Travel Tuesday: Thomasville, Georgia

Back in March, my mom and I decided to take a day trip over to Thomasville, Georgia, during my spring break.  It's about a 2 1/2 hour drive from here and only about 20 minutes north of Tallahassee, where my sister lives.  While she was in class, we explored Thomasville and then met up with her to shop and eat in the evening.

Thomasville is a picturesque south Georgia town.  Tiny, but charming.  The primary attraction of the city is its beautiful plantation home:  Pebble Hill.  This trip was my second visit to Pebble Hill, but it definitely won't be my last.  I love walking through the house and learning the history of the home, but, even more than that, I just enjoy walking the grounds and exploring the gardens, barn, and sprawling oak trees.

 View of the front of the house

 The back of the house

 Garden

 Stable and barn area -- they hold a lot of weddings here in the courtyard

 Collection of carriages

After we spent a few hours touring and meandering, we headed into town to grab a quick lunch.  We had already planned out exactly where we were going to eat, but, because we spent so much time at the plantation, we missed the 2:00 lunch time deadline for most of the downtown restaurants.  It was such a blessing in disguise, however, because we ended up eating at a place called George & Louie's.  It was complete perfection!

 Our appetizer:  fried green tomatoes

 Mom and I both ordered the fried shrimp with cheese grits

If you ever find yourself in southwest Georgia, I highly recommend stopping by Thomasville to look around.  There were also, what looked like, a few really cute downtown boutiques, but we didn't have a chance to visit any.  I'm planning another trip back really soon!

Happy Birthday, Olivia!

Twenty-one years ago today, we welcomed my sister, Olivia, into the family.  My mom loves to tell the story of how I predicted her birth:

My parents had decided to stop after my brother and I were born.  No more babies.  They had a girl and a boy, and that was good enough for them.  Well, I wasn't quite as satisfied.  When I was four, I attended a pre-k program a few days a week.  Right before Thanksgiving, we were working on a craft. I have no clue what the craft was, but, apparently, our teachers asked us to list the things we were thankful for.  Of course, we all gave the typical answers...my family, my dog, my food, my house, my friends.  You get the picture.  I gave the same usual answers, but I also listed one not quite so usual.  I said that I was thankful for my "future baby sister."  My parents were shocked when the craft went home, cracking up about it, rolling their eyes behind my back, and showing it off to other family members.  Less than a year later, my mom was pregnant.  Surprise!!

I can still remember being totally, 100% sure that my mom was having a girl the entire pregnancy.  My parents are some of those who decided NOT to find out the sex of the baby and leave it a delivery room surprise.  I'll never forget riding up the elevator with my grandparents, walking down the corridor of the hospital, and my grandma stopping the nurse as she wheeled a tiny baby girl down the hallway asking, "Is this Olivia?"  It was love at first sight!

Sweet, sappy story.  How long did that lovey-dovey stuff last?  Pretty much until she could talk.  Or, was it when she started biting?  Doesn't really matter.  But, I do know that no matter how much we disagree or argue, no matter what measure of distance we have between us, I am so very grateful to have been blessed with such an amazing sister.

Source: images.search.yahoo.com via Kiri on Pinterest

I am so excited to see the beautiful things that God is making out of her life.  

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for my precious baby sister.  No matter how much she grows and changes, she will always be my baby sister.  Lord, I have been so blessed to have be given the opportunity to watch her grow over these past twenty-one years.  I am grateful that You sent her into our lives because they have been so enriched with her presence.  She is beautiful, she is kind, she is smart, and she loves YOU.  More than anything, I thank You for her salvation.  I thank You for growing in her a genuine heart that loves You.  I pray earnestly that as she continues to mature, You would further develop and deepen her commitment and relationship with You.  I pray that the decisions she makes and relationships she has would reflect Your perfect will for her life.  I pray that You would place people in her path that would help to grow and guide her in her walk with You.  Let her be blessed by friends and let her be a blessing to others.  

Father, may I always set an example for her that exemplifies a woman of grace and integrity and alone brings You glory.

In Jesus precious name, Amen.

Happy birthday, Olivia!

Dad & Duck Dynasty

For Christmas this year, I was stumped when trying to think about what to buy my dad.  My padre is pretty amazing.  He's loving and kind and wonderful in all kinds of ways, but my biggest pet peeve with him -- the man never ever wants to help you think of gifts to buy him.  He's one of those "I don't need anything but your company" kind of dads.  Poor man means well, but it sure does make things difficult around his birthday and Christmas.

Well, this year, I lucked out.  While goofing off on the internet one night in November, I came across an advertisement for an upcoming show called "Dothan's Night Out with Duck Dynasty" (or something like that).  Dothan is my dad's hometown and only about an hour away, and Duck Dynasty is his favorite show (mine, too), so I knew it would be a hit.  I immediately snatched up two of the last tickets and was set.  He seemed shocked on Christmas morning, and I was Daughter of the Year.  Or, so I like to think...

We really had no idea what to expect with this "show."  Clearly, they wouldn't be singing or dancing, so we were at a loss as to what they might actually be doing.  Turns out, it was actually more of a sermon and testimony sharing event than anything else...AND I LOVED IT!  I'm telling you, if I thought I liked these guys before, I'm totally hooked now!

