My Trip: Day One

Last week I decided to write a blog about each day of my vacation in North Carolina to avoid the craziness of writing one long blog with endless details – which trust me, I know no one wants to read.

Today, we killed three birds with one stone (figuratively); we went to Richard Childress Racing Museum, the Childress Vineyards, and Victory Junction Gang.  If you know me personally, you know that going to Richard Childress Racing Museum, the Vineyard, and Victory Junction Gang were three of the major places that I wanted to go to this week. 

I don’t remember going to Richard Childress Racing – even though I was there a few years back.  When you walk into the museum, you walk directly into the gift shop.  From there (if you want to go into the actual museum, open Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Saturday from 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m., and on Sunday it’s closed), you pay for the admission which is $12 for adults, $8 for seniors (55 and older), $5 for students (7-18), and free for children six years and younger.  The museum, built around the original 1986 No. 3 race shop and 1991 RCR Museum, houses Richard Childress Racing’s history.  In the museum, you will see Dale Earnhardt’s 1998 Daytona 500 winning car, Kevin Harvick’s 2007 Daytona 500 winning car, Mike Skinner’s Truck Series Championship Truck, Richard – and his grandsons’ – hunting gallery, and much more. 

From there, we headed to the Childress Vineyards, a beautiful vineyard that Richard Childress owns.  We didn’t stay for the vineyard tour, but we did stay for lunch.  The food was awesome – I can’t tell you how the wine was since I can’t drink it, but hey, if the food is good, then the wine must be good too.  I was honestly surprised by the prices.  When you think of a winery, you think the food will be expensive, right?  Not in this case, very reasonable.  Be sure to check out their website for times of tours, times the Bistro is open, and the menu.  (click here)

For our last stop of the day, we headed over to Victory Junction Gang Camp.  For those who don’t know, it’s a camp, founded in 2004, where sick kids (who have Autism, Cancer, Craniofacial Anomalies, Diabetes, Hemophilia, Sickle Cell, Spina Bifidia, and many more diseases) go to receive medical treatment and have fun – while still undergoing their treatment.  I had a few bags of stuffed animals that were just sitting there in a room not being used so we decided to donate them to kids who could use them.  My dad also had brand new flashlights that the kids could use if they go outside at night, so we donated them too.  To learn more about Victory Junction, click here. 

I hope you enjoyed reading about “Day One” of my trip to North Carolina.  To see more pictures, 

click here.  “Day Two” will be about my first trip to the Hall of Fame.