A Little Piece of Heaven

 My husband and I recently went to the mountains for a little get away. I've never really appreciated the beauty of the mountains as much as I did this visit. One of my favorite parts about taking a mini trip is trying out different restaurants. We rarely eat at the chain restaurants in Greenville ( I am pretty sure the only one we do visit is Mellow Mushroom...best.pizza.ever), so it's not much different when we travel.
   Years ago ( I'm thinking four years) , when I visited the mountains, I ate a place called Coyote Kitchen and had shrimp tacos. I love anything in a taco shell...I could eat tacos everyday and be fine. If the world was going to end, the last thing I want to eat are these shrimp tacos with the cranberry salsa. I like this place because it's fresh food, good food, and the atmosphere is very relaxed. My husband says it looks like "my type of place," I'm guessing he refers to the fact that it looks like a hipster/hippie place. Whatever...I can't help that I'm artsy and like artsy places, which leads me to his comment, "how in the world did you pick me, I'm not artistic or musically talented like you". My response...I enjoy not being with someone who is like me, God planned a great thing!
    Enough about my Coyote Kitchen fix, I'll actually refer to why I chose the title that I did for this blog. I have never really paid much attention to the scenery of the mountains, probably because I've visited in the summer and in the winter. In the winter, it's cold and everything is dead looking. In the summer, it's lush, and I can see greenery anywhere. In the f

all, the colors of the trees are AMAZING!  With this in mind, I decided we needed to visit Grandfather Mountain. We made our way along the Blue Ridge Parkway up towards Grandfather Mountain, making frequent stops along the way to gaze at mother nature's beauty. We stopped at one particular park and walked over to a bridge to witness a breath taking site. Under this bridge is a big lake that spreads out in between beautiful mountains with red, orange, green, and yellow leafed trees. For a moment, I had tears in my eyes, because it was unbelievably calm and quiet. I couldn't help think about my grandpa, this Thanksgiving will mark two years since he passed away with lung cancer. This little spot made me feel, that in that moment, he was there...maybe this is his little piece of heaven. Most people may not get the chance to experience their grandparents, or even develop a great relationship, but I did. My grandpa was a very quiet, calm, funny person. He would sit outside for hours upon hours just relaxing. So seeing this, calm, quiet environment, made me hope that if heaven is real...I hope he witnesses that scene everyday. As we left, I told Brandon that if I died before him, he better scatter some of my ashes there.
  Enough of my sappy story...the point of this blog... stop and take time to enjoy nature, spend time with loved ones, and especially family. Maybe you believe in heaven, maybe you don't, but we can believe that there is still beauty in this world that can take your breath away.