 mile drive 

past cotton fields and farm communities 

to Wakefield, VA.

image source

To eat at The Virginia Diner

at their great little southern favorites buffet.

Which was delicious!

image source

However the buffet was not the reason 

we drove 51 miles.

image source

Mom and Dad had Virginia Diner's 

"Double-Dipped Chocolate Covered Peanuts" 

on their Christmas list.

get some here

After eating we stopped in at their gift shop 

for Dad to purchase TWELVE cans!

He gave 3 to me and plans to give 3 or 4 as gifts
to neighbors and friends.

The rest are for them!
 

Back in February Mom had requested

a hand painted sweatshirt from me.

She didn't want a screen printed one.

She wanted a painted one like I did for her

back when I was like 16 years old.

I bought the sweatshirt in February

but never got around to buying the paints.

Mom took me out on black Friday

to Michael's to pick out the paints I wanted....

she had no ideas and no requests

for a specific design, it was up to me.

I had an idea for a design,

and chose 12 colors and a set of brushes.

Here are the results.

A few robins and dogwood branches.

On one sleeve a birdhouse,

on the other, a nest with eggs.

It has been a long time since I painted

anything by hand and I felt a little

rusty.

Nevertheless Mom was delighted and

very proud of her "hand painted" sweatshirt.

I even put a little surprise on the back.

 

I was very busy during my stay.

They took me shopping for new clothes

and a new pair of shoes.

I put up their tree, decorated it,

and decked the front of the house with

a few decorations.  Mom and I had to buy

new porch bows at Big Lots, because 

the old ones had turned orange from the sun.

And I brushed up on my sweatshirt painting skills.

All in all, I had a pleasant enjoyable trip
and it is always awesome to see my parents.
Now it's back home to Vegas to undecorate
from Thanksgiving and quickly decorate
for Christmas.
Thanks for stopping by
and happy hunting!