What I Did on My Mother's Day Weekend: An Essay (Of Sorts)

 It had been a while since our little family of four had had some time together.

No phone. No TV. Just us chickens, and 72 hours of togetherness.

We were long overdue.

Thursday morning we threw the kids in the car and headed to Mt. Airy, or Mayberry if you will, to visit the home of Andy Griffith.

As you can see in the picture above we immediately took our kids to the Mayberry jail - to show them what would happen should they choose a life of crime.

Unfortunately, the plan backfired....

...they cuffed me...

...and threw me in the slammer.
Happy Mother's Day!

Just down the street from the old Mayberry Jail is an emporium and antique mall.

My kids L-O-V-E antique malls. Which is sort of funny, but it works for us. Last year at this time we took them to an amusement park and they both said they liked it but probably wouldn't want to go back. Which is just as well. Antique stores are cheaper...usually.

The only hard part about antiquing is that The Mister and I couldn't believe some of the wares were truly  antique shop worthy. You know, things like 8-track tapes and vinyl records.

The next picture is one of my husband having a "teachable moment" with the kids.

 This is the first time my kids have ever seen a vinyl record.

As we set that record down and walked away The Girl asked, "Did you even have TV's when you were my age?" 

Rotten kids.

Of course we had TV's when I was a kid! However, I did have to walk to the TV, barefoot, uphill both ways, just to change the channel.

There was so much to see and of course we had to try on every hat...

...and lay on every lounge.

She LOVED all these old couches. 

Shopping worked up a good appetite so we took the kids to Barney's Cafe for lunch, followed by more shopping at the Emporium. To kill some time before checking into the cabin I picked up a latte at the coffee shop and the kids got milkshakes at the Mayberry Soda Fountain.

We also ran into the Barefoot Prophet. He was very nice and gave us great directions to the Post Office and told us that he had gone without shoes for 18 years. He said, "I'm known around here as the Barefoot Prophet. Do you take the internet? Cuz I'm on the YouTube. Just punch in 'The Barefoot Prophet" and you will see me there."

He was a very nice man. Wish I had taken his picture.

We finally made it the River Rhys Cabin, where I promptly put on a pot of coffee and set down for a spell.

It was a lovely little cabin with a warm and homey kitchen.

 And a sweet little table that was perfect for our family of four...

Often we banished the kids to their loft...

So we could enjoy some peace and quiet of our own.

Of course we didn't spend too much time indoors...we spent a lot of time on the front porch watching the kids wrestle and sipping the local wine.

We played games. We have a tradition of playing Clue on vacation, and this year The Boy finally won!

We also had visitors. The neighborhood dogs came every morning to say hello, and our residential animal lover was in puppy heaven.

 Two at the front door....

...Two at the back.

When I grew tired of sitting on the front porch...I sat on the back.

 It was difficult to look out to such scenery, but I prevailed.

Speaking of scenery...we hiked Pilot Mountain and took in the sights. 

(The vista was nice to look at too.)

The trails were easy and light...

 The Rhododendron so bright we had to wear shades.

 We scaled walls...

 ...hung from cliffs.

...and leapt from granite mountains in a single bound.

 We laughed....

 ...and laughed...

 ...and laughed...

It was good to be together.