On Sunday I had hoped to go for a bike ride but it was still chilly and a wind kept whipping around so I decided instead to check out a possible put in place for the kayak in Front Royal. On the way I stopped at The Apple House, a restaurant and gift shop in Linden which I've often passed but never been inside.It is a family business established in 1963.
They had an outstanding collection of hot sauces, this little display just being part of it. there were 3 large shelving units with the sauces arranged in alphabetical order. They also had a great assortment of local preserves, relishes and sauces with wines and gifts a plenty.
These caught my eye. I never knew that Dr Pepper made beef jerky and the chocolate called Woolloomooloo sounded enticing but the price at nearly $9 put me off. The restaurant is very popular with bikers and it was busy as I waited in line to try one of their famous donuts, using the same ingredients as they did when they first opened.
It was a lot smaller than I'd imagined. for some reason I was thinking of something larger and stuffed with chunky apple sauce. I wasn't expecting the hole or the cinnamon. It was OK but I won't go back for another.
I found the place in Front Royal that I'd been looking for and immediately wished I'd brought Big Red.
The water looked so inviting and the sun was warm on my face. There was nobody around at all, I had this part of the river to myself and the views were beautiful with snow still on the mountains in the distance. But it was quite chilly and I was soon beaten back to the warmth of the car.
I then drove to Prospect Hill Cemetery as I had read that it was haunted. It's on the side of a steep hill and as you walk through the gates there is an impressive memorial to Mosby's Men, 'erected by the survivors of Mosby's command in memory of seven comrades executed while prisoners of war near this spot, September 23rd, 1884.' This was engraved on an obelisk flanked by 2 cannons.
There's some interesting gravestones and engraving here but I was very interested in the Soldiers' Circle. Here, some have claimed to see a man kneeling and weeping by the side of one of the gravestones. It is thought that he is saddened by his own death. A woman in 1880's attire has also been seen. But because I wanted to see a ghost there was no hope of being fortunate enough to see one, ghosts never appear when you want them to.
I thought this was a touching scene.
After walking all around I went back to Stuart, glad to be in the warm again, and then decided to head towards home.
This sign hangs from an old empty store in the town. It will likely disappear when the building is sold or torn down so I thought a photo would help to immortalize it. I should hang it at my place.
I stopped in this country, it had been closed the last time I passed it, so I was delighted to see it open today.
It was crammed with lots of wonderful old antiques and junk and gifts, and even a few groceries. The owner was very friendly and we had a lengthy chat about photos his had on sale and his antiques. I left with some great ideas for future explorations and a glass money box.
Driving towards home I spotted a tiny cemetery on the side of the road and stopped, wondering if it was a family burial ground. I looked up the names and area later on the computer but couldn't shed any light on the site. I thought the grave above was very sad, someone had clearly been unable to afford a headstone so had created their own out of concrete and then chiseled out the letters. I've never come across a homemade gravestone before.
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