French Dip - Written by Wanda Rodriguez - Written on June 16, 2025 - Published on June 16, 2025

French Dip

Written by Wanda Rodriguez

Written on June 16, 2025 

Published on June 16, 2025

If you know me or if you are familiar with my story, then you know that this has been quite a year for me and my family.  To call it challenging might be a bit of an understatement.  It has been chalked full of: countless, bumbling mistakes and missteps (made by me); endless emotional highs and lows (Rollercoaster anyone?!?!  Extra loop-de-loops, you say?!?!  Perfect!!); rewarding personal, spiritual and emotional growth (Use of the word “rewarding" here is not to be confused with the word easy!!); intensely sentimental “firsts” (too much to go into…); and unexpected, joyful discoveries (The image of a delicate, but beautiful, purple wild flower springing forth, and thriving, from a rocky, otherwise unforgivable, terrain comes to mind.  Me, I'm the delicate flower.  Purple because, well, it’s my most favoritest (not a real word, I know, but it makes me think in purple - haha) color for just about everything! - Current tangent complete.).  Among the many milestones crossed, (here, a person crossing a stream of fast-moving water by jumping rock to rock comes to my mind.  The caveat is that the rocks are impossibly suspended in the air, high off the ground, as I make my way across), was the passing of a rather significant birthday year (old fart alert!!).  This is where I would like to begin this story.

Over this past weekend, I had the good fortune of enjoying not just one but two talented groups of musical artists (shout out to The Kelly Bell Band and to Sunny Layne & The Dirty Hippies).  This will be discussed (maybe) in a future writing but for now I make mention as more of a launch point.  In discussing potential plans with a friend to celebrate my birthday, we settled in on going to a music venue that was some distance away.  Given the hour and travel time involved, the plan included staying over, following the show, and taking in the splendor of a relaxed country mountain morning on the drive back.  On an absolutely unplanned, spur of the moment, complete whim, it was decided to turn into a state park on the way home, where we ended up hiking up the side of a mountain to check out the view.  A U-turn was made, money was laid down at the gate and the park was entered.  There was still no plan in place beyond, let's just check it out.  Okay, why not!?!?!  It sounded like a good lazy, hazy Saturday morning in the hill-country thing to do!  (What springs immediately to mind for me here is the movie Field of Dreams and its famous tag, “If you build it, they will come.”)  To set the stage a bit, it was cloudy, dreary and drizzly but the temperature and humidity were pleasant for this time of year.  As this was an unforeseen detour, I had on sandals, capris, and a casual Friday kind of blouse.  Notice the lack of appropriate footwear.  I was still game and ended up mostly hiking up the hill barefoot (carefully!), sandals in tow.  It had been raining on and off for a few days, so the ground was damp and cool as I connected, step by step, with mother earth on the way up (and down for that matter!).

Even with the covering of clouds and fog, the view was something to behold.  Rolling hills all around, deep valleys below, trees and ponds peppering God’s canvas while a variety of birds were singing all around us.  It hearkened, to me, the simple splendor of a Thomas Kinkade painting.  Before beginning our descent down the hill, we took a break at the top on an inviting bench quietly awaiting us at the top of the trail.  We sat there for a bit, taking it all in and chatting with passersby.  As we stood to begin the return leg of the hike, I did a 360 to enjoy the view, all around me, once more.  It was at this point I noticed the plaque on the back of the bench we had been enjoying.  The first thing I noticed was the last name, Gumm.  I thought this to be a unique name and planned to snap a picture of it to send to my friend with the same last name.  Next my eyes went to the left to read the first name, Jack.  I decided maybe I should not send it to my friend as her son had the same name, Jack Gumm.  He was a sweet young man who, at the tender, young age of 22, passed nearly a year ago (7/13/24) following excessive trauma sustained in a car accident.  I was concerned the parallel might upset her.  It was then I took in the dates, centered below Jack’s name, 2001-2024.  It hit me like a ton of bricks.  This was not just a name similar to our friend’s sweet boy, this was a bench that had been lovingly placed here and dedicated in his honor.  Chills!  Goosebumps!!  All the feels!  This was not just a random, unplanned detour!  This was 100% a God directed moment!  Rain or shine, hiking shoes or bare feet, planned or not, we were meant to be there, to find this bench and to share it with my friend.  I had absolutely no idea that this bench even existed, by the way!!  What are the chances that, in all of the possible places in the world where I could choose to randomly have a seat, that it would be a bench placed in dedication to a young man I have known since he and his sister were in grade school?

