THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 2, 1994 TAG: 9406020037
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SUSIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940602 LENGTH: Long
The 42 passengers had stepped into the unknown the previous Sunday as they boarded the same bus. They had no idea where they were headed, or what they would do once they arrived.
{REST} They told travel agent Gaynelle Riddick: ``Here - take my money, take my time, take my life.''
Some had traveled before with Riddick, who has guided tours for eight years.
But the itinerary for each of the previous excursions was laid out in advance.
This time was different.
The destination was a mystery, even to the bus driver, who received sealed traveling orders the morning of the trip.
The cost of the three-day adventure: $335.
``It's called `blind faith,' '' said Riddick, a Franklin native and former school teacher who is now tour director for Art Jones Travel of Franklin.
Upon their return, many of the adventuresome travelers - most of them ecstatic though a little weary - were ready to sign up for another mystery getaway.
``She does great trips,'' said Bernice Woodard of Conway, N.C.
Before leaving, the passengers wrote on index cards where they thought they were going, based on tips from Riddick: Take a raincoat and something for your head, but the men didn't need coats or ties.
Anyone who guessed correctly would get the trip free, or part of one if others also guessed the destination.
Some wrote Myrtle Beach; others guessed Natural Bridge. Several said Winchester; many thought Annapolis.
``We didn't know whether it was north, south, east or west,'' said Marcia Gariss, who guessed Chincoteague. ``The only thing we knew was we would be there by lunch time.''
Gariss, a nurse at Southampton County Jail, knew she had lost when the bus pulled out of the parking lot and turned right instead of left, toward the Eastern Shore.
``Baltimore,'' guessed Mildred Jones of Franklin, to the groans of several passengers, including Riddick's husband, Bill. The port city was not a popular destination because many of the travelers had been there before.
Riddick did not confirm until later that Jones had guessed correctly.
``I only had five people on the bus who said they would have gone with me if I had advertised it as a trip to Baltimore,'' Riddick said.
As they headed north on Interstate 95, Riddick continued to pique their curiosity with one-word clues about every 10 miles.
``I told them, `George,' and they immediately thought George Washington,'' she said.
But Baltimore claims at least three notable Georges - George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore, for whom the city was named; George Peabody, the philanthropist for whom a music conservatory in the city is named; and George Herman ``Babe'' Ruth.
``Finally, I told them, `George, George, George,' '' Riddick said.
Another clue was ``water,'' and many of the passengers thought of Natural Bridge, because George Washington's name is carved in the bridge, Riddick said.
Other hints included ``key'' for Francis Scott Key, who wrote ``The Star-Spangled Banner''; ``orange'' for one of the team colors of the Baltimore Orioles; ``crabs'' for the shellfish caught in the waters of the Chesapeake Bay; and ``flag.''
``As the clues came, I would never tell them if they were right, except to say, `That's a good guess,' '' she said. ``They really did not know until we passed the last turnoff to Annapolis and there was nothing left except Baltimore.''
Then Riddick, a natural storyteller and entertainer, confirmed the destination and weaved all the clues into a tale about the city where they would spend the next three days.
Still, the travelers did not know what she had planned for each day.
``I've done Baltimore, and I've done Baltimore, and I've done Baltimore,'' Woodard said. ``I saw things this time that I never knew existed.''
They went to Oriole Park at Camden Yards and watched the Orioles beat the Oakland A's; toured Johns Hopkins Hospital, ending up in the rotunda beside the statue of Christ; and visited the Baltimore Aquarium, the Babe Ruth Museum and Fort McHenry.
``The most impressive thing we did was help change the flag at Fort McHenry,'' Riddick said.
The entire party helped take down the Star-Spangled Banner and raise the nighttime flag.
``Some of them stood there with goose bumps,'' Riddick said. ``And the fact that it was flying at half staff for Nixon made it more meaningful for us.''
They had lunch at historic Fell's Point, then walked to the wharf where a boat was waiting to give them a private tour of the harbor, depositing them at the Inn at Henderson's Wharf, where they spent the night.
Packing for a three-day excursion into the unknown was not difficult, said Mary Hamilton of Suffolk.
``You just take a little of this and a little of that,'' she said.
The trip was the second of Riddick's mystery tours. The first group traveled to Wilmington and Wrightsville Beach, N.C., the previous week.
Riddick is planning other mystery tours, although she has not scheduled them yet.
Some, like Woodard, will make the trip again.
``I'd buy Gaynelle's pig-in-a-poke any day of the week,'' she said. ``The state of Virginia is missing a great deal not to hire her as an ambassador.''
by CNB