A Little Piece of Heaven

If you look closely off Highway 97, you might notice a dirt driveway covered on either side with beautiful old trees. If you venture in, you will be transported to a little spot where Wi-Fi doesn't work, your cell phone doesn't get service and nothing is around besides Mom and Pop stores, the water and clear skies. You can see the stars at night, and you don't have to worry about locking the door when you leave because no one is really around.

Usually there is a sailboat tied to the dock, but it was being cleaned for the summer. My parents have used the water and sailboats for years to get away from the stress of everyday life and rejuvenate. I am so thankful that they included their children in the majority of their trips, and now, that they have a place that they can escape to whenever they want.

Even though Mike and I arrived at the same time Tropical Storm Lee did, we were still able to enjoy the solitude and quaintness of the area.

Don't you just love this bench? I sat on it and have no idea how much time went by. The breeze and the ocean just take you away. (By the way, pretty much everything in these pictures was built/planted by my parents.) Sometimes I think if they were stranded somewhere and no one could find them, it would be just fine with them. :-)

Here are some pears that my parents grew this season:

And here is mom doing a little weeding before the rain came back....

I have been wanting to try this cheese store that my dad always raves about. I don't know what I was expecting, but he told me he thought my expectations were a little high. He tried to explain that some "hippies" made cheese from the cows they keep on their land. And he was right.

We walked into a room not much bigger than the room you are probably sitting in now. The cheese was displayed in front of us and you can taste whatever type you like. I think Dad was getting embarrassed because I made sure to get my fill of samples! The cheese was delicious - I thanked the cows on our way out.

That evening we put the boys to work just so we could have a taste of this:

I love oysters. Baked, fried or raw, I do not discriminate. The crazy thing was, with the storm, many of the oyster boats were not going out. After calling at least four different places, we were able to reserve two boxes of oysters that Dad and Mike shucked with great tenacity.

Don't they look thrilled? I think they were tired from all their hard work. Seriously, nothing beats fresh seafood.

And here is just a cameo of mom and me - were enjoying some wine with our oysters. (No, I am not expecting. That is just a really bad angle...)

So what did we do over the weekend? We woke up, ate breakfast, traveled to one of the stores or watched football, took a nap and then just hung out until dinner. It wasn't a lot of late nights, but it was exactly what we needed. Yes, if the sun had been out, the pictures would probably have included tubing and laying out, but this was just perfect. We can't wait for the next time we get to escape to my parent's little oasis!
Thanks Mom and Dad - we had a great time!