Judging in North Carolina - Sept 2009

As I type, I'm sitting on the front porch of my historic 'hotel' in a rocking chair, overlooking the beautiful lake you see pictured to the left. I'm listening to the frogs sing and the chatter of other mysterious night life chime in, while a light breeze moves across the water. It's so peaceful.

The land where my 'hotel' is and the surrounding small town is mainly owned and used as a religious retreat. With views like this, it's easy to understand why.

The second picture is of the front of my historic hotel. The rooms and facility are rather unique.

The rooms are more dorm style so they're smaller and basic, while the restaurant is served buffet style. My all-you-can-eat $7.50 dinner was REALLY good!

The lobby areas (yes, there is more than one) are very ornate and formal with Queen Ann style chairs and lots of floral and stripe prints. Oh and of course the rocking chairs on all of their porches are awesome!

On the drive up, I spied some neat buildings so after dinner I took a walk down the hill and into town. The town is very quaint and feels like one of those places where crime hasn't hit yet. No big city feel here and so different from my New York adventure last weekend!

The first place that caught my attention was the beautiful church along side the lake. The architecture and stone have an old quality about them and felt welcoming. When I walked up to the church, the doors were unlocked for visitors - another change from when Dan and I were in Springfield, MA and they had to keep the church doors locked due to vandalism.

One of the unifying features each of the buildings in the town has is the use of stone. Some have beautiful stone steps like the ones pictured, some have stone pillars, some have a foundation of stone and some have all of the above. Since the town is hilly, there are also stone walls cut into the hillside along the streets and sidewalks where needed.

Last but not least, I came across "Amen Corner" and found it fitting and funny. For those that don't know, Amen loosely means "So Be It". Having this sign at an intersection struck my religious funny-bone, maybe because whatever happens there (accident or a smooth transition) "So Be It" - almost like "Take Your Chances!".

Well, I'm off to bed to try to make myself sleepy in this new time zone. Check back tomorrow for courses.