Christmas in VA

This year for Christmas I flew to Virginia to stay with Jack and my mother for the week to celebrate Christmas and to spend some time with them during the week. I usually pick different flight routes every time to experience new terminals; this time around I flew into Logan Airport in Boston, MA. The one thing that I enjoyed most about the airport is that there was always a constant breath of fresh Atlantic Ocean water.

I waited roughly an hour in the Logan terminal I was on my way to Raleigh, NC which was another new airport to me. I’m always surprised at how nice everything looks in North Carolina; buildings, roads, landscape, etc. Jack and mom greeted me in airport and we started off towards Bedford, on the way we stopped at Hardees, my first time as Maine does not have a Hardees. I ordered a Jalapeno Angus burger which was very good, much different than the other fast-food chains.

Sunday, Christmas Eve mom and I went to Thomas Road Baptist Church where Dr. Jerry Falwell preaches. The church was newly built last July and holds 5,000 people along with many other rooms, stores, etc; the quire is 3x larger than my church I attend! When we arrived Sunday School had already started which was lead by Elmer Towns, you can listen to his class online as well if you’d like at ElmerTowns.com. Near to end of class the stadium began to fill towards 4,000 people which I’m told is lower than any other week. I really enjoyed the service; including listening to what Jerry had to talk about. After Church we made plans to see “The Nativity Story“, and then head to TRBC for the evening service.

On Monday, Christmas day we exchanged gifts with each other. As always, mom always exceeds any expectations one would have- she always gives gifts that are needed. After the gifts had been opened we took plenty of time playing with our new toys, taking down the tree and fellowshipping. Later mom treated Jack and I to dinner at Peaks of Otter restaurant that sits near the base of the mountain. Afterwards we took different route home, one that brought us winding up and down a mountain littered with mansions.

On Tuesday we braved the Roanoke Valley View mall where thousands of people were exchanging gifts or spending their Christmas money. Despite the advertisement claims on TV there were very few sales and even less that actually interested me. Mom and I cleaned up the yard, took down the Christmas decorations and put up a new bird feeder, I was able to capture this curious Tufted Titmouse.

Mill Mountain Zoo which is located on Mill Mountain in Roanoke was open for the afternoon so we set sail and browsed throughout the zoo looking and taking photos of the animals. They had two rare Snow Leopards which was a treat as I am interested in large predator cats. I met a very friendly Llama that enjoyed having her photo taken with passing visitors. Afterwards we ate at the local Red Robin Gourmet burg pub; the selection of burgers was very impressive.

A local cinema in Lynchburg was playing “Open Season”, so mom and I attended on Thursday. The movie was alright, I didn’t like the fact that they were portraying hunters as people who are hicks, bad and have no heart. On the way home to Bedford, a beautiful sunset was on display. The entire sky was painted with glowing orange-red gradient and the gray clouds looked as if they were on fire.