HALLELUJAH!!!

I came home to find that Backyard Pizza has reopened in their new location! I can't count how many times I have been trying to decide where I might want to eat dinner and thought longingly of the seared tuna at Backyard Pizza. Late last summer there was a fire in the downtown building where Backyard Pizza was located and it closed them down. Was quite a while before I could find out anything about there plans but finally heard they were moving to a bigger location one street closer to the river (Third Avenue) and hoped to open in November of this year. And they did!! So often a new business will open and give a date when they plan to be open and go way past it. So, one of the first things I did when I got back from my trip was to look up Backyard Pizza and was so elated to see they were back in business. Called my friend Cindy with whom I've enjoyed a meal at BP numerous times and we went there this week. It's a much larger area and for me doesn't have quite the same ambiance as it did, but the menu was exactly the same - I think it may have been the actual menus from the old restaurant because not only were all the items the same, but the prices were still the same. I think they are also planning on re-opening their other restaurant which also got burned out in that fire. It was The Peddlers and I never even got a chance to eat there. Also, from the looks of the unfinished side of their new space, the Peddlers will have a micro-brewery. Hopefully when it is all done they will fix up the front entrance to appear more inviting. Right now there's a huge sign in the window (with all the microbrewery vats behind) saying "this project financed by Sentry Bank" and I'd say that front space is probably about 3 or 4 downtown-store-sized windows. So along with the sign, you see people sitting on straight back chairs, all in a row, and it turns out they're waiting to get into BP but as far as I could see, there was no sign saying Backyard Pizza so I wasn't even real sure if the door into that front space was the door we needed. Finally noticed through a further window lots of tables with lots of people so in we went and then there was another door into the actual restaurant. None of that description is a complaint - They must have only opened in the last week or two. They were, as usual, very, very busy with people waiting when we came in and people waiting when we went out. The tuna was wonderful and we had some breadsticks I ordered to celebrate (I normally only get one thing) and Cindy also got the tuna and ordered their scallops. So we shared the breadsticks and scallops and oh, my goodness those scallops were wonderful! The bread was pretty darn good also. They have a wood-fired grill and pizza oven so that's partly why everything is so delicious. So, welcome back Backyard Pizza and I'm so, so glad you stayed Backyard Pizza!

News from Huntington

Since I've been so remiss in posting, I've neglected to report on doings around town and to get me back in blogging mode for my trip, I'll provide a little update.

First, and I can't believe I didn't report on this, we had a fairly bad fire right in downtown Huntington probably a month or a little more ago.  It was in one of our big old buildings about a block and a half away from the big old building where I live.  Happened early in the morning and no one was badly hurt so that was good.  Took the firefighters quite a long time to get it contained.  The very sad thing is that it's the building where Backyard Pizza, my current favorite restaurant, was located.  And, the owners of Backyard Pizza had earlier this year opened another restaurant in that same building, The Peddlers, that I hadn't even tried yet but that everyone was raving about.  I was really worried that they would have to tear down the building not just because I'd lose my favorite restaurant but because it would leave such a big empty space right on the corner.  But apparently they are going to be able to replace the roof which collapsed and then with major clean-up and restoration work, save the building and, keeping my fingers crossed, the reopening of at least Backyard Pizza.

Also, for at least a year and I feel like it might be close to 2 years now, work has been being done to turn what was the old (1902) Anderson & Newcomb Store, then the Stone & Thomas store, into Marshall University's Visual Arts Center.  Work was finished up and move-in accomplished within the last couple of months and yesterday evening they hosted an open-house.  It is so wonderful to see that building looking good again.  When January was little (and actually until she went off to college) we had a pretty solid tradition of coming downtown every Saturday, visiting the stores, having lunch at Bowincal's (a thing of the past now), going to the library for books and then home.  Once the mall opened in Barboursville, it took about two years for almost all of the downtown stores to close and the Stone & Thomas building just got rattier and rattier looking.  It had been empty for about 20 years when Marshall finally bought it.  I visited a couple of floors last night and it's just wonderful what they've done with it.  The facade of the building was maintained with the same windows, etc., but inside it's like some 6 story art gallery!  There are classrooms and workrooms also but the students will be surrounded by art works while they work and learn.

So, just a few pictures...

