We left Virginia Beach and headed north to our old homebase of Fredericksburg, VA.
Fredericksburg sits on the Rappahannock River and is just shy of 60 miles south of Washington DC. It was a bustling trading spot in colonial times and was also the site of several battles in both the American Revolution and Civil War.
We called Fredericksburg home for more than 15 years. It was also where we headquartered our business.
Our first stop was to our accountant’s office, of course! Scott Stephens and Tina Ellis of Kelemen & Stephens worked magic with our taxes when we had our business and they’re still working magic on our taxes today, even though we live 2,200 miles away! When you find someone you like and can trust in business, you never let them go ;)!
After visiting our Accountant (hey Scott, is our trip a business write-off since we talked business with you?), we headed over to the Silver Diner to meet up with some real estate associates whom we also count as good friends.
Remember what I said about keeping people you like and trust with you over the years? We’ve known Mari Kelly since we moved to Fredericksburg back in 2000. I can’t count how many properties we bought and sold with her help. She sets the bar high for realtors: finding realtors in other cities who could measure up to Mari has been like trying to find a needle in a haystack! She spoiled us! Hey Mari, maybe you want to set up shop in Tucson?Years ago, Mari introduced us to Jim Braford and his wife Therese. Jim got out of the DC rat race many moons ago and hasn’t looked back. He now deals with a different kind of rat, of the “raccoon” variety. Jim is one of those one-in-a-million friends who can fix or build darned near anything and do it with honesty and good humor. While getting one of our Fredericksburg properties ready for sale (we were in Tucson), Jim didn’t just do the usual fixups in the house. He bravely served an eviction notice to a colony of squatter raccoons who had built a condominium complex in our rental home attic!No visit with friends would be complete without paying homage to Tink & Da Boyz! Therese and Jim had met Austin (and Frankie) when they visited us in Tucson a few years ago. Inside Tinkerbell, Ziggy went out of his way to make a good impression on his new friends from Freddy.Frankie, on the other hand, remained on his regal perch in the bedroom for our guests to make a good impression on him.
It was hard to say goodbye to our friends, butt they had to get back to work (darn jobs!) so we bid them farewell and prepared for our next stop in Freddy: our favorite jewelry store!
Ulman’s Jewelry is where Jay purchased my beautiful wedding rings (along with quite a few other stunning pieces)! Our timing was perfect because I had hurt my knuckle many months ago and had to have my wedding ring literally sawed off (since my finger and knuckle were swollen). The rings were now a jagged mess of white gold and diamonds. We decided the best place to get the rings fixed was the very place we purchased them. We didn’t have an appointment, but we were in luck! Linda (another fabulous Linda!!) was on duty and promptly assured us the Ringmaster would fix my rings before we had to leave town in a few days. Whew!
With the rings in trusted hands, we decided to visit a few more of our favorite haunts in downtown Fredericksburg. The town has really grown since we left it in 2015, butt many of our go-to places remain untouched by time:
Irish Eyes has been in Freddy for more than 30 years and is a Heraldic Research Center celebrating Celtic heritage. We love all things Irish (I think because Mari captivated us with so many great stories of her life in Ireland and we have lots of good friends of Irish descent!) and had fun shopping for some touristy t-shirts! Sharon helped us pick out a few shirts – she isn’t from Ireland though… she’s from Scotland!We lived just a few blocks from one of Jay’s favorite bookstores. Riverby Books, an eclectic, fun, used bookstore in downtown Fredericksburg. Riverby used to have a second store that was, interestingly, just a few blocks from our other home in Washington DC. How many people can claim they lived within blocks of two Riverby bookstores simultaneously? Just one more reason to love us!
That evening, Jay visited with his granddaughter Shanna who works not far from where we camped for the night.
Jay was soooooo happy to see beautiful Shanna and enjoyed a nice dinner catching up. It had been too long since they last actually saw each other in person: at least 15 years! They promised each other they won’t let another 15 years pass before they visit again.After seeing Shanna, Jay visited with his other granddaughter Birdie (on the right) and her wife Brittney. Again, it had been a long 15 years since Jay had seen his granddaughters and he was filled with joy to meet Brittney and see both Birdie and Shanna so happy!
We returned to Fredericksburg to finish some “unfinished” business: we wanted to ride our bicycles through town and on the Fredericksburg Railway Trail, eat at Sammy T’s. and pick up our rings from Ulman’s!
We loved riding this trail when we lived in Fredericksburg. It was fun to ride it again! The trail follows the old railroad track that traversed Fredericksburg through the ages. We stopped in front of one of our favorite homes that we lived in: 800 Cornell Street in downtown Fredericksburg. The home was built in 1935 and was a charming brownstone that we lovingly renovated while we lived there.
After our bike ride, of course it was time to eat! We headed over to a scratch kitchen restaurant that’s been in Fredericksburg for more than 40 years (wait… since when was 40 years considered a long time?!)
We ordered one of our favorite meals: the mediterranean platter and a side of onion rings at Sammy T’s! The food was the same quality we remembered, butt the back half of the restaurant is now a pizza shop. I’m sure the pizza is delicious since Sammy T’s is known for its fresh food!
With bicycling checked off our list and our tummies full from Sammy T’s, we were ready to pick up my repaired wedding rings from the Ringmaster at Ulman’s!
Ringmaster Simon was excited to see us when we walked into Ulman’s Jewelry. He barked a few orders and had us bow in gratitude before he would bring forth my rings.
Ulman’s Jewelry is a downtown landmark. Jerry and Donna Ulman are the store’s owners and maintain a stellar reputation built on years of trust and friendship (there’s that theme again, keeping trusted friendships through the years). Jerry’s Uncle Simon (not to be confused with the above-pictured Simon) and his father Jerome founded Ulman’s in 1928. We’re so happy we discovered Ulman’s when we lived in Fredericksburg – a good jeweler, like a good accountant, a good realtor, and a good raccoon evictor is a good find, indeed!
As Jerry Ulman and Jay kneeled to Simon, he smiled triumphantly and presented the flawlessly repaired rings for my approval. Well done, Simon, well done!
Coming Up: Jay’s Mother-In-Law-from-Hell Joins the Tour and We Camp at Ft. Belvoir
Recent news flash yet to hit the big networks……There is a reported capture of a cat that is being forced to travel in an RV with two dogs across America. The apart name of RV is Tinkerbell which the cat had no part in the naming.
The male human capture can be recognized by his matching top and bottom drivers uniform and the female lead capture is master mind behind the torture tour. Don’t let her fool you with all the fun and laughs hiding the cats journey with the Tinkerbell tour.
Please report any sightings and administer catnip if needed. To be catinued.
Tinkerbell's Travels 
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