{Southern Pines}

On Saturday the hubby and I took off for a romantic evening in Southern Pines. We pulled into town and headed straight to my favorite local lunch spot "Sweet Basil". Of course there was a brief wait for our table of 2 so Sedberry and I headed next door to Monkey's. He lasted all of 3 minutes inside the madhouse ... I lasted only 4! I headed outside to find Sedberry sitting patiently waiting for our name to be called. By the time I had gotten my hands on every local publication in sight I heard "Olive party of 2"... YES!!!

We ordered our drinks and lunch at once, no need to even look at the menu! Sed ventured out and ordered a sandwhich with Avacados and Eggplant, but I stayed safe and ordered the usual... The Turkey on Tuscan. I love this sandwhich, it is turkey and swiss cheese on tuscan bread... but what makes it so good is the cole slaw that they make from scratch. I can not figure out how they make this cole slaw and it is driving me crazy! My mom, who is an INCREDIBLE cook, has tried to figure this out and has come up empty! I might call and just BEG them to tell me... who knows, it might work!

After Lunch, we walked around the corner to The Jefferson Inn and checked in. We went up to Room # 2 and put our bags down and relaxed for a bit. At 4:30 we went downstairs to have a cocktail and decided what to do for dinner. I had seen an advertisement for "Ashtens" in one of the 10 magazines and papers I had read since we arrived in town. We deicided to go there for cocktails and an appetizer around 5:30. Fortunately, it was just down the block so we could walk there and back.

OH WOW... This restaurant was a 10! It had great food, wonderful wait staff, and BEAUTIFUL ambiance! We asked the hostess if we could sit in the bar area since we only wanted to have a cocktail and appetizer. She was a doll and lead us to what I feel was THE coolest Bar/Lounges ever! The 2 level room was lit by Tiffany style lamps and had beautiful Velvet Sofa's, plush wingback chairs that you litterally sink into {so comfy!!!} and mahogany coffee tables that served as the dinner table. This room continued down a few steps to an old Mahogany Bar...small but just so perfect & quaint. It was exactly what we were hoping for...

And the food... seriously! It was INCREDIBLE... I had Reuban Eggrolls {yes...Reuban Eggrolls} and MASHED POTATO PIZZA! Now you would have to know me to understand how much I LOVE Mashed potatos... it is a problem!

After we left Ashtens we walked across the street to O'Donnell's Pub. Sedberry and I played pool and had a blast. They had a band playing and after a few too many drinks I felt the need to request Uptown Girl by Billy Joel. Here is some advice, NEVER request Billy Joel when one of the band members is wearing a Metallica shirt... they will laugh at you AND will not play it!!! We ended our night back at The Jefferson with drinks in the Bar and the live Jazz Trio that was playing. {They did honor my request for Stevie Wonder} We had a lovely time and I can not wait to go back again next year! {By the way... this is a close-up of the main Dining Room's GORGEOUS hand painted walls. They were absolutely Beautiful!}