Home Again and Party Award

Hello everyone!  I am back home - sweet - home again after our visit to the Smoky Mountains and beautiful Waynesville, NC!   Doug and I spent a few days at the Waynesville Country Club and Spa relaxing and re-energizing. 

Before I share the highlights of our time away, I have to share some fun news!!!  I love the PBS show Downton Abbey.  One of the blogs that I follow regularly is called DOWNTON ABBEY COOKS, and is owned by Pamela, who is married to Lord D!!  Pamela is a wonderful inspiration for all things Edwardian and shares recipes, customs, etc. from the Downton Abbey (and Titanic) time period. 

Pamela ran a contest offering prizes for the two best Titanic Parties and I am thrilled to report that I am her first winner (which you can read about further along in Pamela's regular Tea Tuesday post)!!!!   I will be receiving a copy of the new book, Wentworth Hall!!!  Thank you, Pam - I am thrilled!!!

Okay so now back to NC!!! :-)

The photo below is my poor attempt to share the country club with you while missing the cars in the parking lot!  Sorry.  The Country Club opened in 1926 and has grown and expanded through the years.  Doug says the golf course is great.  He kept talking about having never seen such a well protected par 3!!!  I, of course, loved the spa!  They country club teams with Biltmore Spa to provide on-site services and actually has packages for "while he is golfing". 

I liked the mountain setting, but the rooms were a bit dated... My way of saying that if you are going to get a fabulous room, stay someplace else.  If you are going to enjoy the golfing, the spa, the dinning and the tap room, you will have a nice trip

Our room had a cute little balcony that overlooked the golf course and the mountains!  How is this for a good morning view?

Or this?

Or this?

While in the area in addition to doing some antiquing and shopping, we visited lake Junaluska.  We love the walking path that surrounds the lake!

And what did we eat in our trip?  Well, I forgot to photograph all of the food but the first night we dined at the CC and I had shrimp and grits.  They were quite yummy!

Doug had a southwestern pulled pork wrap with mango salsa and a side of cheese grits.  The grits were fabulous!  (For you non-southerners, think Polenta!).

On Monday we visited City Bakery on Main Street.  For 60 years or so the bakery on Main Street was called Whitman's Bakery.  It was started by Doug's grandfather, DeWitt Whitman.  His sons Charles and Fred took over from him.  Finally Fred retired and his daughter Linda ran the bakery for a number of years, and added a sandwich shop. 

A couple of years ago Linda was ready to retire and enjoy her grandchildren so the bakery was sold, along with the name, to a different family.  The town was unhappy with the new owners and the poor quality of the products.  The locals did not support the bakery and the tourist season could not keep them in business year around so they ended up selling also.  They sold to an established bakery family out of Asheville, NC - the owners of The City Bakery.

To wrap up this long story (!), we visited the bakery on Monday and are PLEASED to report that things are heading back in the right direction!!  The baked goods are once again home baked and wonderful tasting, the sandwiches are back to their former standards also.  We introduced ourselves to the owners and wished them well - it is sad to no longer see Whitman's Bakery but it was a pleasure to see another family will carry on and offer high quality, great tasting food in the same location!!!

Above is my lunch plate at City Bakery - Turkey, Brie and Chutney sandwich with a side salad.  Below, enjoying a lemon cookie!

Doug had the Key Lime pie for dessert and had nothing but wonderful things to say about the taste and texture!!!

In addition to everything else we did, we did spend some time with Doug's aunt Ruth and Uncle Jimmy, who retired back to the Waynesville area.  We spent part of an afternoon visiting with them and then they took us out for a BBQ Rib dinner.  I don't want to think of the number of calories I ingested - but the dinner was quite yummy!!