The Gathering Place, Maggie Valley NC

While I'm not traveling, here is a post from an earlier trip that originally appeared on another of my sites on October 18, 2008.

I'm writing this on Friday, October 17th while sitting in the West Carolina Internet Cafe in Dillsboro, NC and using their free (if you bring your own laptop) Wi-Fi. I chose WCIF because they also offer printing and faxing services and I needed to use both in connection with my employer. Earlier today we took a stroll through downtown Sylva, which is about 15 miles west of our campground and then drove here to Dillsboro which is just a couple of miles beyond Sylva so I could use WCIF, and afterward we drove another 15 miles northwest to Bryson City.

So, driving around on the "donut" spare was not something I wanted to do a lot of, but we had an opportunity we could not pass up. My in-laws have been telling us for a while about a very charming bed & breakfast in Maggie Valley called The Gathering Place and in fact Cindy's aunt and uncle were staying there on Wednesday, so we were invited to join them for breakfast at the B & B and meet the owner, Laura, who my father-in-law refers to as his "second daughter."

We had a delightful time! Laura is a sweetheart who owns and runs the B & B as well as housing abused dogs and horses on the lodge property. She is one of those few folks that I've met and liked from the moment we were introduced. Enjoying breakfast with her, my in-laws, Cindy's parents and two other guests just reinforced that affection. Later, Laura took Cindy and I on a tour of the B & B and we talked a lot about what work had gone into the B & B and our upcoming cabin construction.

I took two pictures of Laura to use on the  blog and somehow both came out with her eyes closed, which I couldn't see on the small viewscreen of my camera when I checked the photos. But here is one of the B & B from the small lake with Cindy and Laura standing on one of the decks talking.