An (almost) Perfect Mother’s Day Weekend

What would any mother want more than to spend a weekend with those she loves the most? For ABN, it was the perfect Mothers’ Day gift.

First a trip to Wilmington, NC to pack up our oldest granddaughter, Alison, at UNCW and move her back to Florida for her summer break. From ABN’s memory of moving Alison’s dad in and out of college housing, it is a necessary but not fun chore. We were pleasantly surprised to find Ali had all her packing done and the apartment cleaned, leaving only the actual loading for us.

It was a much more organized and smoother experience than we expected and certainly worth it to spend time with our granddaughter and get a glimpse into her college life.

Love this young lady!

We arrived in Florida in time to celebrate our youngest granddaughter, Camille’s, 18th birthday.

Cake decorated by her talented mom.

It is not unusual to have their friends celebrating with us. We sat in amazement and listen to these young ladies discuss topics like music composition, college experiences and future plans. Were these the same girls that we knew to act silly? Before the evening ended, we were assured, they are the same girls.

Rarely are we in Florida and not see a ballet performance. This weekend was not an exception. Saturday we watched Camille perform a variation from the ballet, Carmen. A stellar performance, it is our favorite of all her performances that we have seen.

Love this one too!

Following the performance, Captain treated his girls to dinner at The Surf Hut in Destin. (Except for Camille who continued to celebrate her birthday with a night out with friends.)

It was an (almost) a perfect Mother’s Day Weekend.

Of course we could not drive through North Carolina and not stop to visit with our dear friends, Kathy and Jesse.

No, we did not get in trouble; we just took a little trip back in time, visiting Mount Airy, the hometown of Andy Griffith which was inspiration for the fictitious town of Mayberry.

Jesse and Kathy introduced us to The Yellow Deli in Hiddenite.

The story began in 1973 as a few passionate people decided to bring a ray of sunshine to their neighborhood “because, in the face of mounting troubles on all sides of this planet and for all of humanity” the restaurant founders saw the need for a solution. Yellow represents the ray of hope; the solution was a little place where people could come, sit down, not feel rushed, ask questions and find a refuge from the pressures of life. Following their interpretation of the early church where believers lived in communities, they live, work and homeschool their children on a little farm not far from the restaurant. To join the commune, one must give up all their worldly goods, agree to work on the farm or in the restaurants; they do not receive a wage. All of their needs are provided by the commune. It’s a very interesting concept or, perhaps a cult; The Yellow Delis are in several states as well as in other countries.

The restaurant in Hiddenite is in a beautifully restored warehouse with very good sandwiches on bread baked in their bakery.

The best part of our visit with Kathy and Jesse was sitting on the porch of their lovely home with a spectacular view,  sipping wine and catching up. 

We are back home, just long enough to do the laundry, load The Wanderer (she stayed home this trip) and head back to Florida for high school graduation celebration.

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