Our Thursday departure day finally arrived. With almost all of my packing done the night before, it was hurry up and wait until we could get the rental car. When Barry opened the door to leave, he discovered that a box of six Krispy Kreme glazed doughnuts had been left for us by the marina staff. How fitting since we were traveling to Winston-Salem, the birthplace of Krispy Kreme. We loaded up the car and left Crossroads sitting nicely in the sun. Before we knew it we had crossed the Savannah River on the Talmadge Memorial Bridge and were back in South Carolina. Five and a half hours later we arrived at my aunt and uncle's house in Clemmons where the fun began. Friday was busy managing five loads of our laundry, wrapping Christmas presents, and visiting. Saturday the whole family met in Old Salem for our traditional Christmas kick-off at Candle Tea. Walking around the historic district, we spotted the plaque marking the original Krispy Kreme shop and enjoyed looking at the natural decorations.
The wreaths and garlands are simple and elegant at the same time. Small peppers add the splash of red. The weather was beautiful -- crisp, but not cold. The band played carols as we waited in line for just under two hours. Fourteen of us were present in our group when we entered the Single Brothers. We sang hymns to music by the historic pipe organ then moved to the candle making demonstration. Beeswax and beef tallow are combined and poured into traditional tin molds. Once released from the mold, the candles are trimmed for use in the four Christmas Eve services.
The next room was the kitchen. We were anxiously awaiting the sugar cake and coffee which are served every year. An additional treat was having Aunt Wrenn give the talk this year about how the fireplace was used for toast, stews, and meats back in the 1800s. Continuing downstairs we paused for the Salem scene -- a miniature representation of the colonial town covered in marble dust "snow." The final stop on our journey was the nativity and a reading of the Christmas Story. This is the 90th year for the Candle Tea, and I've been to quite a few. It was hard on me to miss last year while we were in Pensacola on the Great Loop. So glad we were able to come back this year and get a great family photo too.
The sun was setting and casting an orange glow on Home Church as we went to the car. We stopped for Mexican before heading back to Aunt B's for more fun chatting and a few spirited rounds of dominos. Time flies and just like that we found ourselves starting to pack up. We went out for breakfast then to church. The century-old country church was beautifully decorated with greens and poinsettias.
We had planned to leave around 1:00, but were having too much fun visiting. After more stories, pictures and hugs, we pulled out a little after 3:00. That made for a late arrival back at the marina, but all was good. We unloaded most of our bags and I made it a point to get down our new "Seas and Greetings" holiday doormat. Today started out very foggy and we were glad we hadn't planned to leave. Seems the birds partied on Fiberglass Beach while we were gone. Barry broke out the hose and cleaned that mess up.
I took a little walk up the street and saw a bit more of Thunderbolt. When I came back there were a dozen dolphins in the river and some were feeding just off our stern. The sun set quickly. Thankfully we're approaching the shortest daylight of the year and soon they'll start getting longer.
Our weather window still looks good for tomorrow. We'll hop offshore and make an overnight run to Jacksonville, FL. We're looking forward to visiting with some friends who have already made it there.
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