Day 66
December 16
Siler City, North Carolina
Dear Miss Smith,
It
has been a thrilling day for me and I must tell you all about it. I am enjoying
a very quiet and relaxed night here in my lovely room at Celebrity Dairy Inn.
My room, which I shall tell you about soon, is located on the second floor,
while Katelyn & Kristina enjoy rooms on the third floor. Dogs are not
allowed in the Inn here and so we have left Timber and Penelope to enjoy the
entire RV tonight. I have no doubt that Timber will be sleeping on my bed and
will most likely encourage Penelope to share it with him since I am sure I
forgot to shut the bedroom door before we left. I’m half inclined to get up and
tramp all the way out to the RV just to make sure that door is shut properly. But
I’m only half inclined and think perhaps I won’t since it is a cold night and I
am writing this letter from my warm bed.
But
I must tell you about our day.
Leaving
Roanoke, we drove for a while listening to 89.7 FM on the radio. Since we were
going to be in the area, I decided that our trip to North Carolina just
wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the radio station you listen to all day
long. I was wondering, do you have the radio on when you go to bed? I never
thought to ask until now. I wasn’t sure what to expect having never been in a
radio station before, but those at WCPE The Classical Station were very warm
and welcoming.
Did
you know that their tower is more than 1200 feet tall? We could see it for
miles and knew where we were heading even before we arrived. Fancy being able
to broadcast the marvelous music of the classical composers all around the
world. I’m sure Benjamin Franklin would have been pleased, as would Samuel F.
B. Morse, Alexander Graham Bell and the rest of those inventors.
Tara
Lynn was so very sweet when we came in and took us on a tour of the station and
introduced us to many people who, up to now, have just been names on the radio.
Dan McHugh was working that morning and he was kind enough to let me do one of
the announcements and send my greetings to you. I do hope you were listening
during that time as it’s too late to go back and do it again. You said Dan
sounded “cute” on the radio, well he was even better looking in person, but my
dear Miss Smith, he was entirely too young for you.
As
much as I enjoyed the tour of the station and getting to be on the air, my most
thrilling moment of the morning was when David Ballantyne walked in! As you
know, David was born and raised in London, England and his accent is the real
thing, not one of those fake accents you hear people try and pass off nowadays.
I was wearing my favorite hat and he told me it was the most extraordinarily
charming hat he had seen since he was last in London. Imagine my supreme
delight at those words.
Our
travels continued after finding a quaint little restaurant in Wake Forest where
we ate lunch, followed by a walk around the town with the dogs. I wished it
were dark and we could see all the Moravian stars lit up which are hanging in
every doorway and window. It must be a lovely sight.
 |
| "Aunt Agnes" |
Oh,
Miss Smith, guess what I discovered in a quaint little antique shop window. A
hat just like my great, great, great, great Aunt Agnes had! I simply couldn’t
resist stepping inside the shop and having a better look at it while Katelyn
and Kristina held on to the dogs outside. The shop was run by an old man, and
he was so kind as to take the hat out of the window so I might examine it more
closely. Miss Smith, it was just like Aunt Agnes’s hat. I’ve always admired the
picture of my aunt, and how often I have wished for a hat just like hers, since
hers became lost in the intervening generations between her and myself, though
I never could hope to look as lovely as she did. I was torn between buying the hat and leaving
it there, for I didn’t have a hat box it would fit in. (All those feathers must
have some protection or it would be ruined in a week.) I mentioned that I was
traveling through the area in my RV and didn’t have a way to keep it safe when
I wasn’t wearing it. The man stared at me for a moment and then said, “You’d
wear that thing?”
“Oh,
yes!” I replied, turning it around in my hand. “It is just like one my great,
great, great, or how ever many greats it was, aunt had.”
“Ma’am,”
he replied, “if you buy that hat and will allow my granddaughter to come take a
picture of you wearing it, I’ll throw in a hat box that just fits that hat, for
free.”
How
could I refuse such an offer after that? In a few moments the hat was mine. A
minute more and the man’s granddaughter (she works for the local paper) came
and took a dozen pictures of me with my newest hat, asked many questions, and
even interviewed Katelyn and Kristina. It was quite thrilling, I assure you,
and my only regret was that we were not going to be around long enough to see
the photo and interview in print. I did leave your name and address with the
kind man, as well as the price of a paper and postage, and requested that he
mail you a copy of the paper. I’m calling this hat “Aunt Agnes.”
But
our travels for the day were not over and we soon set off for the Celebrity Dairy. It is a small family farm, but the Inn is a lovely building. Actually it
is two buildings— a modern Greek Revival farmhouse and an 1800 log cabin joined
by a two-story atrium. The log cabin was the original settler’s cabin. There
are wide porches skirting the farmhouse, and the 250-year-old oak trees are
stately and grand even in the winter. I can just imagine what it must be like
in the summer when everything is green.
The
dairy is known for its award winning goat cheese and is, as you may have
assumed, a goat farm. Their herd is of Alpine and Saanen goats and their cheese
is quite delightful. I am glad we chose to visit the Dairy for they do not ship
their cheese because it would suffer in the mail.
When
we arrived, we were welcomed and greeted by our hosts Fleming and Brit, along
with one of the goats, Kathryn, who is getting along in years but still seems
interested in visitors.
After
getting a tour of The Inn and settling into our rooms, we were shown the barn
where the goats reside. Kristina and Katelyn would have offered to help milk
had there been a chance since they have goats at home, but there were no goats
to milk as we came at an off time.
Supper
was delightful and then we retired to our rooms for the evening.
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| "Katherine's Room" |
Kristina’s
room is called “Katherine’s Room” and has light pink walls. Being on the top
floor causes the roof to slope down. She has a lovely window seat where one can
relax and enjoy the view of the small south meadow.
 |
| Bernard's Room" |
Across
the hallway from the “Katherine” is “Bernard's Room” where Katelyn is
sleeping. Her walls are also light pink but the bed frame is dark wood and
there is no window seat; however, the sheer curtains on the windows were tied
back so the north meadow could be seen. Both the upper rooms are quite cozy,
and I’m sure the girls will sleep fine.
 |
| "Lynan's Room" |
My
room is dubbed the “Lynan’s Room” and has blue walls and a quilt with a
background of blue. The bed is just lovely, quite unique with its tall pencil
posts of a light wood color. The upper parts of the walls, just below the
ceiling, appear papered in lace which adds a charm to the room which I can’t
describe. When it was light, I could look from my window and see the front
meadow and watch the sun setting.
Now,
Miss Smith, as I am quite tired and we will have a busy day before us, I think
I will turn out my light and get some sleep. I’m looking forward to our
breakfast here on the farm.
Pleasant dreams,
~Priscilla
