Bug Tripping Highlights
Most Memorable Moment
Elizabeth Taylor slept here
Driving through Abingdon, Virginia, we stopped to look at the historic and elegant Martha Washington Inn. “It’s late,” I told Harry. “We’d better find a campground for the night.” “Nope,” he said, “we’re staying here.” We were given the room Elizabeth Taylor slept in.
Martha Washington Inn
The Martha guests have included presidents, dignitaries and movie stars. Elizabeth Taylor’s room had a fifteen-foot ceiling, brocade-papered walls graced with antique paintings, and a mahogany canopy bed. The bathroom sink and floor were white marble. Ghosts of Civil War soldiers who stayed there left us alone.
Most Memorable Moment
Driving through Abingdon, Virginia, we stopped to look at the historic and elegant Martha Washington Inn. “It’s late,” I told Harry. “We’d better find a campground for the night.” “Nope,” he said, “we’re staying here.” We were given the room Elizabeth Taylor slept in.
The Martha guests have included presidents, dignitaries and movie stars. Elizabeth Taylor’s room had a fifteen-foot ceiling, brocade-papered walls graced with antique paintings, and a mahogany canopy bed. The bathroom sink and floor were white marble. Ghosts of Civil War soldiers who stayed there left us alone.
Martha Washington Inn
"The Martha guests have included presidents, dignitaries and movie stars... Ghosts of Civil War soldiers who stayed there left us alone."
Most Romantic Moment
At Mystic Mike’s campground, we had a soak in a natural spring mineral pool and slept in an old school bus outfitted with velvet pillows, a string of twinkling lights, and a built-in queen-size bed.
Inside, the Ripple bus was warm and smelled sweetly of incense. Four decades evaporated, and we were in our twenties again, giggling at each other as we flopped onto the bed. Harry found a tattered cardboard box in one of the built-in cupboards. He looked at me and grinned.
“Want to play Scrabble?” he asked.
Most Nostalgic Moment
We started the Bug trip in early March, prime storm season in New England. When the weather turned ugly, we stopped for the night at a hotel in Binghamton, New York. Our room was freezing, and while we waited for the heater to work, we climbed under the covers and watched an old concert on PBS.
Eddie Vedder with long hair, George Harrison, and a young Stevie Wonder. While we reminisced about those good old times, I thought about how the Bug trip was taking us back to an era before children and a house mortgage when we were free to pick up and go. I had forgotten the thrill of taking off without a second thought.
"He called ahead to say we were coming and mentioned that my people came from Germany. He neglected to mention the date they arrived—1749."
Most Embarrassing Moment
We arrived hungry at our accommodation outside Oklahoma City and asked our hosts where we could find something to eat. He directed us to the closest eatery, a German restaurant ten miles down a lonely and deserted two-lane road. He called ahead to say we were coming and mentioned that my people came from Germany. He neglected to mention the date they arrived—1749.
When we arrived at the restaurant, George the owner was waiting for us, chattering away in German over the loud country music band. I yelled that I wasn’t up on my German. Either he didn’t hear me or he was undeterred and ordered us each a stein of German beer and appetizers, none of which we were allowed to pay for (me being German and all). While we munched the appetizers, George brought over his wife, his mother, and his younger brother to meet us, all of whom greeted us—in German.
