Benicia the Beautiful!

Today I had a wonderful play date with my sister, Marilyn. Marilyn is my brother, Gary's, wife and we decided to meet for lunch in Benicia. It is located conveniently about midway between our two towns. Benicia was the original State Capitol of CA and has a lot of fun and historic sites; for a small, sleepy town, that is. It is nestled on a little cove with the prettiest waterfront property you can imagine. I love Benicia because through thick and thin times, it has managed to keep its small town ambiance and charm.

I could not resist going a little early and meandering around the streets a little before lunch. Probably the most well known site in Benicia is it's beautiful gazebo in the little town square park. It was just gorgeous today...this is what my camera lens saw.

Here is their welcome sign

And a close-up of those amazingly beautiful red flowers.

The little streets are so cute and quaint!

This is where we had lunch.

This is traditionally strictly a ladies' establishment. It is so beautifully appointed and all things feminine. We were shocked to see three men in their today (not together but with various women) invading our women's club! (Just kidding but it was weird to see them there eating their little crumpets with their tea. I tried not to notice if they were holding their tea cups with their little pinkies in the air!)

I didn't take any photos inside just in case someone was supposed to be doing laundry and cooking dinner but had slipped out for a touch of elegance and a little afternoon tea with her friends! They have a wonderful menu but I always love to order their traditional tea with the three tiers servers which is just delightful. Little bits of scones with jam and clotted cream, cucumber and other little finger sandwiches, little tarts. Everything is just so sweet~we loved it. They serve all kinds of tea I always get the herbal peppermint, it is very soothing. And the food was very well prepared and is always all homemade right there on the premises.

As we chatted of course the conversation always comes around to blogging (oddly enough) and I was telling her about the series I did on keeping connected with family. She agreed. We are just going to slide each other's families up several notches on the priority scale and decided right then and there to meet each month for a similar type relaxing girl time together.

Sometimes it is just a matter of being aware of something and then calendaring it to make it happen. This seems to be a big problem in our day and time, but we are going to remedy it in our extended family starting now. And we are going to invite Emily (Steve's wife) to join us too.
They are leaving for Europe tomorrow so I know she could not have come today but next month she's in! I love that! No wonder I ♥ blogging, it makes me think past the moment sometimes and improve my life.

You know you are a blogger when...

You take a photo in the restroom.
This cute needlework picture of the Tea Room
was hanging in their darling bathroom.

I enjoyed my few hours in Benicia with Marilyn so much. I saw beauty all around me and it was impressive. Since I was in the 'searching for beautiful photo ops mode', while driving home I saw things in our own town that I normally would have passed by, thinking of something else. Why is it that we need to go somewhere else to see the beauty that is ours to enjoy at every turn?

Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder but it also requires a brain that is not multi-tasking all the time. Maybe that is why the 'get away" is best for spying the beauty of the earth sometimes. Whatever it is I love to go on them!

Our town! Both taken at a stop light!

I took this one over my left shoulder
as the traffic was just starting to move.
Yikes good thing I didn't get a ticket!
For a blogger it is the camera not
the cell phone~ a new source of revenue
for the Police...shhh, don't tell.
I promise I will be good from now on!