Departure

We left early this morning - the wind had settled down, and although there was no precipitation the air seemed filled with moisture.  We began to follow the weather forecast more carefully as Winter Storm Helena approached.  By the time we had reached Winston-Salem, we had learned that the storm would begin Friday night and continue all day Saturday, with snowfall amounts in the 8-10" range.  We had planned to spend Friday in Raleigh visiting Martha's aunt and then leave Saturday for Atlantic Beach, but it became clear that this would not be a prudent plan; snowfall was expected to be at its worse Saturday morning and I did not relish the idea of navigating city traffic in heavy snow.  Travelers must above all be flexible in their plans!  So we made some phones calls and moved everything ahead one day, staying the night in Winston-Salem at the lovely and surprising Historic Brookstown Inn, an undiscovered little gem of a hotel on the outskirts of Old Salem.

The 250-year old Inn, formerly a cotton mill, is listed on the National Register and also contains the Winston-Salem Visitor Center; its lobby was warm and inviting and the corridor to our room, in a second building across an open courtyard, meandered wonderfully, old brick walls and massive timbers overhead, quilts on the wall, uneven floors underfoot.

Our warm little room was spread out on two levels, with a lovely fireplace in the sunken-living-room area and a big, comfortable bed under high ceilings.  We walked (longitudinally, as it were) next door to the adjoining Meridian restaurant for delicious tapas; it would have been packed even on a weeknight but was nearly empty in the expectation of wintry weather.