End of the Journey...Almost

We all woke up early on Thursday morning as we had to grab some breakfast and get daughter #3 to the airport for her flight back to Florida. My grandson had a game that night in Lakeland that she just couldn't miss. After we said good-bye, we were off to the Biltmore House. We have been here before but it is still always beautiful to behold. We planned to make a day of it so there was no rush...just lots of walking...mostly always uphill!! Lol

After we left the house, we headed to the gardens. They were all decked out for autumn.

Then we were on to the beautiful greenhouse.

After the greenhouse, we actually headed down to the azalea gardens and to a path we hadn't been on before. Let me just say that I now know why the Biltmore brochure warns you about the steepness of the grade and how long it is expected to take to maneuver these paths! Going down was easy but boy that coming back up! Lol

We had booked a wine tasting and knew how far the winery still was so, it was a pretty long hike but we made it back to the car and drove over to the winery. We had just enough time to grab a quick lunch before heading in.

After the tasting...which was delightful...my grand daughter wanted to go see some animals while my daughter and I were content to find a small table outside and sit, visit and people watch.

It was pretty late by the time we got back to the hotel so we were ready to pack it in and rest up for our last big day before a day of driving home! 

I have a bit more to share but I also have a busy weekend coming up and need to get some plans going so I will sign off for today. Stay safe and stay tuned.
 

High Point International Furniture Mart

If you have been following my blog, you probably know that I have two daughters who are interior designers...daughters #1 and #3. For many years they have attended the markets in Atlanta. They have always asked me to go with them but, I have been to Atlanta many, many times and somehow, I just never felt the need. They are both super fun to be with, but they are mainly there for work and I just wasn't sure I could keep up.

But, earlier this summer, as the three of us were sitting on daughter #1's porch and they were planning their first trip to High Point, they convinced me to go and make it a girls' autumn trip. I wasn't sure what to expect...neither were they although they did watch a video to get pointers for market visitors that really gave them some insights on what to do and not to do...but, in my wildest dreams, I would not have envisioned what it really was. 

On Monday morning, my two daughters and I got on the shuttle bus at our hotel...one of the tips they picked up because apparently, parking can be difficult and expensive. My grand daughter stayed behind to do some college work. She is almost done with her master's degree and didn't want to fall behind.

After stopping at a number of other hotels for more pick-ups, we were off to High Point.

This was my first impression from the bus and, silly me, I thought "wow, that's a big building. How will we do all of that in two days?". Little did I know that that is just the main check in building...with many, many vendors...but, pretty much the entire downtown area is mart. The largest vendors have permanent buildings...and, I think we walked to pretty much every one of them Lol

I really didn't take as many pictures as I maybe should have because, honestly, I was awe struck and really just taking it all in. And, I was actually helping my daughters with selections as they were both buying much to fill whole homes for their clients. All I can say is that this place is a designer's dream. I could have pretty much lived in any of the showrooms.

Most of the larger vendors have hospitality areas where there is always an availability of snacks, food and drinks so you don't have to do much thinking about finding a place to eat. But, many of them also offer after parties and, we were lucky enough to be invited up to a roof top party at one of the girls' favorite vendors. It was overlooking the city under a tent and the food and wine were plentiful and fabulous!

We caught the last shuttle back to the hotel where we freshened up and were ready to head to dinner...a real one for my grand daughter who hadn't had the food we had earlier and just enough to tide the rest of us over until the next day.

We did a bit of research and found a restaurant that sounded like it had something for each of us. It was in Greensboro but still a bit of a trip over a few interstates before we arrived. This place is listed as one of the top 15 places to eat in Greensboro and also listed as having a European decor and menu, so I was sold before we even entered.

This is exactly where we were sitting...at the first table...when daughter #3 looked up and then starting getting noticeably excited. She said, "I think Carson Kressley just got seated at the table right next to us". Of course, we all turn and stare and yes, she was right. Now, I have always liked him from way back when but recently he has been on a lot of cooking and design shows and I like him even more. I SO wanted to just go over and tell him I am a fan but my grand daughter wouldn't let me intrude on his personal time. Of course, at this point, I couldn't even take pictures of us or the restaurant because she said it would look like I was trying to take his picture...and, once again intruding.

And so to appease me a bit, daughter #3 pretends to be on her phone and we have this! Lol

I must say, I kind of surprised myself because I am not the "star struck" kind of person but it sure was fun to have this happen. As we headed back to the hotel, we googled why he was in High Point and found out he was taping new episodes of his design talk show at the mart...and so we knew what one of our to-dos was going to be the next day!

