“What day is it?” asked Pooh. "It's today," squeaked Piglet. "My favorite day," said Pooh. -- A.A. Milne
This just about describes my day in Wytheville a few weeks ago. I awoke to a gorgeous fall day, not too hot and not too cold, just right. I visited a little park downtown, just wandering around enjoying the crisp mountain air and the fall-painted leaves. Wytheville is such a charming little town; I find myself wanting to return there as often as I can. I know though, that there are countless other small, charming towns that I just haven't seen yet, and I can't wait to visit those also!Next on my agenda was Fort Chiswell Animal Park. This private "zoo" of sorts has a petting area and a guided safari bus tour. There are animals from all over the world, just waiting to be enjoyed. The cool thing is that the animals also enjoy it. They are well taken care of , have tons of space, and seem to love interacting with the many visitors. I personally know that the camel who stuck his head inside my bus window was enjoying himself. He got extreme pleasure from locating the bag of animal food I had wedged beside me and then grabbing it greedily. He proceeded to dump the entire contents of the bag into his mouth. I could swear he had a grin on his face when he finished.
In addition to the food-stealing camel, I encountered zebras, water buffalo, llamas, alpacas, a bison, ostriches, and several other animals, including my favorite, the giraffe. Most of the animals can be fed, and a few can be petted. The safari bus tour lasts about 45 minutes and is well-worth the $12 entry fee. I had a great time and got lots of pictures (see below).
After this fun morning, I returned to Wytheville for lunch. I ate at Moon Brick Oven and was not overly impressed. I have included my lunch pictures below. It was pretty much just a sandwich and cheese bread, nothing you can't get at any sandwich shop.
My trip home was pleasant and uneventful. I stopped right near the VA/NC line and bought apples, apple butter, and pumpkins at a roadside stop. There are many of these stops along the VA roads.
Overall, I had an extremely enjoyable weekend and can't wait to get away again. It may be a while due to the busy upcoming holiday shopping at Just Be. We'll see what lies next for this Travel Junky Teacher...
