Another view of me from last night's birthday celebration along with some scenes from the hotel, restaurant and our meal.
The bottom left is the elegant lobby, complete with its renowned staircase. Margaret Mitchell, author of the classic American Civil War story Gone With the Wind, stayed here while writing the novel, and the staircase is said to have inspired her description. Other scenes included in my collage are the statue of President Thomas Jefferson located in the reception area, and a table in The Library where John and I dined. You can see John ready to try his chilled cantaloupe soup. I, on the other hand, preferred a new twist on a southern classic, crispy fried green tomatoes (to the left of John) paired with smoked surry county sausage, fresh carolina shrimp, local string beans, white corn succotash, sunflower shoots and creamy shellfish gravy. John continued with herb grilled beef tenderloin served with buttermilk red new potatoes, cippolini onions, broccolini and peppadew coulis. I omitted a picture of my entree choice due to space limitations -- pan roasted swordfish with butternut squash risotto, leeks, oyster mushrooms and truffled corn cream, but I couldn't leave out the dessert we split -- a chocolate peanut butter bar made with dark chocolate and whipped marshmallow, accompanied by caramel peanuts and strawberries.
Needless to say, today we fasted.
Well *Happy Happy Birthday*! Not that you needed anything more than what you have here! What a gorgeous place...a definite celebration site! I'm big on ambiance with a really good meal, so I loved every detail! And I have to add, John is wearing a look that Ken gives me at this particular moment... "Have you got your picture? May I eat now?"
