Can't Find My Way Home

(That's the last Steve Winwood reference.  I promise.)

We had a nice breakfast the previous day at the pancake house and decided to go back.  There are two branches of Stack 'Em High Pancakes on the island.  The one we went to the previous day was about a mile south of the hotel; the other a few miles north.  We were planning to head north to explore Duck and maybe some other towns on the other side of the bridge so we went to get breakfast at the joint to the south.

I wanted to revisit it.  One of my "passing" tests is if I'm remembered.  If someone thinks "older woman customer" they're not going to remember me.  If someone thinks "guy in drag" they probably will, just because of the novelty.  But there's another issue now, which I'll get to shortly.

I wanted to see if the woman behind the register remembered me.  I wanted to see if "Czechoslovakia" would remember me.

Travel Meg.  NOT a "travel mug"

So, of course, when we entered the "greeter" was a guy who definitely wasn't there yesterday.  The cashier also was a guy.  I said "you weren't behind the register yesterday, were you" and he said "my wife and I own the restaurant and we switch off."

We had a different waitress as well, even though we sat in the same small area.  There was also a different coffee bringer; instead of the guy calling us "beautiful ladies" a woman asked if "you girls would like some more coffee" which was different and pleasant.

(by the way, I don't remember where but I do remember hearing a "sweetie" and a "honey" reference to Meg during the trip.)

Either the husband told his wife someone asked about her or she was just making the rounds but she showed up shortly after to say hi.  I asked about the waitress from yesterday, the Czech girl and she said she was off today.  I said "I was going to just ask 'where is Czechoslovakia?' but you'd probably say 'Eastern Europe?'" which earned me a laugh.

She didn't say anything like "nice to see you again" or "you came back" or anything implying she'd

Breakfast (Tuesday)

seen us before.

At the end of breakfast, I did go up to the register (she was behind the register again) and said "I'm just curious ~ do you remember me?" and she said "yes.  You asked for the special... no, the usual." and she laughed.

So there's my problem now.  People remember my male self because I joke with them.  Did she remember me because of my stupid comment or...?

We drove up to Duck and stopped at a couple of shopping centres there.  We stopped and shopped and headed back north around noon.

One surprise before leaving: we stopped in a small self-serve shoe shop.  I said "we can look for shoes for you but these kinds of shops never have shoes in my size.

Well, never is a bad word.  There were many pairs of 11s, although none were wide.

Meg's ice cream and rainbow sprinkle fix (Tuesday)

And, surprisingly, I didn't see any shoes that both looked wide enough and I was in love with.

One more shoe store note....  At the checkout there was a little tank with a snail in it.  A sign identified it as "Alex."  I asked if it was a boy snail, since they gave it a boy's name.  The woman behind the counter said she didn't know if it was a boy or girl.  I suggested letting the snail out and see which kind of shoes it heads for.  If it goes for the stilletoes, it's a girl.

Again, I'm getting more comfortable making "gender" jokes and seeing if anyone picks up on it.  So far, no-one's said a thing.  I'm going to pretend that's because I pass so well that they don't think I'm anything but a ciswoman.

We took the bridge away from the island and went north through Norfolk and Virginia Beach and other southeastern Virginia cities.

Heading from the Williamsburg area towards Richmond we decided it was lunch time and stopped at a Bojangles.

Northern Virginians say that the Mason-Dixon line isn't at the Potomac River, it's at the Occoquan River.  South of that landmark you hear southern accents, and it can be like a different world sometimes.

We made good time.  Traffic was light.  (DAM!  I said "no more Winwood references")

Meg in rural southeastern VA?  Not a problem.

Meg for four days?  Not a problem either, although if I wanted to go for five I'd be doing some serious shaving first.

Maybe next trip I'll try a two-piece bathing suit.