From the Porch
In the footsteps of Queen Elizabeth
Dwight Otwell

I have been walking in the steps of the Queen of England.

As is our custom, once a year we venture to the Hampton Roads area to visit my daughter Vana, her husband Mike and granddaughters Leah and Nicole.

The Hampton Roads area includes Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach. It also includes numerous bridges and tunnels to direct traffic across and under the James River and the Chesapeake Bay.

English settlers passed by present day Norfolk on their way to found Jamestown, just north of Hampton. Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement in what was to become the United States of America. Jamestown was founded in 1607 - thus the queen visited Jamestown and the Hampton Roads area to help us celebrate 400 years of English/American history.

We began our trip on a Friday after taking care of some business in Murphy. Susan and I aren't the fastest of travelers because we tend to stop so much - bathroom breaks, food breaks - let's look at that breaks - and did I mention food breaks?

For the second year in a row, we stopped for the night in Creedmore, NC, which is just north of Durham. Creedmore is a rural area that is experiencing rapid growth similar to our mountain counties.

We got off on the first Creedmore exit, when we should have taken the second exit that mentions Creedmore. This mistake gave us the chance to see about six miles of countryside before we made it into the metropolis of Creedmore. We ate supper at a great, new seafood restaurant. The hush puppies were almost as good as those Mam Maw used to cook.

We asked the waitress for directions to the local lake,where we wanted to take an after dinner walk. She was a better waitress than direction giver.

We never found the lake but did see the local mental hospital and the water treatment plant. We stopped at a small, local park and took a leisurely stroll.

We decided to take a small, single lane road that kind of fit her directions. It was the right turn just after the railroad tracks.

However, this trail led a couple of miles through pine woods to nowhere. It ended abruptly in an open space. The only other living being we saw was a rabbit, who looked kind of frightened. I thought that this must be a local lover's lane. Or it could be a favorite site for drug deals. With that thought, we lingered no longer and drove straight back to the motel. Sometimes, taking the wrong turn or making a mistake can lead to a more interesting adventure than the intended course.

I've written enough already and we haven't even arrived in Hampton. I guess that means you will have to bear with me next week so that I can relay a little more about our vacation.