Sometimes You Can Go Home Again

I enjoyed my visit to Maryland this past week. Aunt Dorothy and I had ice cream at Hoffman's. What can be better then eating chocolate peanut butter ice cream sitting out in front of the store on a warm summer day? It is my opinion that ice cream always makes things better. I was transported back in time. Hoffman's looks the same as it did when I was a child. I ate dinner one night with my aunts and uncles at Bullock's. A good meal and good conversation. It was a nice evening. I was able to visit with several of my relatives and I enjoyed it tremendously.
On Friday morning Aunt D. and I went to the Gypsy tearoom for tea and scones. Now, she and I have some tradition going on with tea rooms. Every time she would come to visit me in Tennessee I'd take her to a different tea room. So, she took me this time while I was in Maryland. Gypsy's was an interesting place. It is located in the Winchester House. This house is the oldest house in Westminster. It was built in 1760 by William Winchester. He and his wife raised their 10 children there. It is the only house still standing in Maryland with a central chimney. As I sat in this beautiful old house sipping my green tea, I looked around and thought of all the people that have lived and worked in this house over the past 248 years. Wow. I felt like a part of history. Mr. Winchester was from Westminster, England and had named this new area that he settled in Westminster, Maryland after his hometown.
So much has changed in my hometown over the years that I've been gone. A mall, stores, lots of new subdivisions, and streets I didn't know existed....but so much has stayed the same. I feel blessed. No matter where I go in this world I'll always carry a piece of "home" with me, 'cause memories last forever.