Week 26 of the 52s...The Painted Lady

Though I have a passing acquaintance with the other 16 homeowners up here along my mountain road, there are two women I know better than the rest.  Occasionally I have gone out to lunch with one or the other in the last couple of years. 

Last week whilst hiking to the mailbox, I stopped to chat with Lucia, my Argentinian neighbor--four houses down from me--and in the course of catching up on news, I mentioned doing the 52s.  She was most intrigued, and in the spirit of fun and adventure, invited me to lunch at a very unusual place. 

The Painted Lady, Bed & Breakfast and Victorian Tea Room.  I would never have discovered this place on my own.  It's about 20 miles south, in an even smaller town than where I'm currently residing, and off the main road in a quiet, nondescript neighborhood.

A wonderful house, built in 1900, named after the Painted Ladies of San Francisco.  And every single nook and cranny is stuffed to the rafters with Victorian kitschy cool stuff.  Bridal veils hang from the ceiling in the main parlor and waft gently overhead in the breeze from the open front door; umbrellas in a multitude of reds dangle in another room, and interspersed amongst the plethora of treasures are the dining tables, randomly placed and decorated in colors that match the rooms.

From the outside...

The front parlor...

One of the side rooms...in shades of blue...

The Red Room...

We decided to sit outside at a small table on the veranda.  There was a perfect little shaded corner, the air perfumed from the flowers growing in wild profusion beneath the porch in the cottage-style English garden.  

I lost track of my camera for a time--okay, I totally spaced it--while Lucia and I talked, though I did manage to take this shot of my delicious sandwich: Black Forest ham and Swiss on a just-baked croissant bun...

After lunch we wandered along the wrap-around porch toward the back where the car was parked.  There were so many plants and shrubs, trees and blooms, every nook and cranny outside was just as stuffed as the inside. 

The back entrance, and the old-fashioned kitchen garden, bursting with herbs and lettuce and edible goodness...

Not only was the Victorian house a lovely old building, but you could easily spend an entire day exploring the many niches and rooms and cupboards filled with memorabilia of an era lost in time.

I think The Painted Lady was a perfect place to have reached the halfway point in my quest.  26 Weeks done...and I didn't miss a one.  Some of my adventures have been marginally successful, some have been great, all have given me a better sense of myself and my world.

And yeah, I'm definitely looking forward to the next 26...