God!!  This was no-doubt a God moment, the magnitude of which nearly reduced my friend to tears.  We both stood there “Godsmacked!” (to steal a perfect quote from Jack’s mom) I took a photo of the bench and wanted to send it to my friend right away but my traveling companion thought it might be a bad idea, possibly upsetting.  I felt strongly that it needed to be shared right then and there, like it was meant to be and she needed to know!!  Now!  Right now!!  Not later!!  A few minutes after 10 in the morning on Saturday, June 14th, I sent the photo and a brief message to my friend.  Her reply, “Oh my goodness!!  I needed this this morning!! … That is incredible!!!  His friends did that for him.  Saturday at 10AM (7/13/24) is when we got the call that he was unconscious (following the car accident), so they are always rough.  I’ve had a tough morning, this made it so much better!!  I love this so much!!!!!!  And I love you!!  God is soooooo good!!!!”  Not only did God direct us to the park, to the path (of which there were several possible options), to the bench, call out the details to my attention and prompt me to text my sweet, kind, funny, loving friend, but He orchestrated it to happen at a moment when she was in pain and in need of comfort.  God is so good!  And the timing, amazing!  God’s perfect timing!  My epiphany moment involving the name on the bench probably hit right around 10 AM because it was just a few minutes later that I took and sent the photo.  WOW! What an incredible God moment!!  Godsmacked!

Below the name and the dates was a quote that Jack used to say to others about his favorite restaurant, “Do yourself a favor and try the french dip.”  It was immediately decided that we needed to have french dip for lunch!  No question about it!  Before reaching the bottom, my friend found a place within a few miles of the park with french dip on the menu.  This was quickly deemed the next stop on our adventure.  The restaurant was historic and beautiful, and the food was absolutely delicious.  More recently I learned that the bench location was chosen because it faces the direction of Jack’s favorite restaurant and because the state park where it resides was frequently hiked and enjoyed by Jack and his friends. 

While at the restaurant, the best french dip either my friend or I had ever tasted was quickly devoured.  Mouthwatering goodness!  We spoke tirelessly of Jack, his friends, his family, our past loved ones and the amazing gifts God shares, especially when you are not looking for them.  During our meal, the assistant manager was making her rounds to check on the patrons.  She was just delightful, and we hit it off right away.  We learned that she is also a singer and performing that night at a location that was near but new to me.  Naturally this led to an extension of our traveling road show adventure as we promised her we would stop by.  What are the chances?  We went to this location with an open mind and plans to enjoy dinner and the show.  While glancing over the menu, take a guess at the Saturday dinner special … If you guessed french dip, you are 100% on the money.  To answer your question, no, we didn’t get it as it seemed unlikely that the earlier one could be topped but it was a pleasant, coincidental, cherry on top of the outing.  Side note, the food was good, the atmosphere was unique, and the band was outstanding!!  We were both pleasantly surprised with the musical detour and the enjoyable ending to a beautiful day.  

I would like to close here with a reminder that plans are good, but sometimes the best laid plans are the ones that allow for wiggle room, detours and side road adventures.  You just never know what awaits you around the bend and what sort of rewards God has in store along the way.  It is easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of life, especially in this area, but sometimes slowing down, letting things happen and letting God take the wheel leads to unexpected treasures, untapped joy, and unbelievable shared blessings.  

Thank you, God, for bringing this healing moment to the hearts of so many and thank you for allowing my friend and I to be the catalyst to remind my sweet friend and her family and Jack’s friends that they are loved and that Jack is not forgotten.  

Thank you for joining me on this adventure.  The information below is there in case you would like to experience any of the adventures firsthand.  I look forward to hearing feedback if you have visited any of these locations or if you are familiar with the music.  

• If you would like to visit Jack’s Bench it is located at Sky Meadows State Park in Fauquier County, Virginia in the Blue Ridge Mountains (near Paris, VA).  Sky Meadows State Park: Park trail guide
• If you would like to sample the restaurant we enjoyed is called Hunter’s Head Tavern and is located in Upperville, VA.  It is a farm-owned, four star tavern that specializes in humanely raised fare from their own farm.  I can attest to the fact that the food was delectable, the location lovely and the service outstanding!  Hunter's Head Tavern
• If you would like to try the french dip at Jack’s favorite restaurant it is called Jackson’s Mighty Fine Food and Lucky Lounge and is located in Reston, VA.  I have yet to eat here but it is definitely on my radar for another day.  Jackson's Mighty Fine Food & Lucky Lounge | Great American Restaurants
• If you are interested in the entertainers we enjoyed, you can find them at:

The Kelly Bell Band kellybellband.com

Sunny Layne and the Dirty Hippies sunnyandthehippies.com