The show started with Willie coming out and welcoming everyone before introducing Jase.  Jase spoke for a good 30 minutes.  His speech danced back and forth between demonstrating different duck calls, a snarky comedic act, and his faith.  It may sound disconnected and scatterbrained, but it wasn't.  In fact, he was probably my favorite speaker of the whole night.

Then, Phil came out.  I love Phil on the show, but I've always wondered if he is really that blunt in real life.  And y'all, he was exactly the same.  His entire time on stage was spent sharing his faith, and nothing was off limits.  Nothing.  In fact, I can clearly remember him talking about politics, STDs, gay marriage, social security....need I go on?  He is opinionated and real and didn't care what anyone in that room thought about him.

Side story that has absolutely nothing to do with the show:  My uncle, who lives in Mobile, has a friend from church who was on business in Monroe, LA, where Duck Dynasty is filmed, and drove around town to find Phil and Kay's house out of boredom one afternoon just after getting there.  He found it and parked his car for just a minute outside (I know, borderline stalker) to get a better glimpse.  Before he could start the engine up again, Phil stepped outside and shouted, "Hello!"  My uncle's friend apologized for intruding and got in the truck to drive away, but Phil insisted that he come inside for coffee.  When he got inside Miss Kay decided to cook something up for him and, during their conversation, Phil asked if he had a place to stay yet.  The man said that he didn't, and they insisted that he spend the weekend with them in their guest bedroom, which he did.  Say what you will about how dangerous that could have been (and I agree), but these are, apparently, truly kind-hearted people who live their lives in total generosity.  

After Phil, of course, Si stepped on stage.  I kid you not when I say that he didn't get three sentences out before all three guys appeared on stage with him and took the microphone away.  He mentioned his faith in Jesus Christ and the importance of a walk with God, and the rest of the night was spent conducting a question and answer session from audience members who were prompted for questions before the show.  The evening ended with Miss Kay walking out and saying a few words about eating squirrel brains.It was memorable to say the least!

Unfortunately, there were no cameras allowed in the civic center, and cell phone cameras were also prohibited.  Boo!  But, my dad did manage to get one decent shot of Willie getting into his limo.

Just for kicks and giggles, I'm going to share another video/story...

Last July, my cousin, Natasha, was pregnant with her second child, Samuel, and was about a week away from delivering.  Well, she is a fellow Duck Dynasty addict, and her step dad was in Monroe on business.  He decided to stop by the Duck Commander warehouse, just to see if he could get in.  Apparently, he just walked through the front door, no problem, and made his way back to the offices.  He found where Jase and all the guys were working and introduced himself.  He told them about my cousin being a big fan and asked if Jase would film a quick hello video to her, since she was about to have a baby.  Here's what she got:

Travel Tuesdays: Apalachicola Style

Lately, I've been gushing over my recent travels, all while giving away basically no details.  Sorry, y'all!  It has really been a whirlwind two weeks.  Great weeks, but oh-so-crazy.  I live in Florida...the Florida panhandle, to be exact.  And, while I don't live at the beach, I live very near the beach.  Panama City Beach, just so we're clear.  So, when spring break rolls around, the locals find any and every reason to hightail it out of here.  Not that we don't love all of our visitors.  Truly, we love y'all.  Does wonders for the economy.  But let's be real:  things get kind of weird.  Which is why I've been a little MIA lately.  However, I have no travel plans for the next several weeks, which will give me plenty of time to get you all caught up!

When my sister, Olivia, had spring break a couple of weeks ago, she headed in town to spend it with family and a few friends.  My mom and I both decided to take a mid-week day off from work to head over to Apalachicola to shop and sightsee with her.

Apalachicola is a pint-sized town, located on the Apalachicola Bay and at the mouth of the Apalachicola River.  It is famous for the Apalachicola Bay oyster.  I know...oysters are a love 'em or leave 'em kind of item, but, around here, we are a love them family.  We've been scarfing them down regularly, thank you very much.

We destroyed these this past Friday night.

Apalachicola has relied on its prime location along the Gulf for a long time.  In fact, it was once the third largest cotton port in the United States.  Today, it's fishing and shrimping industry keep it on the map, along with the many historical homes and buildings that line the waterfront and are scattered throughout the town.  Many of these buildings have been or are in the process of being restored, and it was so fun to walk around and visit the little shops in the area.

The highlight of the day was, of course, lunch!  We ate at the Owl Cafe, a very well-known, prominent spot in the middle of downtown.  The lunch hour fills up quickly, and we had to wait a while to be seated.  Always a good sign when looking for a great place to eat!  I ordered gator and pork sausage served over grit cake, which is basically just pan-fried, block-style grits.  I cannot even begin to describe how delicious it was!  If you're ever in town, I highly recommend it!!

We spent the rest of the day wandering through town, shopping and chatting.  It was perfect.  We ended the day by driving over to St. George Island, which is a few miles down the road from Apalachicola.

Summer is only a short nine work weeks away, and I'm counting down like crazy!  I'm hoping to get more great day trips like this under my belt!

This is just trip number one.  More to come!!