It was fairly uneventful in a very good way. Not exactly what I'd call relaxing, but we did have Thanksgiving dinner in a tiny farmhouse sitting on 250 acres in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Not a bad place to take the boys for an after-dinner stroll. :)
But I wanted to share something with you all that I'm not exactly sure how to take. On our last day in Lynchburg, we ate breakfast at a 50's-style diner called "DOC's". It is located ON the Liberty University Campus. For those that don't know, Liberty University was founded in 1971 by none other than his holy hypocrisy, the Reverend Jerry Falwell. Easily one of my 10 least favorite people on Earth, when he was still on Earth. And if I had my way, Liberty University would be burned to the ground, along with Bob Jones College, Regent University and Oral Roberts University. (And any other "school" that teaches any form of creationism or intelligent design in a science classroom.) (I'd burn down the "Creation Museum" in KY as well!) That being said, one might wonder why I'd spend any of my hard-earned money there. Well... first off, I didn't know where it was (or who owned it) when we agreed to meet my brother-in-law and his family there for breakfast. Also... he paid. So none of my money went there. I did get a free car-sticker:
Of course... I'll be dancing naked in the 9th circle of HELL before I drive around with a Liberty University ANYTHING on my car, but still: Good for a laugh!
Thing is... while we were in there, trying to keep our breakfast down sitting amongst tacky, larger than life-sized murals of the Reverend Falwell *barf*, I noticed a few things that I found... rather odd. And I'm not talking about the picture of Falwell being hoisted up by the Basketball team so he could cut down the net! (WTF? What, did Liberty win the Class-C Evangelical Invitational or something?!) No... I mean something rather... IRONIC, considering the setting.
Now, like I said, this place was ON the Liberty Campus. And it was called "DOC's" because apparently that was Falwell's nickname amongst the students. And the menu was (supposedly) full of his favorite stuff. I'll give the portly, hypocritical, cardiac case this much: The FOOD was excellent! But as were eating, I take a look at my kid's "kiddie-cups" and what do I see? A WIZARD. A medieval SORCERER! Seriously! And, no, he wasn't being burned at the stake or anything! In fact he was helping a knight fight a Dragon! Aren't these the same nutcases who boycotted D&D back in the '80s and Harry Potter much more recently?! And the picture on the cup was actually a GAME: Help the Wizard find the six magical stones! MAGICAL STONES?! WTF?! These people are now teaching childeren about MAGICLA STONES? When the fuck did that start happening?!
OK... So, at first, I thought I might just be reading too much into it. Or who knows, maybe someone made a mistake? But then I look over the KID'S MENU. The second item (basically a Burger-n-Fries combo) is called the "TINKY WINKIE!!!" Again, for those who don't know, Tinky Winky is the Purple Teletubby that caused all kinds of controversy a few years back, amongst people like his blessed insanity, the Revered Jerry Falwell, because supposedly he was GAY. That's right: TINKY WINKY was the GAY TELETUBBY and they named the second item on the KID'S MENU in a JERRY FALWELL-themed diner ON LIBERTY U. CAMPUS after him!
So... Either the people who run this place are actually more like thee and me and they're poking a little fun at the late Preacher and the students who took his verbal incontinence seriously enough to pay him tuition -OR- these Christian Funny-Mentalists have WAY MORE of a sense of humor than I ever gave them credit for!
Not sure. We had a good laugh (and a GREAT heaping stack of Pancakes!) either way!
Have you ever stopped by Luray Caverns on your yearly trek to Ole Virginny? You should if you haven't - it's a pretty cool cave experience.
ReplyDeleteIt should be pretty easy for you to travel through there on your way to D.C. from Detroit - it's just off Rt 81 and Rt 66, and you can make a minor detour and easily get there. You can also travel on the Skyline Drive after visiting Luray Caverns, which is pretty nice if the weather's not too cloudy. Thanksgiving is too late to see the fall colors - mid October is the best time for that. Summer is the best time to enjoy the cooler mountain temps, but the road can get somewhat crowded then.
I have been to Lurray Caverns, but it was about 25 years ago! Same for taking the Skyline Drive. Maybe we'll have to make time for it next year.
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