US citizens: make sure you vote today if you haven’t already! It is one of the most important things you can do that affects you and the people around you! What else can bring people together with a free sticker like exercising your civic duty?
Ben and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary a little early this past weekend because I am actually going to be out of town for a conference during our actual anniversary. (I felt so guilty about it, but Ben was so supportive in encouraging me to apply and attend for my career. I’m so lucky!) We started brainstorming a way to celebrate this milestone anniversary and began by thinking of a staycation in DC… which led to us thinking of bed and breakfasts in the area…
… which eventually led to us booking a bed and breakfast in Shenandoah Valley for the weekend!
After driving for a few hours, we ended up at By the Side of the Road, which has a place in the rich history of the region including the burning of the Shenandoah Valley during the Civil War and the beginnings of the Mennonite Church. We had a truly lovely stay here for our first-ever B&B experience!
As soon as we were checked in, we booked it to Bojangles, one of our favorite fried chicken joints that is really difficult to find the farther north you go. As we were driving the short distance to Bo’ Time, I started wondering… wasn’t the Bojangles we visited on our way back from Roanoke near some JMU (James Madison University) stuff? Like an athletic stadium or something? And Harrisonburg, the town that our B&B was in, is home to JMU. Proceeding down the street, even though it was much darker than our drive up from Roanoke…
… it was very familiar. We were back at the same Bojangles! That was nice. Almost as nice as digging into that delicious fried chicken.
Belly full of Bojangles and sweet tea, I took a nice little candlelit bath to get settled in and got ready for our weekend away! I haven’t taken a bath in a long time, and it really set the tone for a relaxing weekend with my favorite person.
Pausing here so I can get things ready for my conference this week and the rest of the recaps from the weekend!
Have you stayed in the Shenandoah Valley before?
Have you stayed at a bed & breakfast before?
And maybe most importantly, where are your favorite places to get fried chicken???
Sip of Starrshine 