Hotel: Comfort Inn & Suites
Location: Danville, VA
Date: 09/18/2016 - 09/21/2016
Chaired By: Bobby Johnson and his family of Alan, Keith & Kelly Johnson
Attendance: 19 total/3 shipmates
Highlights
The usual goodie bags of treats and info were handed out. Refreshments and snacks always available in the hospitality room. A great big finely prepared BBQ Pork, with all the fixins, was served by the expert chef Keith Johnson on Sunday evening.
We visited the “Poplar Forest Home” of Thomas Jefferson at Forest, VA. We then traveled to Bedford, VA, to the “D-Day Memorial”. This was the hilite of the day. If ever anyone is in this area, it is worth the visit. Dinner this evening was at the “Peak of Otter Lodge” on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
A visit today was to the “Vanville Veterans Memorial”. This ia a memorial to all veterans of all wars. We then toured the Sutherlin Mansion in Danville. This evening was spent at “Winstead Lodge” on Oak Mountain. It is owned by Phillip Winstead and he so graciously provided us with a steak dinner followed by home churned strawberry ice cream. Upon darkness, he put on a hugh fireworks display. We had a wonderful time deep in the forest on the mountain.
Wednesday was an open day. Some went shopping, others spent some time at two local wineries, tasting and buying. Our banquet was held at “The Stratford House”. A first class hospital corpsman, Smith, 93 years young, gave us a talk on his time (23 days) on the beaches of Normany tending the wounded. The colors were presented and retrieved by a local high school ROTC unit.
Goodbys the next morning and we will see you all in Branson, MO, in 2017.