You can't see it clearly but they even restored the canopy's metal trim that had slowly been disappearing. Apparently the interior was pretty much a disaster - they had to do a lot of shoring up with steel beams, etc.  A beautiful job I think.

Marshall's football team is called the Thundering Herd and their mascot is a bison.  Actually not being very knowledgeable in the sports realm, I guess he's the mascot of all the teams and the school for that matter.  Anyway, he's a big deal.  So the university sponsored a contest for arts students to enter a design for how they would paint a fiberglass statue of a bison to be kept somewhere on Pullman Square (right across the street from the new Visual Arts Center).  A sophomore, Brianna Jarvis, won the competition and her bison was unveiled at the opening ceremony last night.  Here he is in all his glory:

 I like the the side on the right best, I think cause it just seems right to see him with a brown head.  I wasn't there to hear the explanation of her reasons for her design but what with pictures on his hindquarters and the logo of the center on his hump/shoulder, I'm sure every section has a raison d'etre.

I think it's pretty neat that we now have a designer bison in town just as other cities have their cows, pigs, and various other designer animals.

Another nifty thing we now have is a food truck!  It's "Chickpeas" and serves mid-Eastern foods - gyros, falafel, babaganoush, etc., and all made fresh everyday by the owners.  I was going to get my first meal last night cause they were going to be at Heritage Station but their truck broke down!  So no meal and no picture either.  But I'll keep trying.  I had a few samples one evening when I happened upon them and it was very tasty.

We also have another fairly new place that I really like and that's Salads With a Twist.  It took quite a while before I got around to trying them but once I did, I have slowly become addicted to them.  You pick out what you want in it and their small salad is enough for dinner one night and finish the rest off the next day for lunch.  They also apparently have omelets(?) and maybe sandwiches but I've never seen them and it's the salads I like so someone else will have to figure out if everything else is good.

And, finally, I was at Starbucks last Sunday doing my Sunday newspaper, funnies and puzzles.  Looked out the window and laughed out loud at what I  have to call a lap dog because she stayed put there for a while - no hopping off right away for her!

tee hee...

News from home and on the road (and some random photos I save and never post)

First random photo - walking home from Hillbilly Hotdogs one day came across these little beauties in just a scruffy, curb-side space between the street and the sidewalk.  Just so cheery...

So, it's June 4 and I'm in Virginia at Chris's (my son) apartment.  Life has been good the last week or so.  Chris took the train to Huntington arriving Sunday night (5/25), stayed until Saturday morning when we packed up the car and I brought him back home.  It was my idea to use the train because now I will go on from here to Massachusetts to visit my sister (I leave for there tomorrow) and then come back here to see Heather and her family and to welcome January back from about a month in Germany!  Then I will be bringing Sophia (my granddaughter) back to Huntington with me for a visit.  Phew!!  But wonderful!!!

Random photo #2 - I'm always taking pictures of the sky out my windows and especially when a storm is moving in.  None of them are anywhere near to what it really looks like when you've got about a 180 degree view but I kind of liked this one.

So, Chris's visit...we ate a lot.  We had to eat at LaFamiglia, Backyard Pizza, and The Bistro, my current favorites (lunch and two dinners) all of which were pretty wonderful.  The Bistro, especially, was fun because we sat at the small bar there and were the only two sitting there, so we pretty much had the undivided attention of the man behind the bar.  It was his first night there and we really enjoyed chatting with him.  Later, the owner joined us and we started getting all kinds of sips of various wines - even a port which I had never had.  They also let us sample a chocolate wine that was very tasty.  I tried one a year or two ago that everyone was raving about at the time and it was, for me, at least, so awful, I poured it down the sink.  Looked awful too - like chocolate milk.  The one we sampled was one I wouldn't mind having for a little dessert-type wine.

Not so random photo #3 - Chris helped me hang the two pieces of art I had bought when I went to the Rappahannock Art Festival with him this past summer.  We thought of various cords, methods, etc., for hanging the leaf and then Chris thought what about a chain and that was perfect.  And he also helped me wash my windows which I didn't take a picture of. :)  I had let them go longer than normal and they looked so different that after the first one, I left the room, came back in and thought the window was open!

