LOOKING BACK AT 2025 - PART 1

 

Where have I been you ask. Well, the fact of the matter is that I have been right here. In fact, I had written several posts for this blog but due to my own mistake none of them got published. I don’t know exactly what happened except that apparently, I failed to schedule them for publication. And to make matters worse, I inadvertently deleted them, so they were all lost.

So, let’s do a little recap of my 2025 adventure. Like most years my 2025 travel season started off with a trip to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Every year since 2001 I have attended the first and second rounds of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. I say every year, well, every year except 2020 when the entire tournament was cancelled due to COVID and 2021 when the tournament was play in closed venues in the Indianapolis.

Other than those years I selected a site and attended the First and Second Rounds of the Tournament. I like the First and Second Round because they are held at different sites all across the country.

Some of my favorite Tournament Sites over the years have been, Dallas, Oklahoma City, and Pittsburgh. Some of my less favorite sites have been Kansas City, Orlando and Charlotte.

In 2025 I chose Raleigh, North Carolina as my Tournament Venue. I had been to Raleigh a couple of times before and always enjoyed the experience. Raleigh is one of the few tournament venues that has a huge onsite parking lot. In previous years the cost of parking had been a very reasonable $20 per day. This year I was shocked to find that they were really gouging you by charging a whopping $60 per day. That is not a good look for Raleigh.

The Games in Raleigh were for the most part good competitive game. One of the Teams that I had in Raleigh was the Florida Gators who went on to win the National Championship. On the day that I didn’t have games I spent the morning visiting the North Carolina State Capitol and my afternoon I drove over to Durham and visited Bennett’s Place.

Most people consider the end of the Civil War Occurred when General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9, 1865.

While General Lee Surrendered about 28,000 troops at Appomattox. About three weeks later a larger number of Confederate Troops were surrendered when General Joseph E. Johnston surrendered almost 90,000 troops to General William T. Sherman at the farm of James and Nancy Bennett near Durham, North Caolina. This was the largest surrender of the Civil War,

I stayed close to home until May and then I was off to West Virginia for a couple days. I started off Spending some time at one of our Newest National Parks, The New River Gorge National Park. Some of the overlooks here give you amazing views of the New River Gorge Bridge that carry’s U. S.

Highway 19 across the massive New River Gorge.

I also spent some time at Cook’s Mill in Monroe County, West Virginia. Cook’s Mill dates back to the late 1790’s and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The main mill building was built in 1857 on the original stone foundation and site of an earlier mill built in approximately 1796. It has hand-hewn post-and-beam, with massive timbers pegs. The mill site also includes the dam, mill pond, and stream.

I spent the night at a place that I had wanted to visit for several year so on the way back home I stopped at the Depot Lodge in Paint Bank Virginia. I was lucky to just walk up and get a room without a reservation. I opted for a really nice room in the Main Lodge that had a gas fireplace that I didn’t need and a TV.

I walked across the road to the Swinging Bridge Restaurant which is in the back of the Paint Bank General Store. I had the Buffalo Chapped Steak with a Baked Potato and apples with Blackberry Cobbler for dessert.

After supper it was warm enough that I sat outside and enjoyed the quiet. The only sound was a flowing creek that was interrupted every once in a while, by a passing car.

The Next Morning I walked back across the road to the Swing Bridge for a great Breakfast.  I had two egg, sausage, back and two pancakes. It was just a good if not better as my buffalo chopped steak the night Before.

I really enjoyed this little trip to West Virginia, especially my stay at the Depot Lodge. I enjoyed the stay so much that I just might do it again.

Before I get into my summer recap, let’s take a break and continue this next time.