Tuesday, December 14, 2010

the merits of Merritt...

We live in a province of valleys and mountain ranges.  It just so happens that we have family living in the Okanagan Valley...some three or four hours from here across the mountains.  In the summer we don't think twice about crossing the mountains.  In the winter...we think twice...but still make the trek just to meet for Christmas dinner.  For some years now...we have been meeting at the halfway point...the city of Merritt. 
Merritt lies in the middle of ranching country...and is the hub of the Coquihalla Highway system.  For us...it is usually the pit stop (Tim Horton's coffee) on our way down the highway.

Yesterday it was the destination!  Seven of us met for lunch at a most accommodating restaurant...where they never seemed to care that we stayed all afternoon.  


Each cup of coffee arrived in a new mug...
and so I had many lined up by the time the meal came to an end!


And since it was our 'Christmas' dinner...we had an appropriate dessert before parting ways.


By the time our lunch was over...darkness was settling in.  

Merritt...it has it's merits!  I'm sure we will be back for our Christmas get-together next year.


11 comments:

  1. What a perfect way to spend an afternoon and there was no clean up clean up .. Fresh cups of coffee at appropriate intervals .. .sounds just lovely. I know others that do the same thing in the small town of Merit and that is our half way point when we take our fall trip to see the colors.

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  2. Sounds like a wonderful afternoon of visiting with family!

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  3. The perfect stop-off - and what a good idea to make it a meeting place!

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  4. I think it's wonderful that you keep this tradition alive and meet halfway for lunch!

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  5. I'm looking forward to getting together with some of our family during this holiday season.

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  6. I like the idea of "meeting half way" to visit those far away.

    I also love Tim Horton's coffee -- my husband brings back a few bags of beans every time he visits Buffalo or Toronto for business.

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  7. Meeting halfway means no one fusses or bears the burden (joyful or not) of hospitality. What a great idea.

    Merritt has its merits indeed!

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  8. How many "pit stops" were taken on drive home after all that coffee???

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  9. My mother and I had lunch today at the same chain and enjoyed it immensely. Our dessert was Canadian maple cream-filled doughnuts, but yours looks good, too. I'm sure it was very good to spend time with the family.

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  10. That dessert alone looks like it's worth the drive!

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  11. Glad you got to stay as long as you wanted...sometimes I feel like the waitstaff is saying (without really saying it)...."here's your hat, what's your hurry"! Remember that line from "It's A Wonderful Life"? I know they want their tips, but it is nice to be able to linger over an extra cup of coffee or two ....or four! :-)

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'The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it.'
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson