November 12 and Alexandria, VA.........

Today, Jeff's conference was only for two hours so we checked out of hotel and went to Boalsburg. Just outside of State College, Boalsburg's claim to fame is that they started Memorial Day. So, thanks Boalsburg! As with all the small towns around here, Boalsburg has beautiful churches:



And beautiful homes:

We ate lunch at Duffy's Tavern, established in 1819! 

And on our way out of town, we stopped to fill up with gas and saw an Amish woman in a horse-drawn buggy, waiting for her husband in the convenience store. Since they clearly didn't need gas, we wondered what he was getting in the store. He came out with a fountain soda! The buggy had lantern-illuminated "turn signals" and a safety triangle on the back, since it was riding on the road with the cars. 

Love the contrast of the buggy with the gas station sign in the background!

And they're off! 

We started our drive to Alexandria, almost four hours away. The sun was fading fast, making most of our drive in the dark. 

We crossed the VERY wide Susquehanna river and saw this Statue of Liberty replica in the middle of the river! 

We finally arrived at our Airbnb in Alexandria. A sweet couple named Gina and Jemar run this one, and our room was in the basement. We were greeted by this cute sign, and their darling daughter, Sol, who kept us laughing the whole visit! She was a darling, spirited three year old. Our room was well-appointed with everything we needed, a private bathroom, and the charm of old Alexandria. 

My cousins Alex and Tim picked us up and we dined at an amazing BBQ place, followed by custard at The Dairy Godmother. I chose a boozy shake at the BBQ restaurant that was amazing! Afterward, we went to their condo nearby, met Alejandro the cat, and chatted until we were tired and Alex brought us home. It was another long, fun day.