Road Trip Day 2 Winchester VA , Giant Apple and Dinosaur Land

April13, 2019
We encountered this giant apple in Winchester, Virginia. Winchester claims to be the apple capitol of the world producing 12 million bushels a year

Spotted this giant apple in Winchester, Virginia, April 13, 2019. Winchester claims to be the apple capitol of the world, harvesting 12 million bushels a year.

After a lousy meal at Damon's Grill in PA, we spent the night at a Ramada Inn in Winchester VA. We got up and headed for a local eatery, The Picadilly Grill Diner at 46 E Picadilly St., Winchester.  It looked and sounded great from our internet search, but when we arrived it was closed. It appeared to still be in business, just not open. Hours posted for Saturday are 7AM-8PM. Oh well, we headed for an alternate breakfast place. Before we got there, we took quick stroll through a historic section of downtown with beautiful architecture. I made a few snaps of that.

Historic Winchester, VA,  April 13, 2019

The Taylor Hotel, historic Winchester, VA,  April 13, 2019

The Taylor Hotel, historic Winchester, VA,  April 13, 2019

The Taylor Hotel, historic Winchester, VA,  April 13, 2019

Historic Winchester, VA,  April 13, 2019

Snow White Grill, historic Winchester, VA April 13, 2019

Murphy Beverage Company, historic Winchester, VA April 13, 2019

After a quick peek at the historic downtown section we headed for the Papermill Place Restaurant for breakfast. This stop was a culinary homer. Great food, great service, friendly people. The place was quite full and a line of diners waiting to be seated. As soon as we were seated our order was taken and delivered quite speedily considering how busy they were.  We sat at the counter where we could watch the cooks in action. An impressive staff and the food was first rate. Mark this as a must stop if you are ever in Winchester. 

Papermill Place Restaurant, Winchester, VA. There is a large dining room to the left of these booths.

Papermill Place Restaurant, Winchester, VA. Unassuming on th outside, its staffed with friendly people serving top notch food.

Papermill Place Restauran, Winchester, VA. Seated at the counter you can watch the short order cooks in action. They are real pros, cracking eggs, making omelets, home fires, hash browns, pancakes and all the rest. 

After a terrific breakfast at the Papermill Place Restaurant we were ready to check out nearby Dinosaur Land.

Dinosaur Land, Winchester, VA. A funky, cool place created 50 years ago. 

Road Trip April 2019 Day 1: we stop at Damon's Grill in Hazelton PA

We arrive at Damon's Grill in Hazelton PA after a rainy drive from Watertown, NY. The service was poor and the meal among one of the worst we have ever had on the road.

April 12, 2019, the Better Half & I embark on a road trip with a few destinations in mind. Damon's Grill in Hazelton PA was not among them. We didn't realize it was a chain restaurant until we arrived. Normally we like to go to locally owned places. It was after 6:00, we were hungry and having never visited this chain we stopped to try it out. The service was poor and the meal among the worst we ever had. The waitress was very friendly however. I ordered half a rack of ribs with baked beans and garlic mashed potatoes. Our food arrived without any silverware. Te waitress apologized and returned shortly with the utensils. Th ribs tasted ok, nothing original about them. They were not very meaty and I could have eaten a whole rack. Then again, they were baby back ribs, so they aren't particularly meaty to begin with.Our server put the plate in front of me with the ribs & mashed potatoes and proclaimed, "Be careful, the plate is really hot." That always tells me the food was microwaved. Well, the ribs were hot enough but the potatoes were so Luke warm the soft butter I put on them didn't even melt! In fact, some bites were actually cool, almost cold. And the flavor of them was bland. I thought the beans were coming in a seperate dish. But when they didn't arrive I had to leave my seat and walk around to find our waitress. The beans were nothing special either. Obviously just came out of a can. The Better Half ordered a Patty Melt burger and fries that was unimpressive. In fact she ate half of it.took half with her to go but ultimately discarded it. Summary: Food was bland, microwaved to create a very hotplate with Luke warm to room temperature potatoes. Served without utensils, had to flag the waitress down to get that. Beans arrived only after I left my seat to search for the server to let her know they were never brought to our table.

Geese at sunset photo made with Sony a6000 and 500mm f8 lens

I made this photo in Chaumont NY, a small village on the shore of Lake Ontario. I used a Sony a6000 camera with a Minolta 500mm f8 auto focus mirror lens attached via the LA-EA4 adapter. The camera was mounted on a tripod.

Geese at sunset in Chaumont NY March 2019. Sony a6000 camera, Minolta 500mm f8 auto focus lens with LA-EA4 adapter that preserves autofocus and other features when used with the a6000.   photo copy write Gary Walts 2019