Taking A Walk

by Dwayne Phillips

Ah, we begin in earnest. I am braving peril by not going to the dentist this week. I was able to get an appointment with another dentist for next Monday. That will reduce the walking, but is the best I could hope for.

I believe we walked 15 miles today. That is farther than I hoped to do. I trust that we will both feel well tomorrow and will be able to have another good day.

Harsh winds this morning on Route 7 between Berryville and Winchester. The winds and the traffic, especially the semi-trailers, blew my hat everywhere. I used the string to choke myself and keep the hat on my head.

We had a little rain – literally one minute of it. I was glad that is passed through so quickly.

East of Winchester were several Hispanic restaurants. I wasn’t surprised at this. There are thousands of Hispanic immigrants working in construction in the Washington D.C. area. I had heard that many lived as far west as Winchester.

I also found this old ice cream and hamburger place. Why do they sell frozen custard and frozen yogurt at these places? Ice cream is much better.

We walked through Winchester. This is a small city, and the roads cut back and forth downtown one way this way and that. We managed to navigate and accidentally found the highlight of the day – The Handley Library.

Here is Karen sitting in front of the building, and a photo of the building itself. This place is fantastic. It is an historical site and a functioning library. I have been to Oxford, England and tried to visit the libraries there. I couldn’t enter.

We walked through this library and climbed the spiral staircases up to the top level. Everything is immaculate. It compares to the Jefferson Building in the Library of Congress. The scale does not compare, but the elegance and function do.

I am surprised that Wikipedia does not have a page on the Handley. The only page of tribute that I could on it is this one. As a functioning library, Handley does have their working page here. What a shame.

After navigating the one way streets, we proceeded down U.S. Route 11. It was good to be on Route 11.

South of Winchester on Route 11 were several Indian and Thai restaurants. I am not sure of the ethnic mixture in Winchester itself, but the restaurants offered much more than ham and mashed potatoes.

The day ended at the northern end of Stephens City. We’ll walk through there in the morning a report on that tomorrow.