Though our time in Radford was short, we tried to take as much advantage of it as we could. Along with the quick tour of campus on Saturday morning, we also went out and experienced a bit more of the town. As we had just finished eating breakfast around 11 AM, lunch wasn't really on the top of our list, so instead, we drove through the downtown area, and then over to another local town to get some groceries for our niece at Walmart.
On the way we stopped by the Radford University athletic fields. Radford doesn't have a football team, so most of the students drive the short ten minute or so drive to Virginia Tech which is just one town over for football games. The school does have softball and baseball teams, and since our niece plays for the softball team, that is what we focused on.
The photo above is actually their practice field. Their main field is in the process of getting renovated, so they have been playing all their practices on the field above.
This is a photo I took of the stands at the main softball field. It's pretty impressive and when it is all finished, it should look something like this...
That's the baseball field in the photo above, but as I said, the softball field will end up being just a smaller version of that. The head softball coach for Radford is just starting his second year at the school. His name is Kevin Fagan and what I didn't know before this weekend is that he used to be a professional football player. He actually has two superbowl rings with the San Francisco 49'ers during the Joe Montana era and he also has a college national championship ring.
Then he got married, had a couple daughters, and that lead him into the softball world where in his first season at Radford he was awarded coach of the year for the Big South Conference.
After visiting the sports complex, we drove through the downtown area so our niece could get a tea at one of her favorite shops. I stepped out of the car and took the photo above because I thought the building was pretty cool.
Of course, I had to stop at a local liquor store to see if they had any special Virginia bottles of whiskey. I recently saved an article on my phone that lists the bottle of whiskey you need to try from each state. Unfortunately, this store didn't have the one they listed for Virginia, but it did have some other Virginia made offerings, so I ended up grabbing one of those. I'll write a proper post about it another time.
After getting groceries at Walmart, we headed back to our hotel to take a little rest. Then, around 3:00 PM we headed out to a local place called Sharkey's that our niece had recommended to us. I was told that it was just around the corner from the hotel, but it ended up being a mile to a mile and a half walk one way. I took the opening photo as we were walking up the hill back to our hotel.
The main reason we visited was to watch some college football and have some drinks. As you can see, my brother in law and I opted for the 34 oz beers to start, and then we each finished with another 16 oz beer. He got some pumpkin ale, and I got the Pauliner Oktoberfest.
We also got some tater tots and buffalo chicken dip to share as appetizers.
There is a restaurant at the top of the Highlander hotel called Bee & Butter, we had gotten a six o clock reservation there for dinner. While I didn't mind going there, I was a bit concerned that I would be under-dressed since I didn't pack any nicer clothes for the trip. I was also mildly concerned about the price, but not too much. Overall, I was excited about trying something different.
It was actually @mrsbozz and I's anniversary, so it was nice that we did something special like this. I also didn't mind sharing this special day with our family. In fact, I honestly can't think of a better way to celebrate 17 years of marriage!
We all got a drink to start (except our niece, though she did get a shirley temple). I of course went for my old standby the Old Fashioned, and it was delicious. We also got some pickle fries and cornbread hushpuppies for an appetizer.
The hush puppies came with a jalapeno honey butter and they were absolutely amazing. I will be dreaming of those things for many months!
For our entree, @mrsbozz got the gnocchi with grilled chicken added. She said it was very good and the bite I had was very nice. The pasta sauce was a vodka blush sauce that had a bit of a zip to it. Her sister got the fried green tomato BLT sandwich that I didn't get a photo of. Everyone else got a steak. The special for the night was chicken cordon blue, and while it was tempting, we ended up going the beef route. Our niece got a nice ribeye steak, while her father and I both got a bourbon glazed flat iron steak.
I realize it kind of looks like a giant turd in the photo above next to my garlic mashed potatoes, but it was actually quite good. I'm not really sure I could taste much of the bourbon glaze though. I maybe should have gotten the pork loin. My dish also came with a smoked caesar salad, and I still am not sure what part of it was actually smoked.
Overall, it was a really decent meal. The total bill for all five of us was something like $260 after tip.
Believe it or not, after dinner we headed to a local ice cream shop for some ice cream, and then we called it a night. We had to hit the road the next day to watch our niece play softball at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA.
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That Old Fashioned looks good! With a proper large ice cube no less! That is my favorite choice of a drink as well!
Yes, it was delicious. If I am getting a cocktail I will either get a captain and coke or an old fashioned. Sometimes I get beer, and other times I just drink whiskey on the rocks. That's about the extent of my drinking though!
Such a beautiful place for family celebration
Sounds like it was a great way to celebrate your 17th Anniversary! Congrats! That's a long time, good for you guys. The food looked great too, and the bill wasn't too bad considering there were five of you. Glad you had a great time!
It has been a long time, but it also feels like it has gone by in a flash! I can hardly believe my wife has been blessed with my presence for that long!
Wise choice of wording! Time does fly by doesn't it? I remember in high school it just dragged by as slow as molasses in January, but ever since then it's been flying by like a bullet train!
It's crazy!
The atmosphere looks wonderful and full of positive energy and love. Greetings to you.
Thank you! It was a fun trip!
Such a great time together with your fam and watching softball of you're niece. 🤗
Well Bee is related to Hive isn't :)
I also love the combination of shopping, eating out and of course drinking. Even better if the eating is more food sharing, the Spanish tapas way of live.
No whiskey lover here. Only blond beers.
I forgot to mention in the post that at the end of the meal they gave us all little tubes of local honey. It was pretty cool. We had a great time traveling with our family and I hope we get to do it again soon.
Precious times!
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STOPSome tasty looking food! Were those tater tots, I remember my wife showing me them over there the first time I was there, she is still addicted but they are not common here.
Just to add another connection to this Radford Highlander Scotland thing albeit a wee bit tenous lol ... My football team were bought a few months ago by the San Francisco 49ers! Mind you in saying that they have made fluffing awful decisions and the club is in the worst state I have ever known it!