One Fleeting Moment

Spring/summer came early this year and with it the urge to pile everyone into the car and drive off into the sunset, or at least drive off until the Gherkin yelled for a break. Thanks to a Groupon that was dangerously close to expiry, we found ourselves at Williamsburg, VA checking  into Colonial Crossings along with half a dozen other people who had bought the same groupon.  This was meant to be a getaway for the sake of getting away. So on that level the whole trip worked, despite the persistent  rain and the mild oddities of our accommodation like paper thin walls, crappy coffee and the fact that the Gherkin insisted on calling it "bo-bo bari" as in "the dog's house".

On day one after arriving, we went to a nice park nearby, walked around, clicked a few pictures and generally relaxed. The next day we headed to Colonial Williamsburg. We never buy the tickets as it is way too pricey and prefer walking the grounds instead. This time around, the farm animals, especially the ewes and the lambs were a big hit with the Gherkin. Unfortunately it started raining in the middle of our walk down the colonial main street so we beat a quick retreat to our car.  The Gherkin, tired from walking around went off to sleep in her car seat, while we drove around nearby Jamestown for an hour. Looking out onto the marshes, far from all the dressed up impersonators and not so dressed up tourists, I had a feeling that time had passed us by and Pocahontas would come barreling out of the woods at any moment.  The feeling did not last for long. The Gherkin woke up, demanded to be fed and just like that it was bye-bye Pocahontas and Captain John Smith.

The rain kept us indoors that evening .On the next day, we stopped by Richmond, VA for lunch on our way home.  The plan was to get brunch at the Strawberry Street Cafe, something we used to do when our friend Pankaj lived in Richmond. Unfortunately, the food of our memories tasted way better than that on our plates.  They did not even have pancakes, the Boy was heartbroken. There was no doubt in our minds that here time had continued its relentless march.

Labels: Travel