We said goodbye to most folks as we headed to Lake Junaluska for church service. Barb’s family (Susie’s sister) headed on to Charleston to meet friends and tour a church tower. The rest by plane or car are headed home. Only Leta (Susie’s mother), Joyce (Susie’s aunt), and Gene and Glenda (Gene being Susie’s uncle and brother to Leta and Joyce and Glenda being his spouse) remain here in Asheville. Leta wanted to see the Methodist retreat center at Lake Junaluska, so we did the Sunday service.
We were a bit rushed but made it in time. It is up in the Smokey Mountains and not far from the national park: Great Smokey Mountains National Park.
The service was full of good music and ended with a duet of the organ and piano: Haydn’s The Heavens are Telling (I did not record it: Here is a link if you want to hear it The Heavens are Telling). The sermon, by Rev.Dr. Mark Ralls, was typical old school preaching with numbered points and various retellings and stories to match–but well done for the older style.
Here is the prelude with a pan of the auditorium.
We got to sing Amazing Grace–all of it. Leta was pleased with the music and the service.
We then toured the area and saw the cross that Sunday school kids help pay for.
We headed back for lunch in Asheville and hit stalled traffic on a Sunday! We finally made it back, and Glenda found a place for a late lunch searching the Internet while stuck in traffic: Zia Taqueria. Much later than we planned due to traffic.
The food was excellent and the staff very helpful. I had the hatch chili stew with fried eggs on top and meat, one of their Sunday brunch items. Spicy! The chilis were supplied directly from Mexico they told Gene–they have some kind of special license. We noticed that the folks eating were tattooed and mostly young. Portland really has to up-its-game I see.
Back to the rooms and a nap. We plan for breakfast at 8 tomorrow.
I bit of a quiet day.
We skipped dinner as lunch was a lot!
Travel back to Oregon on tomorrow!
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