DAY 16: Rooting Around Southern Pines

 

Observation of the day

Uncovering family heritage helps you learn something new about yourself.

 

Quote of the day

“Not all that glitters is gold.” – said by Nana Donny as she was explaining to the young Activities Director at her building that a major celebrity from her day was supposedly a philanderer.

AND

“They say salmon is supposed to help your brain, but it doesn’t appear to help me.” commented by Nana Donny as she chose salmon for dinner at Bonefish Grill. We beg to differ, don’t know if it’s the salmon, good genes, or good living, but her brain is definitely in great shape!

Never tire of "our" garden.

 

This little yellow beauty greeted us outside our back
door first thing this morning.

VM & EM: Today we awoke early to get some exercise. Southern Pines has a beautiful reservoir with trails around the main, man-created lake. We enjoyed the two-mile trek under the pines, and especially loved all the doggies which were out for their morning walks plus bonus critters like turtles and a rabbit! 

We met Bella, a mutt, and a Havanese/Poodle 4-month
puppy (which we can't remember her name) on our walk.

Bella made us laugh as she prefers to walk along the reservoir
wall then on the path. Her owner said she does this all the time.

 

The reservoir was a peaceful spot.

When we stopped to admire the view in the picture above, no less than
14 turtles swam right over to us! We imagine some walkers
must bring them snacks.

Eagle-eyed EM spotted this sweet bunny. Can you see him?

Afterwards, we got our hillbilly car washed and then headed home for brunch. EM cooked up a feast -- fresh eggs from our chicken friends, Canadian bacon, toast and fruit. Accompanied by fresh-brewed coffee, it was a wonderful meal in our cute place.

The chickens produced some
yummy eggs.

Late morning we went over to hang out with Donny and did some laundry. She had had a busy morning as they had a monthly meeting for her retirement complex and she needed to provide the landscape report. She is always on the go!

 

Around 3pm, we came over to our B&B to see the animals and visit some more. Sparked by our conversations regarding our visits to the St. Patrick’s cemetery in Somerset, Massachusetts, Nana Donny and VM had a great time getting on Ancestry.com figuring out some more of the Griffin family tree. We still haven’t figured out EXACTLY where in Ireland they came from, but we are getting close. We also had some luck regarding the Morrissey clan, but struck out when looking up Donny’s family. VM took notes of dates & names from Nana Donny and will continue to dig.

 

At 5pm we headed to Bonefish Grill for a wonderful dinner. As always, we enjoyed the lively conversation. After a quick stop at Walmart to pick up a book Nana Donny was interested in, we headed back and said our good-byes. We feel so lucky to have been able to visit.

 

We got back to our place to pack up the car again as we head out tomorrow for Fernandina Beach. Our goal is to get there between 3-4pm. It is the last stop of our adventure. We are looking forward to it, but even more so to making our way home on Friday.

Random Pics of the Day

Can't get enough of our chillaxed bunny friends.