Henry County

I have spent this week teaching way out in Henry County (highlighted red in the above picture, if you couldn't guess). I still have 3 more classes to teach before the 5 hour drive back to Williamsburg, but this has been one of the best weeks of my job yet! Unfortunately, I don't have any hilarious "gems" to share with you all...it is late enough in the school year where the programs are definitely more of a review/refresher for those lovely SOLs that are coming up. SOLs, for you non-Virginian readers, are the Standards of Learning aka the standardized tests that came about as part of the No Child Left Behind program. The SOLs are a major part of my job, seeing how our programs are catered to fit the SOLs, full of vocabulary needed for the tests, and it has been proven that schools that we visit will score higher on their History SOL. ANYWAYS. The lessons on Jamestown and the Revolutionary War are pretty much over and the 4th graders have moved on to studying the Scotch-Irish immigrants (which I love) and the 5th graders have moved on to studying the Civil War (which I love). Our visits now act as a refresher so that the students don't answer "Scotch-Irish!" to a question like "Who were the people who settled at Jamestown in 1607?" or "Robert E. Lee!" to "Who led the Continental Army to victory?" Those are the answers that we are getting in our programs, so it is obviously very important that we are here visiting them.

The main reason that this is one of the best trips is because it is certainly one of the most FUN! I am traveling with two good friends, who are the other two young girls in the office. There are only 3 female Outreach Instructors under the age of 40 (me at 23, and these two girls who are 25). This is the first trip that we have had together and we are making the most out of it. First of all, these two girls are obsessed with saving money (we get $39 as per diem to spend on food and such). I LOVE that...because really, who doesn't like to save money??? We went grocery shopping the first night and each spent about $20, so that the only money I've spent all week besides that is $1.50 for a cup of coffee here and $2 there for a bottle of water (mm hmm...water costs more than coffee!) It is always a good feeling to know that you are "earning" extra money outside of the measly paycheck.

Also--these girls are just flat out FUN. My teaching schedule has been so relaxed that I have had plenty of energy to do fun things AFTER teaching. On Tuesday, we headed over to the Martinsville Speedway.
Any NASCAR fans out there reading this?? Yea, I didn't think so. The Martinsville Speedway is one of three(? that I know of) racetracks in Virginia that hosts Nascar races. Next Sunday is one of those big Nascar events and get this--it is the "Goodys Fast Relief 500." Catchy name huh?? So I'm not into Nascar, but I've got to admit I enjoyed seeing the track. We just kind of walked up to a guy and said we were from out of town and wanted to know if we could walk around. Well sure!!! We were able to walk all around the stands, up to the press box...then down to the flag tower (where the guy stands who waves the checkered flag!)...and even got to step foot on the track itself on the finish line!!! We had the whole place to ourselves, with the exception of the maintenance crew getting ready for the race next weekend. Pretty cool. On the way home, since we were feeling pretty redneck-ish, we stopped by this place called "Pigs-R-Us BBQ." And it was d.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s. Easily the best BBQ I've ever had. My dinner: 4 ribs, 5 slices of brisket, 6 baby hushpuppies, a handful of fries, a cup of green beans, and cup of mac 'n cheese. And I literally almost ate the whole thing. Don't judge me. [Editors note: President Obama visited Martinsville on his campaign trail, and ate at Pigs R Us! He is quoted as saying, "Now that is some good barbeque."]
To make up for THAT, I went for a run the following day. Teaching went by super fast--I only taught 3 classes so there was plenty of energy and sunlight to enjoy. There was a gorgeous trail along a river right in the middle of town that was a mile long, and only a 2 minute drive from the hotel. The girls were nice enough to go with me, walking, while I ran it. I felt great, even though I haven't gone on a run in over a week, and really enjoyed myself. Once we made it back to the hotel and I showered, I met up with the girls in the front lobby where we spent over 3 hours playing cards (Rummy, which I lost...Hearts, which I lost...and Yahtzee, which I WON!) As we were playing games, we were listening to the evening news and heard that the International Space Station would be flying across the northwest night sky at 8:08pm. We went outside and sure enough saw the Space Station. Amazing.

And Thursday! I only had to teach TWO classes which is just unbelievable. There was a scheduling glitch with the school and they needed to combine the fourth graders, so I taught 2 classes at a time. It was a bit hectic because that adds up to quite a bit of students, but I was done by 10:45. That left the whole day to explore. We spent it walking around the downtown area, where we stumbled into a visitor center. Apparently the visitor center only gets visitors when there is a race in town, so the cute little lady was beside herself with excitement to talk to us! ESPECIALLY when she found out we were spending the week working in the schools! She handed us postcards and bumper stickers and brochures to bring back to the office to share with our coworkers. The visitor center was full of information, but also filled with local artists work trying to be sold. Some of the stuff was really neat, like pottery and woven rugs. There were even washcloths just like Mom and Grandma make---a set of four for $20!!! I didn't buy any... [Editors note: this picture below--off of Google Images--is of the visitor center AND that is the super nice woman who chatted with us!!]
After browsing the neat art and meeting a few of the artists as well, we continued on our walk of the downtown area, window shopping, and finally stopping at a cute little coffee shop for a little snack. Turns out this wasn't just any old coffee shop, but it was a "Mom and Pop" type shop, and wouldn't you know that "Mom and Pop" were the ones working today? They knew right away that Megan and I were out-of-towners and wanted to know all about what we were doing and how we were enjoying our stay in Henry County, and oh-you-have-got-to-try-this-coconut-brownie. Two hours later, we continued on our way!!

A perfect end to the week was spending last night at State Line Grocery and Gas. We were just a few miles from the North Carolina border, in Patrick County (the county immediately to the left of the red one above). At this run down gas station/convenience store, there is a bluegrass jam session every Thursday night. Oh my goodness was it AMAZING! Plaid everywhere, the occasional denim overall, lots of camoflauge jackets, tons of hair, not a lot of teeth. The perfect combination for an incredible jam session. There were guitars, a banjo, a zither, and a mandolin. Two women and four men singing, not counting the crowd of regulars who were singing along in between drags on their cigarettes.


Unfortunately, none of my own pictures to share with you. I left my camera at home in Leesburg before packing up and heading back to Newport News. These are all Google Image pictures, so thats my giving credit to where credit is due! Hopefully none of them are copyrighted...