How to Spend a Saturday in Floyd

What's a gay couple to do on a boring Saturday afternoon in Floyd County, Va.? Take a leisurely drive down the road to visit the local alpaca farm, of course.

Paul and I decided to head down to The Inn at Hope Springs Farm today to check out their open house. Owners William and Candace Frey run a gorgeous little B&B there and raise alpacas, chickens, ducks, geese and god knows what else on their sprawling 100 acre slice of heaven.

William and Candace couldn't have been nicer and were happy to tell us all about raising the adorable Peruvian critters.

I was surprised to find that alpaca wool is as soft as cashmere and naturally resists dirt and stains. They sell an assortment of clothing and other items made from the wool.

I noticed some adorable alpaca teddy bears and William and Candace explained that in their Andes habitat, the infant mortality rate is between 30% and 70% for the adorable animals. The locals use the dead baby alpaca hides to make the cuddly toys. I decided against buying one.

From there we headed south to Hillsville, turned east to Meadows of Dan and stopped at Nancy's Candy Shop to pick up some of their home made chocolates. We then headed north up the Blue Ridge Parkway and stopped by Mabry's Mill, a beautiful and historic old grist mill with a tacky little restaurant and gift shop and even tackier tourists.

Continuing north, we swung past Chateau Morrisette, the local winery, to take a look around, but they were having one of their many wine fests and the parking was a nightmare. So we headed back up the parkway and enjoyed the rest of our drive.

Pop "The Bast of Ethyl Merman" into the CD player and you're about as gay as you can get in this part of the Blue Ridge. (Yes, we actually did that.)

Hope you're having a gay old time this weekend too.