We headed out early the next day so that we could get in all of the vendors the girls needed to meet with before heading to the final taping of "couched" Before the taping began, Carson came out to talk to the audience and, because we were in the first row audience could sit in, he started to talk to us. We told him about the night before, we discussed what we all ate and then when he heard I was from Ocala, he mentioned that he was coming here soon. He is quite the equestrian and shows his horses a lot. We have the recently opened World Equestrian Center here and he was looking forward to riding and competing there. I will say that our little chat didn't disappoint. He really is as nice in person as he comes off on TV and makes you feel like you are a long time friend. We enjoyed watching all of the makings of a TV talk show. The first guests were the hosts of HGTV Bargain Block and we learned that they are currently competitors in the 2022 Rock the Block show.

By the time the taping was over, we were all tired so we caught a shuttle and it was back to the hotel for us.

The next day we had a nice breakfast before packing up and heading to Asheville. By the time we arrived and checked into our next hotel, we were ready for some dinner so we headed to downtown Asheville. It was as crowded as we expected but we decided to wait and have dinner at Tupelo Honey...where we have eaten before...because we knew how good it is. We really didn't have to wait long for a table on the patio where we were thrilled to finally experience some of the sights and "feels" of autumn!

We walked around downtown for a bit...

...and then found a dessert bar where we knew we had to stop. And, once again, we were lucky enough to get a seat on their beautiful outdoor patio.

Daughter #3 had to fly out the next morning so this was a beautiful way to end her stay.

So that pretty much ends this leg of the trip...but wait, there's more. Lol Stay safe and stay tuned.

 

Did You Miss Me?

Wow! It seems like I have been gone forever. I was actually gone for nine days, home for one and then off to St. Augustine to visit with grand daughter #3. We got to see her beautiful new office. She does fund raising for the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind and recently got a promotion. Then, we went to a fabulous lunch and squeezed in some shopping!

My plan had been to come visit with you then but, Cox cable went out in our entire neighborhood...everything went since I bundle with them and it took them about 14 hours to finally get everyone back up and running.

In any case, I am here now. For those of you who are only here for the decorating and crafting, you might want to sign off. The next few posts will be purely personal pictures of my trip. There are some pictures from the Furniture Mart in High Point if you are into the decorating aspect of this blog...it is definitely interesting to see if you have never been there...but, I am going to break up the pictures to avoid an incredibly long post...and me sitting here at the computer forever...into our three main stops and, today's post will cover our trip to and around Charleston, SC and then into Greensboro.

We headed to Gainesville on a Friday afternoon where we picked up grand daughter #2 and headed up the road. We decided to make a "linner" stop on the way so we pulled off at St. Simon's Island and had a delicious meal. We try to pick restaurants that the locals frequent and are seldom disappointed. This place had just a laid-back beachy vibe but the food was delicious.

It took us the rest of the day to make our way to Charleston by dark, find our hotel and get nestled in.

The next morning, daughter #1 and I (my grand daughter was meeting up with some sorority sisters who now live in Charleston) were starving so we found our way to Virginia's on King. Apparently we made a good choice because this place was packed. We didn't mind waiting because we figured probably every place would be packed at brunch time on a Saturday in downtown Charleston. Again, we chose well.

After breakfast, we headed out walking. We were just taking in all of the sights and I wasn't taking pictures because I thought I would have all day. But, I was wrong. As it got later, it got hotter and we decided to pop into a pub to see if we could sit for a bit to watch the Gator game on TV. Again, we apparently made the right choice, We walked in right as the game was coming on and honestly got the best booth in the place...not to mention A/C and a fan. Yes, it was the end of October and yes, the temps were going down at night but, in the middle of the day, it was still Charleston in the heat!

We had some Gators right near us as well as some LSU fans so it was a super fun atmosphere and both sides did their share of cheering and taunting! Just as we were about ready to head back out after the game, we got a message from my grand daughter saying she and her friends were ready to eat and could they come and join us. And so, we waited for them, ate and visited. 

And, by the time we said good-bye to the girls, it was dark and we headed back to the hotel.

The next morning we needed to grab a good breakfast and get on the road because we needed to pick up daughter #3 at the Greensboro Airport. We walked just a few blocks from our hotel and found this:

Once again, the wait was long but definitely worth it.

We drove through the garden district as we left and then hit the road. Our timing was perfect as we got to the airport just a bit after Jen landed and she was waiting for us at pick-up. As we headed to our hotel in Greensboro, we happened upon this.

It was so pretty and gave us a chance to do a small hike in some beautiful scenery! Then, it was in the car and off to our hotel to try to get some rest and make some plans before we were off to market the next morning!

There is so much more to come...including a celebrity sighting... so stay tuned...and stay safe!