Driving, Reading and Eating. And Eating. And Eating.

Today we finished with Joseph's research in this area. We've been gone a week already! Tomorrow we head out on Skyline Drive through the Blue Ridge Mountains. This morning was the first morning we ate breakfast without hearing about Michael Jackson over and over and over. Yay! After breakfast we followed a route described in our "Touring the Shenandoah Valley Backroads" book. We stopped at Silver Lake Mill on the way to Dayton.

Silver Lake Mill

It would have been fairly picturesque except for the "Private Property" signs that were all over, and the modern junk behind it.

Ducks and ducklets

We finished our research in the historical library, working on Funk stuff and also looking at information about Aldine and Anna Kieffer and their parents.

We met relative Lois Emswiler at the Rockingham Historical Society library

We then drove through Bridgewater, and along some backroads that went through the country. Mossy Creek Presbyterian Church and its surrounding cemetery were very beautiful, Mt. Solon was quaint (except for the drummer that was practicing upstairs in one of the old buildings as we drove by, Natural Chimneys were ho-hum,and Staunton was just as inviting as it was the other three times we've been there.

Mossy Creek Presbyterian Church-built 1768

Church yard at the Presbyterian Church


Mt. Solon. There was this dude banging away at the drums inside this little old store. Really loud.

Downtown Staunton

We finally got into a store that Joseph was very interested in, and then got to go inside the Trinity Episcopal Church that we had walked around on the 4th of July. We wanted to go inside to see the stained glass windows. Many of them were made by Louis Tiffany, and they were exquisiste. We had the sanctuary all to ourselves, with the lights turned off and the sunlight illuminating the windows and the wood floors and pipes of the organ.

The sanctuary of the Episcopal church. It could probably seat close to 1000 people.

One of the twelve Tiffany windows in the Staunton Trinity Episcopal Church

If we had known we would end up at an Episcopal church on Sunday morning, we probably would have made yet another trip to Staunton to attend this beautiful church.

Our next stop was at Bob and Lois Emswiler's house. What a pleasant visit we had with them.

The Emswilers' House in Dayton

We completely stuffed ourselves at the "Wood Grill" buffet. Benjamin, you would have flipped. All the steak, fried shrimp, ham, mashed potatoes you could eat. Besides all that there was two different salad bars of vegetables and fruits, one island with baked beans, cooked greens, macaroni and cheese, all kinds of potatoes, and chicken, livers, catfish, etc., and another with piles of steak, roast beef, ham, Chinese food, hamburgers, hot dogs, ribs, etc., and 2 more areas with much better-than-the-average-buffet-desserts. It was the best buffet I've ever been to.

Wood Grill. All-you-can-eat steak.

After we waddled out to the car, Bob and Lois took us on a tour of the Linville area where Bob and his father and his Aunt Maggie (who was my great-grandma) grew up. We saw the house they were all born in. Someone has built on and restored it since we were here last. We also saw the graves of Harrison and Fannie Emswiler (my great-great grandparents) and several other relatives on my great-grandma's side.

Great-great-great-grandfather (to Joseph) Harrison Emswiler's grave. He served in the 2nd Virginia during the war.

We went to a couple other cemeteries, saw the grave of Marie, the second wife of Ralph Geil (my great-grandpa) and a couple other cemeteries, and went inside the Methodist church that Harrison (my great-great grandfather) helped start.

Plaque in front of the church Harrison Emswiler helped found in 1889

Linville Methodist Church which was founded in part by Harrison Emswiler. Bob was baptized here.

We went back to their house and talked about genealogy stuff for quite awhile, and then drove home without stopping at Kline's Dairy Bar!

The Emswilers' basement

Our last night to sit in the warm evening air eating ice cream, but we were just too full still! We'll have to get some on the way out of town tomorrow...


Question-of-the-day: How many kinds of meat did Joseph eat at the buffet tonight?