Well, once we finished with Monticello, we had to head back to Washington, D.C. Two reasons: One was that starting Saturday CurbCrusher needed to do some work; Two, on Saturday Mrs. CurbCrusher and Little CurbCrusher are attending the Girl Scout Still Singing After All These Years event. We left Monticello and headed north on VA-20 toward the town of Orange. In Orange we took the “Business 20” route through downtown and stopped to eat.

Around the corner from the visitor’s center (a converted train station) is a old building with a sign hanging outside that says “Dave’s Deli and Cafe.” From the outside you would expect an old looking establishment once you got in, but the inside was fresh and clean. They server sweet tea, which is an automatic one-star increase in the establishment rating in my book. We all ate sandwiches. A grilled cheese for Little CurbCrusher, a turkey for Lady CurbCrusher and a shaved cheesesteak for me. Throw in a side of onion rings, and you have the makings of a good meal.

Two sort of homey things that happened while we were there. First was a group of three people came in after us and sat down. We had just received our drinks, and the waitress took their drink order and then came back in a minute or two. “I’m sorry, we’re out of ice. So it will be a couple of minutes until I can get your drinks, since he (points at guy leaving through the front door) needs to go get some.” About five minutes later the guy came walking back in carrying a couple of bags of ice. Then when taking their orders, these poor folks had to change their order a couple of times. “We’re out of tuna salad.” When they changed to chicken salad they heard the same thing.

All in all Dave’s, located at (or around) 113 E. Main Street in Orange, Virginia is a worthwhile place to stop if you find yourself driving out in this part of the country. Considering that James Madison’s house Montpelier is located about five miles away, you just might.