nancy58
07-09-2023, 07:33 PM
I intended to write sooner about my return home from SC a week ago. In good ways, it was uneventful. I left my mother's house in drab because of the security cameras, but I was able to put on my makeup first, and it made my switch to femme in a roadside park a lot quicker. Stops for Krispy Kreme, lunch, and gasoline all went without incident, except for a bit of worry when the fuel stop coincided with the arrival of a heavy thunderstorm. And then there was the impaired driver I phoned in to the Virginia State Police, and followed until he/she turned off. (I hope they caught the driver.)
My tourist stop was the Gov. Charles B. Aycock birthplace in N.C. I'd been reading about the 1898 race riot in Wilmington and his contribution to the rhetoric that inspired it, and I wanted to see if the visitor center mentioned it. (It did not.) The place was staffed by two very young people -- possibly high school age -- and they were welcoming, efficiently collecting my admission and starting the video. I was the only visitor. I felt confident enough to take the guided tour ($1 extra, for people my age), but I was short on time.
I stopped for dinner at the Main Street Tavern in Orange, Va., and it was one of my best dining experiences. (I found it with a Google search for "lgbtq friendly restaurants".) The hostess complimented my outfit, and I wasn't sure whether she had clocked me, was sucking up, or just really liked a lime-colored sleeveless shirt paired with a navy skort, but I took the compliment and sat at the bar. I'm coming around to the belief that the bar may be the safest place for a single gal to dine. The owner was a woman around my age, and she had acquired the restaurant about six months earlier. She had lived near my town in NoVa for quite a few years, and we talked a good bit about why she moved there, etc. The meal was good. I don't know whether she clocked me, but if she did, she never let on.
When I left, I was on a real high of gratitude that I had been able to enjoy an hour being myself, without fear of any kind. It made the change back to drab a lot easier, and I am looking forward to the opportunity to dine there again.
My tourist stop was the Gov. Charles B. Aycock birthplace in N.C. I'd been reading about the 1898 race riot in Wilmington and his contribution to the rhetoric that inspired it, and I wanted to see if the visitor center mentioned it. (It did not.) The place was staffed by two very young people -- possibly high school age -- and they were welcoming, efficiently collecting my admission and starting the video. I was the only visitor. I felt confident enough to take the guided tour ($1 extra, for people my age), but I was short on time.
I stopped for dinner at the Main Street Tavern in Orange, Va., and it was one of my best dining experiences. (I found it with a Google search for "lgbtq friendly restaurants".) The hostess complimented my outfit, and I wasn't sure whether she had clocked me, was sucking up, or just really liked a lime-colored sleeveless shirt paired with a navy skort, but I took the compliment and sat at the bar. I'm coming around to the belief that the bar may be the safest place for a single gal to dine. The owner was a woman around my age, and she had acquired the restaurant about six months earlier. She had lived near my town in NoVa for quite a few years, and we talked a good bit about why she moved there, etc. The meal was good. I don't know whether she clocked me, but if she did, she never let on.
When I left, I was on a real high of gratitude that I had been able to enjoy an hour being myself, without fear of any kind. It made the change back to drab a lot easier, and I am looking forward to the opportunity to dine there again.