Review of Springfield, Virginia Trader Joe's Store

The church I go to is located in Springfield, Virginia. While down there, I've taken advantage of some of the stores they have in Springfield. One of them is their Trader Joe's store (store number 651) located at 6394 Springfield Plaza.

The store is open 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. It has plenty of parking and really good staff. The thing I really like about it is it's outstanding deals on various wines and beers. I live in Maryland and due to the state's liquor laws, Trader Joe's stores in Maryland can't sell anything alcoholic. In Virginia, thankfully, that isn't the case.

One particular stellar buy they have at this store is Charles Shaw wines. The wines come in 750 milliliter (ml) bottles. Apparently, they've earned awards at a wine tasting in San Francisco, California. I've tried their Pinot Grigio and found it pretty good though I'm definitely not any kind of wine connoisseur. The thing I particularly like about these wines is the price. A 750 ml bottle at this Trader Joe's store will cost you just $3.29. This price is good as of this post on their Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay and White Zinfandel (I bought a bottle of each and have a receipt to prove this price is valid at the time of this post). Give them a gold star for these deals.

Another plus about this store is their staff on how they keep the check out lines short. This store does get a fair amount of business but, I found the staff did an excellent job of keeping the check out lines short so, you don't spend a lot of time waiting to pay for the stuff you want to buy. I don't know about others but, when I go shopping, I want to get what I want to buy, pay for it and leave. I don't want to spend a lot of time waiting at check out. So, they get another gold star for this.

Overall, I'm very pleased with this store and plan to shop here again. I give it 2 thumbs up and definitely recommend it to others who are fans of Trader Joe's stores. If you're nearby, you might want to give this excellent store a look. Happy shopping all!

Tyson's Corner Center Wi-Fi

For a long time, I could've cared less about Wi-Fi hotspots but now that I have a Nook e-reader where I can surf the web via Wi-Fi, I am trying to find out if various places offer free Wi-Fi. One such place is the Tyson's Corner Center in McLean, Virginia. The mall is BIG with a huge selection of shops. The mall offers free Wi-Fi at it's food court on the 3rd level close to the AMC movie theater. You click on ShopTysons, a waiver comes up saying we offer the service as is and accept no responsibility for anything bad happening if you use it and, you connect. I found the Wi-Fi worked fine there.

Also, the Barnes & Noble store in the mall offers free Wi-Fi though I didn't try to connect there so, I don't have any idea how well it works.

If you're at the mall/center, you might want to take advantage of the free Wi-Fi. I saw the food court had a playground and train kids would enjoy. You could surf the web there while they have fun riding the train or playing in the playground. Happy surfing all!

Marine War Memorial

This is a photo I took of the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial next to Arlington National Cemetary. The memorial is a statue version of the famous Joseph Rosenthal photo of marines and a navy medic raising the flag at Iwo Jima during World War II. I got to see this great memorial for the first time during the Historic U.S. East tour I took with Globus last July. Due to the low light of my first visit, I didn't take any pictures of the memorial then. On November 1, 2009, I returned to Arlington so I could take some pictures of this memorial and visit the famous Tomb of the Unknowns which we didn't have time to see during the tour. This photo was taken then. Due to the cloudy conditions of the time, I did use Corel Photo Album 7 to lighten the picture to the one you see. I think it improved the picture. Concerning the memorial itself, I found it very impressive and moving. It is definitely worth seeing. Also, it is a fitting tribute to all Marines. Semper Fi to any Marine readers I might have. Cheers all!

Arlington National Cemetary

Yesterday, I visited Arlington National Cemetary. I first visited in during my July Globus Historic U.S. East tour. While there, I failed to get some decent photos so I decided to go back and try again. My Garmin GPS proved priceless in finding the place. Thanks to that, I was able to drive there in about 35 minutes. The first thing I did once I got there was take some pictures fo the USMC War Memorial. The memorial is located just outside the cemetary. It is a very impressive memorial. It features bronze statues of 5 Marines and 1 Navy medic raising the flag on Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima. The flag raising immortalized the Marines. It is a magnificent memorial.

Inside the cemetary are countless rows of white marble crosses marking the graves of soldiers, sailors, marines and coasties who have died in service to their country. Many veterans ask that when they die, they be buried at Arlington. You can see why if you ever visit the place. I know when I die, I want to be buried there.

