I'm back!!!!!

And life returns to the usual...how I wish I could have a week or so like I had this past weekend. I think we relaxed so much that it FELT like much longer than a day and a half!

Well, we left here on Fri around 12:30. The boys had basketball camp that morning and the last 2 hrs of that, the church had rented one of those HUGE blowup slides....it had water at the bottom so they slid down into the water; they also had one of the jumping "tent" things.

We stopped in Columbia, SC at Fuddrucker's for lunch....one of our FAVORITE places. We got to Charlotte, NC fine and then it took us FOREVER to get through the traffic. Instead of getting to my brother's around 4:30, it was 5:30. Then we stayed and talked for a little while. My sister-in-law's little boy was so excited to have the Sweet Peas to play with! Those 3 were inseparable!

It was about 2 more hours from my brother's house to the B&B. We were still full from the late lunch so we didn't stop for dinner or anything. The temps got cooler and cooler the higher we went (obviously). It was mainly 4 lane divided highway until several different points in the trip because there just wasn't ROOM for a highway....a drop off on one side and the mountain on the other. It was BEAUTIFUL!!!!

The B&B looks Tudor-style from the outside. The house is from the 1800's. I just LOVED the old look of the inside....Some original wooden floors, walls, pocket doors, stained glass. We ended up with the room I originally wanted (Room 5) with the small balcony. It was a BIG room decorated sort of Victorian-ish....iron bedstead, antique dresser, clawfoot tub in the bathroom (and modern shower stall), more original floors in the bathroom......a snack basket in the room (which we ate when we got there for our dinner), chocolates by the bed, candles on the hearth over the fireplace in our room AND a fireplace in the bathroom.

We rested, and slept late (late for Popeye anyway, my normal time). For breakfast, the innkeeper prepared a fresh fruit cup, egg and cheese casserole (WONDERFUL), cinnamon stuesel muffins and sausage patties, juice and coffee....it was all GREAT!!!!

We went to Grandfather Mountain. It is the highest peak in the Blue Ridge Mountains. You can't go all the way to the top unless you hike (and we didn't have the right shoes NOR the inclination to hike). We stopped at the highest part that you can drive your car. I believe it is 1 mile above sea level. There is a suspension bridge that you can walk across to another part of the mtn....really neat!!! There are also some animal habitats that you can visit where they have taken in animals that are indiginous to the area. We saw white-tail deer (which we also have tons of those here), otters, black bears, 2 bald eagles....they are HUGE birds; we saw cougars too. There was a mother bear and some bear cubs that they were going to release back into the wild. It was a nice little visit there.

We went back to the B&B and I took a soak in the tub and read for awhile and then we took a nap. We went out to dinner at a local restaurant which is considered the town's "fine dining". After dinner we went back to the B&B.

We read for awhile and got ready for bed for the night...we did watch a little TV together too. Sunday morning we had coffee, juice, bacon, stuffed french toast....it was great too!!! It was bread spread with cream cheese, then thin apple slices and apricot preserves (and another piece of bread on top) and they baked it or something but it had the french toast look with the eggs, etc. She also made some bread like zucchini bread but she used cucumbers in it.

Then it was time to head back.....sigh....I was so relaxed and felt like we were gone forever! (which is a good thing I guess since we needed it) We met my brother/SIL and the boys at Applebee's in a town near their house for lunch around 1 pm. Then we went back to their house to have Sweet Pea 2's birthday party...cake/ice cream/presents. It was nice. Then we started our 3.5 hr trek back home.

And guess what????


We booked another room at the same B&B for the weekend of our anniversary in December!!! I can't WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We will be in Room 1 this time though....we looked at all the rooms and we liked that one next best to try.