Sometimes very nice things happen accidentally. Today I went to meet a writer I've corresponded with over the past year who is researching information on her great uncle, a former resident of Cabot. She was traveling with a friend from Texas and asked me to meet with them for lunch. We agreed to meet at the Danville Inn, and everything would have worked out fine except when I arrived a little before 1 o'clock, our agreed meeting time, Steve Cobb, the owner, told me he closes at one.

I thought my friend would be on the road, arriving any minute, so Steve suggested he would fix us something to eat and we could sit out back instead of in the dining room. That way his staff could clean up and close as usual. I went back outside to wait. At about 1:15 I began thinking of alternatives such as continuing to St. Johnsbury to find a place to eat. I couldn't expect Steve to give us lunch if it got much later. About then Steve came out to the parking lot and told me she'd called and was "stuck in traffic."

A few minutes later, Lael and her friend Linda from Texas, arrived. They were traveling east on Route 2 and had been "stuck in traffic" just over the knoll past the school. They could almost see the restaurant, but traffic was of course being held up and they couldn't move. We had a good laugh - it seemed so ridiculous - but having been held up by the construction myself, I knew it must have been very frustrating for them, but they took it in stride. Then I had to tell them we might be too late to get any lunch at the inn.

We went inside anyway, and Steve was very gracious. The menu at that point was limited, but we had no problem choosing. Steve made us a very nice lunch (we all had BLTs and iced tea) and served us on the back lawn where there was a table and comfortable chairs set up under a canopy with netting to keep out pesky bugs. There were even citronella candles if needed. There was a nice breeze and in the shade of the big maples, it was very comfortable, and as Linda said, charming. We spent a very pleasant hour there talking about Lael's great uncle George, Linda's teaching and writing in Texas, family history and researching. It couldn't have been nicer if we'd planned it that way! Thank you, Steve - you made our day.