This has been a favorite destination of mine for years. I’ve watched this little store evolve being very rustic (it still is but that is part of its charm) to offering very high end merchandise. The Lick Log Mill Store is located just outside of Highlands, North Carolina and plenty of people stop to purchase items for their homes in the mountains.

The store has been featured in Southern Living magazine and has a super loyal following. But the owner told me this past weekend that she had decided that she would probably never have a computer. She accepts cash or a check but that’s it. She still hand writes out her invoices and wraps everything purchased in lovely tissue paper. So, you won’t find her or her store on the internet except when it has been mentioned by another loyal customer.

When I left, her husband was hard at work in the garden that runs alongside the old mill. The flowers were lovely thanks to the afternoon rains this area always seems to enjoy.

My day began with this and plenty of coffee. BJ’s is the best!

It included a quick stop to buy sunflowers for a party with friends.

Then there was dinner and time to talk and play with paper dolls.

We celebrated with Rebecca and Albert and Johanna.

And here is how we ended the day. Pretty perfect. Thank You, God.

Vermilion is a really sweet coastal town. I’ve photographed its lighthouse in the dead of winter when it was mind-numbing cold. This time the temperatures were at the opposite extreme—the high 90′s. I discovered pretty fast that people who live up north usually don’t mix well with heat. Air conditioners were running with great fury or “full tilt” as my grandmother would have said. And no one was willing to tell me just how low the settings were. It was freezing in all the buildings and houses!

One afternoon, we ended up in this little coffee shop where all of us enjoyed the atmosphere, the conversation, and the espresso! I came a way with a half pound of Pirate’s Blend. Thus, continuing my “Pirate” theme, which I have no clue where it came from this summer.

And then there is this soda shop. Eating here and drinking a cherry coke is becoming a tradition.

These guys caught my attention recently while shopping in a Mast General store in North Carolina. Sometimes, I’ll have a tender heart and find myself wanting to purchase a monkey like one of these. But then I’ll remember the time I did. I took it home as a gift to the dogs and they proceeded to rip it’s arms off in short order. So, that happy thought is something I won’t follow through on ever again.

Someone has kissed this dog on the top of it’s head!