A Christmas (Staycation) Story

I’m old school and still read actual newspapers. I like to keep articles on hand of places to go, exhibits to check out, shows to see, restaurants to try. Since we traveled this year for Thanksgiving Break (oh, beautiful Miami how I miss you), we decided to stay local for the winter holiday break, a perfect time to cross some of these items off of our bucket list. One afternoon, we trekked to Richmond to visit the Virginia Museum of History & Culture. The museum had a temporary exhibit on the history of A Charlie Brown Christmas, timely since our son had just come off of portraying Pigpen in his school’s production of the holiday classic. We learned about the history of Peanuts (Did you know Charlie Brown, Lucy, and Linus were named after real people that Charles Schulz knew from work? That the voices of the cartoon characters were real children and not adults, which didn’t sit well with TV execs? That Snoopy was originally named Sniffy?) and also wandered through other exhibit halls learning about the history of our state and where we live. Afterward, we headed over to Carytown, a lovely section of the city with quaint little shops and restaurants. We had dinner at Carytown Gyro, a small establishment with genuine Middle Eastern cuisine featuring yummy specials on the weekends; you must try their take on a gyro, which is grilled. Another day, we traveled down to Poquoson for lunch at Chef Lu’s Chinese Cuisine after reading an article about their dumplings, which are supposedly the most authentic Chinese dumplings in the area. (We sampled the steamed mini buns----porked meatballs and soup in a wrapping----which were divine). We followed that up with cannolis for dessert from Italian Delights in Yorktown, which, again, stemmed from an article recommendation. (I saved that article for two years, but, hey, we finally made it). While most of our winter break was low-key (if my kids had had their way they would have stayed in their pajamas the whole two weeks they had off), we also managed to get out on New Year’s Day for a hike to Fossil Beach at York River State Park. The park, really just a stone’s throw from our house, boasts lots of beautiful scenery right along the shores of the York River, and is one of our town’s hidden treasures. Too bad we often forget about it in our bustle of every day life here. You can hike, bike, or horseback ride at York River State Park, though we often go just for a picnic and to escape the outside world for a moment. Eons ago when my son was just an infant and playgroups consumed our lives, I recall one mother who at the time had a preschooler, a toddler, and a newborn, telling me to get out of the house at least once a day. Sage advice all these years later. You don’t have to go very far to discover something new. The point is is to just get out. You won’t regret it.