Trip #3 (beginning to think West)

(Above= tunnel in Baltimore)
Presently we are at Nichole's dad's place in Gainsville Virginia. We got in Wednesday evening and will stay for five nights= the longest stay in one place.
Provincetown was a whirlwind of open mindedness that felt amazing to be around even if it was only for one night. Conclusions: cowboy hats get in the way when dancing/macking on hotties at the club AND don't ever come up to two womyn, say your friend thinks they are hot and then proceed to, as a group, attempt to get your friend some action. Nichole and I had this happen to us. It's just awkward.
To get to Virginia we went through nine states, about half being states we had previously been staying in and it felt weird to not go back to places like Providence and stay with awesomeness. It feels like if we are in the right part of the country, we should see these people but the nature of the trip kept us going. MC (our 8th grade teacher) contacted her brother for us in Hatboro PA so we had a place to stay the night.
Come morning we proceeded to Virginia, stopping in Baltimore to see E. A. Poe's house. We followed the signs. We walked a mile. We turned up Poe House st. We never found the house/grave. We did however, find some crazy good BBQ chicken, sweet potatoes and mac-and-cheese. It started to thunder and pour.
Virginia has been a different kind of adventure. We are both tired and glad to be in one place for a few days. I finally sat down and did some reading even.
Things that I have learned about Virginia so far:
1. The battle of Bull Run (Manassas) was the first battle of the Civil War. People around here still have very close ties to this. At the museum shop, a young boy asked his mother if he could have a doll of a Confederate soldier. The mother proceeded to answer, "I'll buy you a Confederate one but your father will have to buy you the Union doll. I'll never buy you one that is Union."
2. Arlington will never cease to amaze me.

. . .The white goes on forever. . .
3. Horse races are the shortest thing you will ever witness/slot machines are annoying as all hell. My aunt gave Nichole and I two hats, I mean big ol' fancy hats with flowers on them. (They belonged to my grandmother.) Clearly we wore these to the horse races, as all proper womyn do, and my golly were we popular with the elders. One man, well into his 70's bumped me in the arm and laughingy proclaimed, "I came here to watch the horses but I find myself looking at your hats." Yes indeed, I now know how to get me an older man!
AND THE FUCKIN' slot machines, which I don't care for but Nichole's dad gave us money and told us to go win so naturally I sat at the "Enchanted Unicorn" and saw lots of berries and flowers and queens and kings and even got some points and saw glittery lines and heard music playing but I walked away confused, bored and with no winnings.

That's all I've got for now. Tomorrow we head into DC and Sunday we hope to find a Pentecostal church and then hit up some vineyards with Nichole's dad.