The buildings in the downtown area have that historic appearance. The downtown is vibrant with many local shops and restaurants (no Starbucks here). This is how you know you're not in the Midwest anymore --
These signs are at the hotel. Horse drawn carriages make the rounds in Lexington. We're at a Hampton Inn. Its common areas and registration are in a mansion with the guest rooms connected in the rear.
They have also added a log cabin that is used for small conferences.
Staff is accommodating and facility is beautiful.
Today's planned options were a long route of 62 miles and a short route of 49 miles. The start was delayed to 9 and by that time roughly half the group found alternate plans. Those that did ride, rode a short route and reported dry weather with no issues.
Lexington is the home of two post-secondary institutions, Virginia Military Institute (VMI) and Washington and Lee University, I wasn't familiar with either.
Five star general George C. Marshall is a graduate of VMI and author of the Marshall Plan that followed WWII in addition to serving as Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense. It was very interesting learning more about his career and a different perspective than what I learned from the textbooks.
Following the visit to the library we stopped at one of the local eateries, Sweet Treats Bakery, for a sandwich. So, far good food has not been hard to find.
The crape myrtle in the area appears to be just past its peak but is prevalent everywhere. Bushes are really big and still beautiful.
Tomorrow will have two options again. Forecast sounds similar to today's weather. We'll see what the morning brings. It'll be important to ride tomorrow as Sunday will be the biggest climbing day of trip going to Peaks of Otter, over 6,000'.
Joke for today by Linda Wilson --
Why can't a bicycle stand up on its own?
A. Because it's too tired!
Thanks, Linda!
I can't believe Plan B wasn't horseback riding today!! A little saddle sore perhaps? Looks beautiful, though. Maybe kicking back at the hotel lounge for the better part of the afternoon would've been a good Plan D!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the birthday shout out yesterday and the phone call! The girls spent a l-o-n-g time opening and playing with gifts last night. At the end of the day want to know what they asked--when will Aunt Lisa and Uncle Dale be here? Serious!
Hope weather works out better for you today. We finally had a little rain...not near enough, but we'll take what we can get! Besides peaking out every once in awhile, the sun is staying hidden...but VERY humid!!
ReplyDeleteI'm meeting Greg this morning for the Giselle exchange. We'll have her until Thursday, then meeting Grandma Karen for the next exchange :)
Bob is at a golf outing today, now that's a shock! :)