Tag: North Carolina

Tea and literary lovers unite, there is a food temple for our people in Hendersonville, North Carolina! On my last trip to the Tarheel state, my mother had been telling me about this little gathering place that served the most delicious meals and was buzzing with interest from the locals: It’s called The Book and Bee.

My mother, my sister, my niece and I decided to venture out in the cold to have a ladies’ brunch before the forecasted snow arrived that day. The fellas? They went to a hot dog restaurant, naturally. The flakes were starting to fall as we drove the short distance to the restaurant. Having seen the parking lot packed the day before, we got there early.

The stairs catch your eye right away like a beacon to bookworms everywhere: Come in, take a load off and be with your own kind. Being a warm-blooded creature though, I didn’t beat around the bush: I took the picture of the stairs and quickly navigated indoors.

The food smells were heavenly and the entire place is decorated with, and serving beverages from, teapots and tea cups galore.

You may or may not be the biggest fan of tea served from actual china tea cups, but there is something cozy, maybe even a little magical, about sitting down with your gal pals (or buds) and being served your own personal pot of tea, complete with warmer, and little bee hive honey containers. All that was missing was my own personal recliner with a lamp and a pile of books by the fireplace in their main dining room. And yes, there is a big fireplace.

The Book and Bee is definitely not a gimmick eatery garnering interest on the décor and marketing alone. I ordered a grilled cheese and it was divine. I mean! I was admittedly and hopelessly lost in my own world of peachy warm tea, yummy mixed cheeses grilled perfectly on fresh bread along with fresh fruit.

Bookmark this one for me, I’m coming back on my next return trip.

And I’m ordering the grilled cheese.

Like most who have been using smart phones and high speed shutter cameras for several years, I have the equivalent of the junk drawer of photos on my computer. Laptop after laptop, year after year, the “to sort” folder of digital photos has grown regularly. Now and then when I need something mindless to do, I’ll roll up my sleeves and begin sorting the important ones into dated folders and deleting others. There are still thousands to go, undoubtedly.

Occasionally, in doing so, a gem will be seen again that brings me a smile. This one has been on my screen most of today just because of the beautiful day when it was taken and how much I miss the people in it: My parents.

This was a day where my husband and I had flown home to visit my family and see some of the best fall photo spots around town. We had been enjoying a location known for waterfalls and were strolling down the path heading to the next viewing spot. Seeing my mom and dad walking so casually with not a care in the world is something that makes me very happy.

Like most people who live far away from home and have been separated due to travel and health concerns, we’re nearing the point soon where 2nd dose vaccinations mean confidence that coming home through multiple airports will not be quite the risk it once was.

Light is at the end of the tunnel – and it looks very much like this photo.

In mid-October, my husband and I ventured back to my home state of North Carolina to visit with my family and also earn a year’s worth of husband points for accompanying me to my 20th High School Reunion.

While in town, my parents treated us to a family dinner at their favorite restaurant, the Pisgah Inn – located on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The menu is terrific and perfect for any special occasion and the views you can enjoy while eating are second to none. I took this picture above from the deck of the restaurant just before we had an evening rain roll in.

On the return drive home, we stopped off at an overlook called Funnel Top, also on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and had just a few minutes to take another quick picture before the rain opened up and dusk settled.

I do love being near the Rocky Mountains here in this part of the country in Wyoming. But for all their grandeur and contrast, the Great Smoky Mountains are ancient and endless in their own right. Their infinite horizons remind me of water colors, painted with the most precise and perfect lines.

It’s home. No matter how far away I live, the mountains always breathtakingly unfold to welcome me back, every time.