One thing I didn't get to do when I visited with Globus was see the Tombs of the Unknowns. We had a lot of things to see in D.C. and a limited amount of time. The Tombs of the Unknowns are the remains of military members who were killed in World War I, II, the Korean War and Vietnam and couldn't be identified. On the main tomb at the end of the epitaph, it says "known only to God." That is how it is for the these unknown troops who gave the final measure of service to their country. A lone sentry patrols the tombs standing guard, day and night. Immaculately uniformed, they march back and forth guarding the tombs. I found it a moving sight.

My last stop was to see President John F. Kennedy's gravesite. Few men have spoken such inspirational words as he did. I still think it tragic how he died. With him, I can't help but wonder how things might've been if he had lived. Next to him is his wife Jackie Onassis who epitomized class and style of the time. Close by are his 2 brothers Robert and Ted. Robert is another one you have to wonder what if. Why did he have to die?

I left Arlington in somber reflection. In my opinion, there isn't any more sacred ground in the entire United States. It is filled with the remains of those who placed their country above themselves and some gave their lives for it. It is the burial place of many of its military heroes. It is a deeply moving reminder of the price this country has had to pay to stay free.

Pictures

I've been posting some of the pictures I took of Australia and New Zealand on http://www.exchangetravelstories.com/. I've tried to post pictures that others haven't posted already like my picture of people climbing the Sydney Harbor Bridge or my underwater photos of the Great Barrier Reef. I plan to post a picture I took of Independence Hall and a couple I took of Colonial Williamsburg. To my annoyance, I can't find the pictures I took of New York City. I suspect I may have dropped them off at Sam's Club to be developed and forgot to pick them up. Because of that, I may have to make another trip to the Big Apple. For your viewing pleasure, here are a couple pics I took of Colonial Williamsburg.

Virginia Trip Report

Greetings all. I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while but, I've been very busy with work and travelling to Richmond, Virginia and back. I got back to the apartment about 20 minutes ago.

First impressions of my trip. I have big time mixed feelings about Amtrak. They are convenient, can save lots of hassle, and their trains are fun to ride. The down side is their timeliness can royally suck. I ended up getting back 3 hours late today. If you have to be some place by a certain time, I would recommend you DON'T take Amtrak. If you're not in any hurry, they are a fun way to travel though do be prepared for delays. I plan to take the train whenever I go to Richmond. It really saves a lot of hassle though it would be cheaper to drive my car down there.

Places I got to see: Shenandoah Valley National Park, Luray Caverns, Mitchie Tavern, and Monticello. The rangers at the park were very helpful. The woods were beautiful and the views from the park were stunning. I managed to get a few pictures which I'll post once I get them developed.

The Luray Caverns were very impressive. They reportedly are the largest on the East Coast. Some of the stalactites and stalagmites were huge. It was something to think it took millions of years to make them.

Mitchie Tavern was very nice though I do have a gripe with the dang hours. They are only open from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Me and Harvey ended up having to go there before Monticello so we could have lunch there. The buffet they offer is all right and reasonably priced. The menu is fried chicken, bar-b-que pork, potatoe salad, cole slaw, sweet yams, green beans, black eyed peas, and corn bread. Drinks and dessert are extra. This place also gets busy at times. We ended up waiting 20 minutes to get in.

Monticello was awesome. The mansion isn't as big as you would think a mansion would be but it is still very impressive. You definitely get the impression that Thomas Jefferson was a renaissance man though he was only able to be that thanks to the 110 slaves he owned. Without the slaves labor and the money they made for Jefferson, I highly doubt he would've achieved nearly as much as he did. I also wasn't amused that Jefferson who called slavery an abomination only freed 5 slaves during his life and in his will. If slavery really was such an abomination (and it is), he clearly could've done more. Barring that, I very much enjoyed my visit to Monticello. It was great to finally get to see it.

One correction to previous posts, Harvey it turns out is 68. He only retired about 3 years ago. I thought it had been longer then that.

Future plans, a new trip is in the works. While riding the train to Richmond, I noticed a package promotion Amtrak is doing where you can get train fare to NYC, a ticket in the orchestra section to see the Rockettes Christmas show, and a soda with popcorn at the show. I didn't get to see the Rockettes perform when I visited NYC in July and, I would very much like to see them. Me and Harvey are looking at doing a weekend trip. We'll see if it happens. Hopefully, it will. It would be a lot of fun.

Cheers! :-)