To catch you up...

...on what I've been up to lately, here are several mini blogs in one.

Friday Dec. 21 - an early morning ferry ride, a long drive, and a BIG meal

I got up before the crack of dawn this morning, to take the 6:30 ferry to Swan Quarter. After arriving there, I drove all the way to Asheville, on the other side of the wide north state! I went to meet my Mom and my sister Jocelyn there for our annual girls' weekend (they drove from Ohio, an only-slightly shorter trip). This year, we stayed at the Grove Park Inn. We booked a weekend package which included dinner on Friday night. Dinner turned out to be a seafood buffet, and we ate enough for dinner, and the next couple days worth of breakfast and lunch too! Okay, it wasn't quite that bad, but we certainly ate and enjoyed plenty! After our meal, we settled down in our room for a good night's sleep, because we needed to be well rested for Saturday. We had big plans to fill Saturday with...relaxation.

Saturday Dec. 22 - Spaaaah, Christmas tour, and a bit of an adventure

The Spa at the Grove Park Inn Resort is the best spa in the state of North Carolina. I say this with some authority, having personally experienced the spas at most of the other high-end/upscale resorts in the state (Ballantyne in Charlotte, Grandover in Greensboro, The Spa at Pinehurst, The Sanderling in Duck, and a handful of others); yes, I like to spa (and yes, I do believe "spa" should be a verb). Mom, Jocelyn and I spent most of Saturday in the spa at (or should I say under?) the Grove Park Inn. The spa, like the Inn, is built into the side of the mountain, and is partially underground. It has been designed to take advantage of this fact, and is built out of natural rock, giving it an underground "grotto" feeling. It has multiple pools, whirlpools (indoors and out), saunas, steam rooms, calming inhalation rooms, and cozy dark rooms with fireplaces for total relaxation. This was my second time at the spa, and I enjoyed it even more than the first. I am already planning for the next time (I want to go back with several friends to celebrate my 40th birthday, in just under 5 years). I will also start SAVING for that next visit too, since the best spa in the state is also by far the priciest. It is, however, more than worth every penny!

After our spa day, the girls headed for Biltmore Estate, where we had a wonderful 4 course meal in the Stable Cafe followed by a tour of the house to see the myriad beautiful Christmas decorations. If you haven't experienced Biltmore yet, I highly recommend it. If you've been but not at Christmas, go back during the yuletide season ~ the yards and yards of garland, lovely (and enormous) wreaths, and multiple trees (including a HUGE one in the Great Hall) are a visual feast.

After touring the house, we rode the shuttle bus back to the car to head back to the Grove Park. I unlocked the car with the remote lock control, and we all hopped in. That's when I noticed that I did not have the car key. Now I have to say that you really should attempt not to lose your car key anywhere, but the absolute worst possible place to lose it has got to be a chateau with 250 rooms! Jocelyn and I rode the shutle bus back up to the house, where we worked with the wonderful staff, who checked their "lost and found" area (to no avail, as no keys had been turned in), then helped us call a locksmith (who wasn't sure whether he could help and suggested we work with another local guy - a specialist in car keys - in the morning to assist, as it was nearly midnight at this point), and even arranged a ride for us back to the Grove Park (with shuttle-driver Tom). Tom took us back to the car in the shuttle, then went to get his car to chauffeur us. As Jocelyn climbed into the back seat to wait for Tom's return, what to my wondering eyes should appear if not the key, partially under the car where I assume it fell as I slipped into the driver's seat the first time we tried to leave! We waited for Tom to come back, to let him know we had found the key and could be safely on our way without his help, then drove back to the Inn. We got in at shortly after 1 AM and were all quite tired and grouchy, but I suppose that all's well that ends well. I was happy that we would not have to continue dealing with the situation on Sunday morning, when we really needed to be enjoying our last big meal before heading home to Ocracoke.

Sunday Dec. 23 - another BIG meal, and a REALLY long drive

Before leaving the Grove Park, we enjoyed the last item included in our girls' weekend package: Sunday Brunch in the Blue Ridge Dining Room. We had a corner table with windows on two sides which provided a fabulous view of the lovely mountains for which the room is named. Brunch was marvelous; we feasted on Eggs Benedict, cheese blintzes with fruit compote, lobster with drawn butter, chilled strawberry bisque, and many other delicious choices. I was a bit concerned we would all be drowsy for the long drive to the island, but we made it back here with no mishaps or falling asleep behind the wheel. It took 10 hours total (including the Hatteras ferry ride) to get to Ocracoke, and we were all ready for bed when we arrived at midnight. During the drive, however, we were lucky enough to see the full moon rise and then hang, low and huge in the still-light sky, before ascending and shining down on us. The sky was clear for much of the drive, and the amount of silver light provided by the huge full moon was remarkable.

Monday Dec. 24 - getting ready for Christmas!

The family (my Dad arrived this morning) spent the day wrapping gifts and hanging stockings for Santa to fill. John and I drove around for about an hour in the afternoon, delivering gifts to (and stopping to chat with) several of our friends. After a quick dinner, we went to the traditional Christmas Eve service at the Methodist Church. When we returned home, we opened the "First Gift of Christmas" (this is a tradition I recently started; the first gift is a beautiful nativity music box and we open it first to take a moment to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas before diving in to the serious gift unwrapping). Each of us then opened one of our gifts from under the tree (another family tradition - we'll open the rest tomorrow morning). Then we watched the movie "The Nativity Story". Or more accurately, I watched the movie: John went to bed, and the rest of the family fell asleep in chairs as the film played. Now I'm the last one up, getting caught up on my blogging and enjoying the quiet. I do need to head to bed now, though, so I am not too bleary eyed to enjoy the celebration in the morning. Besides, if I'm not asleep, Santa won't come!

My wishes for the merriest Christmas (or Hanukkah, or whatever you're celebrating) and for a new year filled with joy!