BREAKFAST!

MY GOODNESS! Had we known what was to come for breakfast, we would have made our walk last night four times as long!

We awoke to a feast!! Coffee, juice, cantaloupe and banana slices with yogurt and granola, home-made fruit scones to die for (just like those Charles had in England he told me), puff pancakes with strawberries in their center! FANTASTIC!

We waddled our way to the car to attend the Apple Harvest Festival held at Bethabra Historic Park in Winston-Salem. This was the site of the first Moravian settlement and the park hosts archeological sites, a community garden, walking trails (10 K!! which we SHOULD have done!), a restored village, and more. The festival included a spinner, weaver, potter, tours of the meeting house, tavern and grounds and reminded us of Old Salem but more intimate. The festival featured apples and so there were tons of apples to taste in a variety of forms (yes we did!!), plenty of apples for sale -- dozens of varieties, trees for sale, crafts, music, cloggers, old-fasioned games for children ... FUN!

After we had bought our bushel of apples to eat out of hand and dry, we went down the road to visit the Reynolda House and Gardens and Village. These are located on the campus of Wake Forest University -- and the Reynolda House also includes a small American Art Museum! We took the tour of the Museum -- they were featuring portraits and it was wonderful! The house, a 47-room BUNGALO (bungalo style, they clarified), on four floors, sported a bowling lane, shooting gallery, skating floor, indoor pool, huge living room, porches, etc., etc. WOW! Like the Biltmore House -- only more liveable!

We moved onto the Reynolda Gardens!! The acres of roses could be enjoyed from the road -- fragrant, beautiful, every color, every size and type!! WOW!! Plus the vegetable gardens and the flowers -- I was in heaven!

Then onto Reynolda Village -- a series of shops created from the former outbuildings of the original homestead. Exclusive and exquisite and expensive -- but fun to visit!

By this time, we had 'almost' walked off our enormous breakfast and were getting hungry ... so we headed back to High Point for dinner.

We settled for a small casual Italian/Greek family restaurant - Gianno's -- very good -- and we ate a small pizza and salad.

With all we were squeezing into the day, I truly didn't have time to sit and sketch, so I sketched this antique telephone table outside our room at the B&B prior to collapsing!

I have a few more sketches I sketched today after another enormous breakfast ... but I'll go into the breakfast and the very wonderful lunch we had on the way home after I add a bit of watercolor to the sketches -- the pencil simply does not scan well enough.

Meanwhile, reality is crashing upon me as we both return to work tomorrow.

It was a FABULOUS weekend! But I know all the work I did over the past three weeks at the gym have been lost and I'll have to begin again tomorrow .... SIGH!! But oh -- somehow I do believe it was worth it!