New Beginnings

I am huge fan of new beginnings.  

My friend and I made our annual trek to Nashville, Indiana last week.  We have this down.  We not only stay in the same B&B every year, we stay in the same room. Every year.  I have my bed and she has hers. 

I have the little town pretty much memorized and know my favorite stores and eating places.

Isn't there is something relaxing and soothing about going someplace familiar and predictable?

Of course, there are always a few surprises.  One of my favorite coffee shops had a lovely quirkiness that I always enjoyed.

 

 

But this year it had had left this delightful little place

and relocated to a shared space with another restaurant.   It happens.

Another of my favorite places was undergoing renovations, but that will be something to look forward to for next year.

 

Naturally, there were new places, too. 

I struck up conversations with the proprietors of two new shops.

One was owned by two ladies who had moved to Brown Co. from the Chicago area after retirement and were loving the slower pace.  The other was  owned by a woman who had moved with her husband a few years after losing her daughter (aged 35) in a car accident. 

Some new beginnings are born of joy and adventure, some of heartbreak.

And then there was the couple at our B&B.  

I had seen the notice on the lobby bulletin board.  It is always filled with cute signs announcing special occasions - birthdays, anniversaries (LOTS of anniversaries), and the occasional honeymoon.

Well, this year there was a honeymooning couple.

They were in the dining room the first morning while I was eating breakfast. I didn't take their picture, but he was handsome and she was beautiful, because honeymooners always are.  It wasn't their first go-around.  Each had been married (give or take a few) 50 years before losing their spouses. 

It is never too late for new beginnings.

We found  a new place this year for dinner.  Story Inn in Story, Indiana.  Actually, Story Inn IS Story, Indiana.   But if your town is going to consist of one thing,  this little general store/restaurant is the thing to have.

The food was good and the inside was cozy and interesting.

Stained glass from an old church.

 

After we ate, we went to the garden behind the restaurant. 

 



 

 

It was wonderful...green

 

 

and happy.

 



 

 

Something new can wake you up!   Like this swing.  I had a rope swing

growing up and it was great to find this one. 

 

 

Sadly, we didn't meet the ghost that supposedly resides at the Inn. 

Maybe next time.

 

 

Of course we got lost making our way back to Nashville. 

But that's part of the fun, too.

If you let it be.