Hello!
It has been such a long while since I (Dominique) have taken the time to construct a blog post for you all. How’s it going?
This past week, I had the immense pleasure of joining the annual celebration hosted by the Ava Gardner Museum, and wanted to share a recap of the experience and my solo trip to the East Coast with you!
Nashville, TN
Stop #1 of my road trip was in Music City, AKA Nashville, TN. Everyone knows that the best way to kick off a trip is with a good meal, right? So… I made my way to The Loveless Cafe to meet up with everyone’s favorite pal, Bozo the Clown, and another friend who you will hear more about in about a month or so. Because I eat like a toddler, a nibble here and there, I had the best candied pecans and salad (not the smartest driving snack, but it was yummy nonetheless) left over to snack on for the next few hours of my journey.
After our meal, a quick photo shoot ensued to bring you the most FUN Bozo content you could ask for throughout the Fall season. Helloooooo, pumpkins! Peep a sneak peek below before we move onto my 2nd solo road trip stop…
Virginia
Stop #2 was the beautiful Virginia! Admittedly, this is the portion of my trip where I planned very little and got lost a couple of times, but I had an idea of where I wanted to go and that was all I needed. Funnily enough, I was on a phone call with a wonderful woman we are working with on a 2024 coffee blend when I tried checking into the wrong hotel and she was so worried about me that she stayed on the phone until I found the correct one I made a reservation at. Absolute KINDNESS.
Onto the purpose of Virginia…
My goal was to find a roadside market that screams “picturesque Fall film moment.”
Great news! I found one!! Pictured below. While I wanted to get a basket of apples (I am in the midst of a one-sided feud with my grocery store at the moment. Their apples have been so bad as of late!), my backseat was filled with coffee. So, I settled for a jar of apple butter and a jar of pumpkin pecan butter. Oh, Fall! The happiest time of all.
Mt. Airy, NC
The next stop on my trip was the Andy Griffith Museum. Seeing their memorabilia collection, including two Bob Mackie sketches and iconic costumes, was a great pleasure!
Winston-Salem, NC
After my morning at the Andy Griffith Museum, I immediately made way down to The Reynolda House. I went into this completely blind only knowing that their art collection is fantastic and that my friend, Lora, who you’ll hear more about in a moment, said I would love it. They’ve currently got an exhibit that is absolutely FASCINATING. I knew the name and work of Libby Holman but knew nothing about her personal life. I highly recommend taking the trip out, or at the very least, treating yourself to a few hours of downtime and reading up on the connection between her, this mansion, the family who built it, and the true crime case that was never solved.
A highlight of this stop was the incredible ladies at the front desk of the museum. One of the women happens to be this immaculately talented costume maker who recreated a famous dress of Libby Holman’s beautifully. They were both so kind and informative. Of course, I made sure they got bags of coffee to keep themselves caffeinated through the exciting weekend!
After leaving the museum, upon the aforementioned ladies’ recommendation, an exploration of the Reynolda Village coffee shop was in order, and the apple pie latte I got there was well worth the stop!
My final stop in Winston-Salem was a quick drive through Old Salem to find the famous Mickey Coffee Pot Marker nearby. After a bit of confusion on where to park, I finally decided the area was slow, so I could stop my car in the side street and get the photos I had in mind quickly enough. Peep the images below! Well worth the trip!
Smithfield, NC
The final destination on my solo road trip was Smithfield, NC for the annual Ava Gardner Festival. Ava Gardner was an absolute legend both on and off the big screen and it is so warming to see how many lives she still impacts over 30 years after her passing.
My 3 nights in North Carolina started with being bold and trying some cactus enchiladas from a nearby Mexican restaurant that came highly recommended – Spoiler: they were FUN!
Day 1 of the Ava Gardner Festival kicked off early with a pit stop at the Gilded Pear, the downtown coffee shop that so graciously agreed to serve our “Goddess Blend” to visitors during the festival! A lovely episode of “Ava Chats,” hosted by the Museum soon followed and you’ll be able to hear that soon! It was such a pleasure to spend time with the Museum Director, Lynell Seabold, and a friend of the company from the very beginning, Lora Stocker. These two ladies are absolute powerhouses who do so much for the Museum and legacy of Ava Gardner. To know them is an honor.
Our friend Annette Bochenek (of Hometowns to Hollywood) joined the party shortly afterward and Lora so kindly took us on a tour of the town, which included lunch and an INCREDIBLE tour of the Benton Card Company, which houses thousands of original movie posters ranging from the Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra classic musical, Guys and Dolls, to all the incredible Ava Gardner film posters you know and love. I’m so incredibly excited to have been gifted a poster from this excursion. Thank you, Ben!
Day 1 continued with the Festival reception, which is where I finally had the pleasure of meeting Ava Thompson, Ava Gardner’s Great Niece, in person! I worked with Ava Thompson in the creation of “The Goddess Blend,” and have grown to absolutely adore Ava T. and the Trust, so meeting everyone in person was a great honor.
Day 2 of the Ava Gardner Festival was another early start. It was my pleasure to be able to serve festival attendees our Ava Gardner coffee blend and be able to spend one-on-one time explaining our purpose and goals with others who are passionate about legacy preservation. Seeing each person taste the coffee and hearing immediate feedback was thrilling.
In the early afternoon, myself, Lora Stocker, Annette Bochenek, Lynell Seabold, and just about the entire Museum team had the privilege of taking our very first Ava Gardner Heritage Tour! If you’re ever in Smithfield, you must add this to your “to-do” list.
After our tour, Annette and I were welcomed with open arms to lunch with the three namesake Ava’s: Ava Thompson, Ava Silver, and Ava Isabella as well as a few other fabulous women who may wish to remain private, so I will leave it at this… A lunch with artists and creatives is never a dull one, so this was a great time!
Victoria Price, daughter of Vincent Price, was an honored guest at the Ava Gardner Fest and gave a wonderful talk before her book signing that was so informative! She briefly mentioned our beloved coffee icon, Boris Karloff, when talking about the infamous image of her father, Boris, Bela Lugosi, and Basil Rathbone relaxing in coffins. Lora Stocker took a great photo of Victoria with Lynell, James Kelly (another incredible guest who recreated the most beautiful Ava costumes from Showboat), and myself which you can see below.
To wrap up this insanely exciting and busy weekend, a theater screening of The Bribe, which featured Victoria Price introducing the film, served as the perfect finale. I sat next to James Kelly and badgered him for his thoughts on important topics in culture – like Twilight and Cher.
I’m so certain I missed a few things in my recollection of the trip, but my motivation in sharing was to get across the message that our first trip and outing as Breakfast At Dominique’s was incredibly fulfilling and legacy preservation is still important however many years later. Thank you to everyone who made me feel welcomed and everyone who took a trip out to honor Ava Gardner!
Dominique Benedict is the founder and owner of Breakfast At Dominique’s. Her favorite topics include classic everything from movies to music to cars and the 90s film, Dazed and Confused.