The Prettiest Little Church

Don and I celebrated our anniversary, way back in June, with a little day trip to the beach.  I've always loved the drive there, lots of farms and little fruit stands and so many different ways to actually reach the destination.  The GPS took us a new way this time and, when we passed the most lovely little brick church, I made Donnie turn around and go back.  

 Isn't it beautiful?  This is the Bridgetown Methodist Church.  You can read about some of its history  on this form from the Maryland Historical Trust and see a few older photos of the building.

 Many of the graves were too worn to be read.  There were even some headstones in plant growing in  the background.

 How's this for a final resting place?!  It was so peaceful on the day we stopped and there was a  wonderful slight breeze.  

 The two headstones above belong to a married couple.  From what I've found online, the weeping willow symbolizes mourning and grief.  I'm always fascinated by the meanings of symbols used on headstones.  This site has a pretty extensive list of symbols and their meanings.

This sign in front of the church shows just how old this lovely spot really is!

Luray Zoo

If you were to only know one thing about my husband, know that he loves animals.  Zoos, wildlife parks, and any other place we have the opportunity to see animals are always on the list when we travel.  We actually made two animal related stops on our trip to Virginia and our first was Luray Zoo.  This privately owned zoo is home to animals that have been rescued, are retired from zoos, or were no longer wanted or able to be cared for by their previous owners.  It's a little zoo, but there are lots of animals to see and the staff seemed really friendly.  Even one of the owners was out and about caring for the animals and chatting with visitors. 

This absolutely gorgeous gal is Angel.  She's a kestrel and was bred to be a falconry bird, but was born with a deformity that makes it difficult for her to use her right wing.  You can sort of see it in the photo here.  The wing sort of swoops out like an angel's wing.  The sign with her information said she loves human interaction and we definitely felt like she was as interested in us as we were in her. She was my second favorite animal at the zoo.  I'll get to my very favorite next.

This is Bella.  Her owner gave her up, after becoming sick with cancer.  I really could have spent the whole day with her.  I felt such a strong connection to her and fell in love with her sweet personality. I went back to her several times during our visit actually.  She smiled by showing her teeth each time and a few times ran around excitedly, as if she was showing off for us.  I totally cried when it was time to leave her!  Two other sweet monkeys that I believe came from the same owner were next to Bella and they were equally beautiful.

This is Zena and Chewie.  I think I have their names correct!  I believe they are older, so they didn't try quite as hard as Bella to entertain us.  They mostly seemed content with sitting peacefully and watching us watch them.

So I'm certain I could easily write a paragraph on every animal there, but I really think you need to visit for yourself and make sure to buy something from the gift shop or put some change in the donation box, because every little bit helps to care for all these amazing animals.