I'LL KNOW WHERE I'LL BE..

(MARTINSBURG, WV) There's an old saying that applies to me.  "I'll know where I'll be, when I get where I am going." 

This morning I rolled out of bed and was enjoying the bright sunshine and my coffee on my deck. After so many days of rain, the sun was certainly a welcome sight. I was on my second cup of coffee, and all of a sudden I got the piddlin itch. So I threw a few things in my backpack, and grabbed my camera and hit the road.

I had absolutely no idea where I was going but I knew where I would be when I got there. I stopped for gas and decided to flip a coin, Heads I would go south on Interstate 81 and Tails it would be North. Tails won and I headed North.

I made a quick stop for lunch at the Southern Kitchen in New Market. I have been by here several time and had always thought about stopping and today I did.  Talking about a throw back to the days when Route 11 was the main road through town, this is it. An old school diner with real southern comfort food and plenty of it.  The serving are huge and delicious. I couldn't leave without have a piece of their homemade Lemon Meringue Pie. Wow is an under statement.

After a great lunch, it was back to route 11. The traffic on Interstate 81 was crazy as usual and since Staunton I had opted for the much more leisurely pace of Route 11.  Near Middletown I decided to visit the Historic Belle Grove Plantation.

I paid the $11.00 Senior Admission for the house tour which is scheduled to last 30-45 minutes.  We were scheduled to meet our guide at 2:15 but the previous tour was running long. We finally met him at 2:30 and began our tour of this wonderful plantation home that was built in 1797 by Major Isaac Hite and his wife Nellie Madison Hite.  Nellie Madison was the sister of President James Madison and I think our guide said that James and Dolly spent some time here.

Our guide was Mr. Russ Finch and I must say he was one of the best tour guide I have ever had. He was knowledgeable and his delivery was more like a conversation with friends.  I absolutely forgot that I was on a tour.

Belle Grove served as the headquarters of General Phil Sheridan during the Valley Campaign. During the Battle Confederate General Stephen Ramseur, who was wounded and died in the upstairs nursery of the house on October 20, 1864.

At Ramseurs side when he died was his West Point Classmate, George Armstrong Custer.  Custer requested that Confederates under Ramseur's command be allowed to pay their respect. General Sheridan agreed and officers from both sides paid their respect to General Ramseur whose body rested in an open coffin in the parlor.

My visit to Belle Grove lasted most of the afternoon and it was close to 4:30 when I head north on Route 11.  Before pulling out of the parking lot I used the Choice Hotel App my phone to make a hotel reservation in Martinsburg, West Virginia.

Just south of Winchester I headed over to the Shenandoah Memorial Park where I visited the grave of Virginia Hensley Dick, better known to country Music fans as Patsy Cline.

While at the cemetery I met a gentleman and we got to talking. He was an avid history buff and we got to talking about the history of the area. Time flies and the next thing I knew we had been standing in the middle of a cemetery talking for over an hour and a half.

As were were leaving we decided meet for breakfast at the IHOP just up the street and continue our conversation.  Only me could make a new friend in a cemetery.

I am now in my hotel in Martinsburg, West Virginia listening to the thunder as a storm rolls through. Not sure where I will end up tomorrow  but it's safe to say, I'll know where I'll be when I get where I'm going.