We drove to Charleston one day so Chris could take pictures of the Capitol Building with his newer and better camera gear and that was a nice outing.  Interesting fact - the dome on our capitol is higher than US Capitol dome and was designed by the architect who also designed the US Supreme Court building and based its chamber on the East Chamber of the WV Capitol Building.  I found this picture on line which shows the front and the statue of Abraham Lincoln.  I could swear I posted photos I took of the statue a year or two ago cause I really liked it...

We had lunch at the Bluegrass Kitchen which my friend Peggy and I had discovered on a Charleston trip while looking for another restaurant.  It's a real popular place also even though from outside it looks a little iffy.

While at the Capitol Building and waiting for Chris to finish, I asked for the women's restroom and was directed to this one which the guard said "is the nicest one in the building" which I thought was kind of cute.  But I must say, it was nice.  Had this very nice lounge area with the pretty window looking out.  Not real sure why there would be a shoe shine chair in a women's lounge though.  Did women have shoes that got shined in the olden days??

We had decided that on our drive to Virginia, we would stop at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank.  I've thought "I want to stop there some time" every time I drive past the exit on my way to and from Virginia and it turns out Chris has always wanted to stop there too so I said "I'm in!"

This is kind of unbelievable to see in person - HUGE!!! I will maybe bore you with some details, but maybe not - I found it very impressive.  From their brochure:  This is the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) and it is 485 ft tall - taller than the Statue of Liberty and just short of the Washington Monument.  It weighs 17 million pounds, yet can be pointed to within an accuracy of one arcsecond which they explain is equivalent to the width of a human hair seen from 66 feet away-in other words, I guess, basically an infinitesimal amount.  The surface of the dish is almost 2.3 acres and is designed to handle (receive) wave-lengths from 9 feet long down to 1/8th inch.  Oh, and it is the world's largest full-steerable telescope and it's in West Virginia, durn it!  They have a fun, hands-on type exhibit center, and a little tour bus that takes you out past all the dishes (there are 8 or 9 I believe) and then through the gates to drive up quite close to the GBT and when we got there and got out of the bus, it began turning to a new setting which was kind of mind-blowing.  Totally silent as that massive dish turned probably about a quarter way around and also tilted upward a bit more.  The reason the photo is from so far away is because nothing digital is allowed any closer - no phones, digital cameras, etc.  In fact, the whole site is situated in "The National Radio Quiet Zone" established by the Federal government in 1958 to protect these radio dishes.  It covers 13,000 square miles and if unusual interference is noticed on any of the dishes, the Observatory is permitted to determine where it's coming from and visit that residence (usually) and let them know they will have to do whatever is necessary to lower the interference.  On site, everything that could interfere (for instance the microwave oven in the cafe) is encased either in steel or copper.  It was all really fascinating.  We had to get off the highway and drive through some nice country to get there and then when we left, rather than drive back south we continued on the secondary road going north and came out at Rt. 66 (4-lane divided) which left about 72 miles to Chris's house.  So that was nice too - very pretty driving.


And being a miniaturist, I enjoyed this model in their cafe area. It's not the GBT, but is another dish there.  The little dots down on the bottom are scale people.

Since I've been here, we had an outing on Sunday to Great Falls Park which is on the Potomac River with Virginia on one side and Maryland on the other.  It was an absolutely beautiful day and a very enjoyable jaunt except for the fact that everyone in the surrounding area apparently had the same idea and the line to get into the park was longer than any I've ever seen at any park.  But once we were parked, the park itself didn't seem overly crowded and was very enjoyable.  I, of course, didn't have my camera or phone cause this was a spur of the moment outing after we had been to Starbucks but Chris took these two with his phone.

This is a panorama shot with the falls in the background.  We watched a kayaker who kept trying to go upriver and getting swept back down.  He did finally make it as far as that first outcropping below the falls.

And closer to the falls.  I'm surprised at how "short" they look.  They weren't the Niagara or anything but they appeared higher in person.  Beautiful though and look at that sky!

So that's it - a really fun, nice, tasty, and extended visit with my favorite (and only!) son.  I'm really looking forward to my visit with my sister and then seeing the rest of my family when I get back down to the DC area.  Will be a little strange getting back home with Sophia in tow after such an extended trip but fortunately she seems to enjoy life to the fullest whatever is going on so hopefully she won't mind her old grammy's slow "getting settled back in" process.