So we’re here in Virginia. As usual, I cannot sleep. So I read over the last entry and realized that I really do need to proofread. I’ll try to that. I need to find a client-side editor for this since WordPress does not come with spell check. And we all know that I need spell check. Sometimes Joanna reads my posts and complains, so I go back and try to fix them.

Hmm… Bishop lurks! Fa!

The $%#@ing clock radio went off at 0830 this morning, and we didn’t have to wake up! Jonah said that she wanted to make use of the free breakfast in the hotel, so I told her she could drag me with her if she did. I didn’t realize she was going to set a bloody alarm.

I put on my dirty clothes from the night before and my hat and stumbled downstairs to breakfast. I took some of the eggs which looked scary and quite a few biscuits and gravy.

The gravy was pretty good (much better than Jonah’s which for some reason tends to be greasy and brown), but the biscuits were mediocre. Jonah makes MUCH better biscuits. Especially the last ones. I don’t know which recipie she used, but she should stick with it. (I feel compelled to point out that I walked in to discover her cutting biscuits with a glass. In spite of the fact that someone gave us biscuit cutters for our wedding gift, which I knew that I would probably never use, but hoped that maybe Joanna, the biscuit-maker, would. Unfortunately, she didn’t remember we had them. Maybe she will next time.)

After a breakfast, which was very good for a free hotel breakfast yet not worth getting out of bed for, we went back to sleep. And slept until some very late time when Joanna’s parents called to say that they were in Richmond and not to get lunch, because they would take us out to lunch. (We were clearly in much danger of self-feeding at this point…) We showered, and Joanna’s parents did indeed take us out to lunch.

Jonah said we had the choice between Mexican and Chinese. She seemed to be equally at ease with either. I pointed out that the Chinese was quite possibly very bad, but that in Virginia the Mexican was probably El-chico like and overpriced for Mexican but yummy. She agreed, and so Robert and Sarah took us out for Mexican.

It wasn’t as El-Chico-ish as I expected (this is a good thing), but it wasn’t authentic either. It was, in short, good Tex-Mex. The salsa had too much cilantro for me, which probably means everyone else liked it. My burritos were very good Tex-Mexish burritos. They even came with a nice tasty red sauce on top, which is how I like them. And they didn’t come with rice and beans, presumably because the rice and beans were inside. But we were in no danger of winding up with Tortas de Milenese de Res. (I’m sure my Spanish spelling is even worse.)

Then we came back and I toyed with the internet while Joanna’s parents napped. Then we went downstairs and drank free beer with the freely available “dinner”. I didn’t go near the soggy looking chicken or roasted potatos, but the only beer available was Yuengling! Yuengling, while it’s not exceptional, is one of the few widely available good beers produced in this country. And it tastes so good when it’s free.

After beer, we went and watched Shrek2. I couldn’t talk to Joanna during the movie (something I like to do even though it drives her crazy) since her mother was talking to her during most of it. It’s deffinitely one of the better sequels out there.

I was just ecstatic over the endless Disney cracks. If they missed a good opportunity to take a shot at Disney, I don’t know where it might have been.

And it featured Tom Waits! In what may be the most appropriate place for his music that I’ve ever seen.

Before Shrek (but after beer), Sarah dragged us to the mall so she could buy a T-shirt. I kept trying to convince her that one of mine would do nicely, but she couldn’t be convinced and had to spend money on what appeared to be one T-shirt sewn inside another. Thankfully this task wasn’t nearly as painful as I thought it might be.

Before the T-shirts (but after beer, as well as after Shrek) we drove all around downtown Richmond reliving Sarah’s childhood.

We also barged into the Jefferson Hotel wherein Robert asked where “the staircase” was. The concierge responded, “It’s a legend. Read about it in the book over there.” So we did.

And then came the never-ending sojourn to acquire Berck food. The Brenners have this uncanny notion that a bowl of popcorn counts for a meal. It really doesn’t. Fortunately, they were willing to provide me with Wendy’s, but first we had to drive through every other fast food joint only to discover it was closed. Wendy’s is “Open Late”.

And that’s my day condensed. Maybe Joanna will fill in the witty details later.

And now I’m too tired to proofread. Oops.