Stinky is excited for Periwinkle’s and his adventure today. He is waiting with open paws when Periwinkle arrives with a whoosh from the teleportation tunnel. They spend several minutes whisker kissing and paw hugging. Then, before Periwinkle can say anything, Stinky leads her back into the tunnel.
Moments later they arrive outside a huge yellow house. Immediately Periwinkle recognizes where they are and says, ”Stinky, this is where your mom and dad spent their 50th wedding anniversary just a couple days ago.”
“Very good spotting, Periwinkle. My parents told me how beautiful this place is, so I knew we should come and check it out. Today we are only going to visit the Hope and Glory Inn and its beautiful gardens. We will come back another time to see some of the other local sites. The Inn is in Irvington, Virginia. The town sits on the shore of Carter’s Creek, a tributary to the Rappahannock River. It was formerly known as Carter’s Creek Wharf from from 1873 to 1891 and thrived as a steamboat port at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. The town could only be reached by boat.”
Stinky tells Periwinkle, “The Inn was originally an elite boarding school called the Chesapeake Male and Female Academy. It existed from 1889 to 1907. The Inn consists of six guest rooms upstairs, but my parents stayed in one of the cottages located among the gardens. They are original buildings to the school as well.”
“Stinky, let’s go check out those gardens,” Periwinkle suggests.
“Periwinkle, the path behind us leads to the pool, but it isn’t open yet.”
“This is the path looking toward the Inn. There are cool signs throughout the garden with what our moms would call Sparks written on them. Unfortunately, some flowers like the peonies have finished blooming and others, like the hydrangeas, haven’t started yet. But there are lots of pots of flowers and other cool plants.”
“What are these plants?” asks Periwinkle.
“Starting in the upper left corner and going clockwise, they are: Rose campion, Chinese holly, Asian clematis and Japanese spindletree,” Stinky replies and then takes off toward an object in the yard.
The Mini Inn
“Stinky, please come down. You are going to scare the birds living in that house.”
“No I won’t. I promise not to stick my paws inside, but I just had to get up here at check out this cool replica of the Inn.”
“If you come down, I see something we can both climb on,” Periwinkle tells Stinky.
The Ballerina
“Wow, Periwinkle, this statue is perfect for us to climb on together.”
“And it offers a great view of the garden,” says Periwinkle.
After the tabbies climb down, Stinky takes Periwinkle’s paw and tells her there is someone they need to meet. He leads her into the Inn’s dining room. That is where they find the person his mom and dad said is very special to the Inn.
Executive Chef Meseret Crockett
When Meseret sees the tabbies she hurries to meet them and give them big hugs. She is a cat person, and Stinky’s mom told her he and Periwinkle would be visiting. She invites them out to the garden to take a photo with her.
Chef Meseret is a native of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. She was educated in French schools and graduated from the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts. Our readers can learn much more about Chef Meseret under the Dining section on the Hope and Glory Inn’s website. After a nice visit, Chef Meseret tells Periwinkle & Stinky that she would like to fix them one of her specialities for their lunch. She suggests they sit at the bistro table outside Cottage One, which is where Stinky’s parents had their breakfast every morning. The tabbies are happy to oblige.
A Gourmet Lunch
Soon after they settle into their seats, Meseret brings them lunch—her famous crab cakes, which are made with no fillers, just crab and aioli.
Periwinkle and Stinky immediately dive into their lunch. They can be heard oohing and ahhing as they eat. Stinky tells Periwinkle that the crab cakes are every bit as good as his parents said they were. Periwinkle agrees that they are exceptionally nommy delicious.
After lunch, the tabbies thank Meseret for the extraordinary lunch and promise to return, just as Stinky’s mom and dad had done. It is then time to enter the teleportation tunnel for the return trip to Stinky’s house.
When they arrive, Periwinkle spends some time visiting with Stinky’s parents as well as his fursibs. But, finally, it is time for her to return home. After several minutes of whisker kissing and paw hugs, Periwinkle enters the tunnel and is gone in a whoosh.
Stinky heads to the catio to nap and dream of Periwinkle and delicious crab cakes.
The End
Periwinkle & Stinky will be participating in the Happy Tuesday blog hop at Comedy Plus. If you’d like to do the same, click on the badge below.
Sparks is the creation of Annie from McGuffy’s Reader. Sparks began as a blog hop, created by our friend. Annie stated when she began Sparks, “I believe we are meant to be lights in this world. If we allow our light to shine, we can see where we are going. It is then that we can begin to truly see each other clearly. Together, we can light up the entire world.”
