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| Thomas :) |
After wanting to go to Thomas for so long, it was finally that weekend. Our trip to Fallingwater and Ohiopyle State Park had gone splendidly, and it was now time to do nothing in Thomas! :)
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| Cooper House and Purple Fiddle |
We got there early Friday evening and had a drink at Joy's. Scruffy had his fur cut, and when we walked in, I was afraid to call him Scruffy, incase he was another dog and Scruffy had passed away. Joy remembered our Christmas card and thanked us. I think she was quite pleased with it, because she mentioned it a few times over the weekend.
After drinks, bread, different types of goat cheese (from a farm in WV) and catching up, we headed for Burger Night at TipTop. They were open this time! Thankfully! :) But, Salud has closed down. Justin and Trevor have taken it over and plan to open an organic grocery store that also sells prepared food, and maybe alcohol. When we met Justin the next evening at drinks, he told us to sell alcohol in WV, you need to have two bathrooms, specifically designated as men's and women's. WV has weird laws.
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| Tip Top |
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| Burger Night! |
We enjoyed our burgers at the table by the window, quite content at being there. The next day, while we were talking to Seth and he was talking about his crayon art and its melting potential, he mentioned he had one piece up near where we were sitting for dinner the previous night, and the sun didn't affect it. But, he noticed, and remembered us! Man, I love Thomas! :)
After dinner, we went to Purple Fiddle to get chocolate ice cream! With chocolate cones in our hand, we walked along Thomas, and for the first time, canvased the route behind the houses. When we returned to Joy's, John was having a drink with her. John is the owner of Purple Fiddle, and this was the first time we met him. We saw him a few times through the rest of the weekend, and talked to him a bit on Sunday again, when we were lunching at Purple Fiddle.
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| Chocolate Ice Cream at Purple Fiddle |
On Saturday, we slept in, and then, while Saurabh was getting ready, I took my notebook and walked to the benches below Front Street, and wrote a little.
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| Scruffy must be petted as soon as he sees you |
Once Saurabh was out, we ambled along to Flying Pig for our Thomas Breakfast staple - Karlwich (without bacon) and garlic potatoes. mmmmmm Katie, remembered us, and when I asked for the Iguana hot sauces to accompany our meal, she asked if I had bought them from the place she told me about the last time we were there. hah! :)
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| Karlwich |
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| Hot and Saucy. Which is which? |
With our bellies full, we walked to White Room, where Seth was just turning the sign to open. We said hi and I asked him if he was open, he turned his sign and said "Now I am!", and in we went! He has a lot of new prints of his up this time. And we noticed, the print we got for Saurabh now has a new name. We didn't ask him why he changed the name (to Casper, from Saleh), but maybe we will ask him next time. The square crayon boxes he was working on last time, are now all complete and displayed. They will be ready for sale memorial day weekend. There was no way we were leaving Thomas without anything. Saurabh got a couple of prints, I got a small one, and we got a few greeting cards. I also picked up a few free small prints/cards that were blemished, so he couldn't sell them. YAY! :D
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| Seth's gallery ♥ |
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| When I saw this in November, I loved it! It made me think of Geysers in Iceland |
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| This was not ready in November, and it might be our favourite of the collections |
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| I really like this exploding wine glass. I hadn't seen it before, Seth said it was displayed in TipTop, Now it is in White Room, and I saw it this trip. |
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| Print for me |
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| Saurabh's prints |
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| Random Seth Print |
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| Random Seth Print |
We were far enough into our day in Thomas, and we still hadn't had any TipTop coffee. We headed there next, and got ourselves cappuccinos. I remember it was delicious coffee, but man, had I forgotten how delicious! mmmmm
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| Cappuccino at TipTop |
I wrote some more while we were there, we talked, we sipped, we looked out, we basked in Thomas bliss.
We went to the General Store to see if we could find old photo of Thomas that John had mentioned the previous night. We didn't, but we found a box of random old documents and papers. I read a story written by a kid back in the 1930s or something. So random. The lady at the General store looked at us and said, weren't you guys here some time back? :)
Lunch was thai curry and chocolate ice cream at purple fiddle, while listening to Carly Clark perform. Her voice was beautiful. You could tell she was new at performing live, she kept looking at her friends when she talked and in between songs. It was adorable.
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| Carly Clark |
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| Wine and Beer in Mason jars, and a purple fiddle order paddle |
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| Thai Curry |
The previous evening Joy has mentioned Thomas trails, once you cross the bridge before (or after, depending on what direction you are coming from) Thomas. We walked there that evening, in the gentle drizzle and explored. They have a 'yellow brick' trail! :) We walked along a gurgling stream for a while. At one point there were wooden slabs hammered onto fallen tree trunks to the side of the trail. Of course, we climbed and walked the length of those. On our way back, we sat on a small bridge, our legs hanging over the river and talking, a childhood dream of Saurabh's. :)
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| Thomas, from the other side of the river |
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| Thomas, through the trees |
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| The wooden slabs on fallen trunks |
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| Sitting on the little bridge, and looking over at the stream |
In the evening, we had drinks, bread, cheese, and delicious spicy peanuts at Joy's. Hung out with the guests that had come that day and Justin. Just was really fun to talk to. He had lots to tell us about his plans for Salud, the garden/backyard, his new rabbits (5! The lady who works at the General store found them abandoned in a box on the side of the road. He took them because they are great for the garden - he explained in great detail about how they eat the weedsand their poop isa great fertilizers because it isn't acidic or something. He also showed us a video of them and told us their names - I remember none) and other thises and thats.
That night, we had dinner (more Thai curry) at Purple Fiddle and listened to the band, River Whyless, perform. They were different and excellent! :) More ice cream was devoured before we turned in for the night.
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| River Whyless |
Sunday morning was lazy again. We repeated breakfast and coffee, before we came back to Cooper House to go with Joy to see her Billy Motel. It was not what I was expecting. For some silly reason, I expected it be typical motel-ish. But, it is Joy, of course it wasn't. The reception area is so warm and cozy. It will be fun to drink and chill there, if you are staying at Billy's. She has a print of a painting, 'The Chinese Girl' by Vladimir Tretchikoff, popular in the 70s, in the reception area and has used that as her theme for the colours - deep, dark blues and greens, a little red and yellow/mustard. She has painted vines on the floor corners her self. She showed us the space behind that will be their kitchen and dining area eventually. We also saw one of the three (there will eventually be 10 rooms) rooms that is ready. We loved it all and are so excited for her!
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| Scruffy in Front of Billy Motel |
Back at her house, we packed, got another coffee for the road, a latte this time (SOOOO GOOD!) and then headed to Davis to get natural mountain spring water that Joy told us about. We filled the two bottles we had and drove back to DC.
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| Spring Water! SO Delicious |
Highway 48 was gorgeous and empty, as usual. My favourite highway. The grey clouds and the white road made a great view as we drove back, away from our lovely Thomas.
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| All the way back home |
