The Happiest Place on Earth...

So Wes got a promotion as work.  And as a result, he stood me up on my

dream Disney vacation.  But that's okay, I had a blast anyways!

We spent our first day at the race convention and at Animal Kingdom.

Disney World is literally the best place ever.  Awesome customer service, awesome food,

the friendliest staff ever, all around just awesome.

(Our picture in front of the entrance to Animal Kingdom.

I forgot to check my camera settings before I asked someone to snap this one...)

(The Tree of Life.)

(Disney has it down.  The details are just over the top awesome.)

(Me and the wonderful couple.Meg and Dan were such awesome travel companions 

and it was awesome to see them with such wonderful weather.  I know they were ecstatic to escape

from the frigid weather in Milwaukee.)

(Momma and baby giraffe.

There is no zoom on this photo yall, how awesome.)

(And a rhino!  Such and incredible ride.)

(And upside down tree.)

(Meg and I on the ride.  Don't you just love my Minnie ears?

They were by far my best purchase at Disney.)

(Of course it started raining our first day; but, that turned out in our favor.

The lines were nonexistent.  The rain wasn't that bad.  And we aren't witches so we didn't melt.)

(The holding room for the Dino-SOAR ride.

As you can see, we literally had the place to ourselves.  

The ride was a little hoak-y, but considering we waited in line for zero minutes,

it was all good.) 

(Our first character photo!)

(That night we headed into EPCOT for our pre race Pasta in the Park dinner.

Here's me by the super huge golf ball.)

(One thing that I love about Disney was that their staff was so accommodating.

All of them were willing, and skilled, at taking pictures and did so without giving you

any eye rolls, sighs, or other signs of annoyances that come from the usual theme park employees.

But then again, Disney is no normal theme park.)

 After dinner we decided to hit the hay early in preparation for waking up

at 4am for the race!

Until next time...

Valentine's Weekend

For Valentine's Day I booked Wes and I a weekend special at 

Hotel Indigo in Athens, GA.  Although the weekend was not at all what we were expecting

any time spent with Wes is always a good time.

(Since Wes can't grow his own facial hair.  I bought him some in the form of a coffee mug.)

(First stop on the road trip (beside Dunkin' Donuts) was the Georgia Botanical Garden.

Unfortunately, due to the Polar Vortex's, nearly nothing was in bloom except for

in the tropical plant green house.)

 (Beautiful orchids.)

(Deer tracks through part of the outdoor gardens.)

(Next stop on the trip was The Tree that Owns Itself.

A great long time ago, William H Jackson so loved the shade provided to him by an Oak

tree that he gave the tree it's own plot of land.)

(The original tree was struck by lightening and had to be cut down.

But, the local ladies Garden Club took an acorn from the original and replanted the tree.)

(This is Wes acting like he doesn't know me because I made him take my picture 

with the tree and it's now in the middle of a college neighborhood.)

(Me and the tree.)

That night Wes and I had a very interesting dinner at Hotel Indigo

that was sponsored by Terrapin Brewery.  

Let's just say group seating + Valentine's Day = weird.

(The next morning we continued our weekend adventures.

The Athens City Hall is home to the only remaining double barrel cannon 

left from the Civil War.  Naturally, I needed my photo with it.)

(City Hall.)

After Athens Wes and I drove a portion of the Antebellum Trail.

Thank God Sherman didn't burn these places, they're the stuff of dreams and movies.

(Old school converted into a historic center and art museum.)

(Wes and I being mushy gushy.)

(I would like to live here...)

(Or here...)

(Or maybe here...)

(Or here could also work.

I wonder what it's like to have random strangers driving by and taking

pictures of your house all the time...)

(This is my fiance.)

(Local Court House.)

 (Clear blue skies, sunshine, and my love.

Nothing beats that!)

Until next time...

Coastal Weekend

Wes and I fled to the coast this weekend. 

A trip to Savannah, as well as Tybee Island were on our bucket list for the year

and it gave us a nice break and way to celebrate our engagement.

(We got a late start out of Peachtree City in Friday and barely made it to the island

in time to enjoy some seafood at the local Crab Shack.

We later learned it was a serious tourist trap, but Wes and I didn't mind, after all, we are tourists.)

(I tried to get Wes and I a reservation at several of the local B&B's but they were all 

booked for the Tybee Island Half Marathon that happened on Friday.

One of the inn keepers was nice enough to recommend his VRBO and I even negotiated

breakfast each morning at the inn.)

(It was absolutely terrible weather for the runners. And not very good weather for the tourists either.

But Wes and I are troopers and began our weekend adventures.)

(First stop:  John Mellencamp's house. Or really his ex-wife's house now.

It was just around the corner from Tybee Island Inn.)

(Stop number two:  Tybee Island Lighthouse.

Unfortunately it's in the middle of being painted and Wes and I couldn't visit the top.

Better luck next time I guess.)

(After the lighthouse we headed for Savannah, taking a detour at the famous Bonaventure Cemetery.

This is Wes and I's second cemetery in two weekends... we might be starting a strange trend.) 

(Regardless, it's an absolutely beautiful cemetery. 

Full of historic grave sites, beautiful sculptures, and excess amounts of Spanish Moss.)

(There is just something about old Live Oaks covered in Spanish Moss that is just too cool.)

(We saw Johnny Mercer's gravesite.)

(Creepy, yet beautiful statues all around the grounds.)

(There was a creepy boy that kept following me around as well...)

(I always wonder about the people that have the appendages of statues after they've been removed

from a statue.  Is that hand something you just keep lying around on your mantel?)

(I loved how the trees just grew among the markers.)

(One thing Wes and I noticed is how people worded their headstones.

A lot of them wanted visitors to know exactly how old they were when they died.)

(Wes determined that he would definitely need some kind of large and elaborate statue or column 

at his gravesite when he passed.  A statement which he quickly retracted and followed up by saying he wanted to be frozen, 

so that he could come back to life in the future.  Good one.)

(Posing with the Spanish Moss.)

(All around the cemetery we noticed rocks that had been set on top of the headstones.

No idea what that was about.  Any thoughts?)

(After the cemetery, we headed into the city.

Like any true librarian's daughter, we headed to the Visitor's Center as soon as we pulled into town.

(Because unlike a true librarian's daughter, I left all the guide books at home.)

There were many very nice older ladies there that we very excited to tell Wes and I where to go.)

(As soon as lady at the Visitor's Center said "the bench in Forrest Gump," I saw Wes's face lite up. 

So that was our first stop.  Chippewa Square, where Tom Hanks said "life is like a box of chocolates".

Although the bench is gone, we still got a good picture out of it.) 

(Next on the list was The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.) 

(Although my dad is the only real Catholic in the family, I always feel drawn to Catholic Churches.  

They are almost always pretty, and the people there usually don't think 

it's strange when you just wonder around.)

(It was absolutely beautiful inside.)

(I always light a votive for my family.

These always make me think of my Grandma & Grandpa Downey and my Uncle Tim.)

(View of the organ loft.)

(After the church we headed to the First Girl Scouts Headquarters.)

(And the Low house that accompanies the headquarters.)

(At the recommendation of my mom we went to Clary's for lunch.

It's the kind of small homestyle diner that accompanies any main dish with a full plate of fries.)

(After lunch we headed for a house tour.

Wes and I chose the Owens-Thomas House.)

(Back in the 1800's this was one of the most advanced houses in all of Savannah.

It was the first to have running water, indoor toilets (or water closets as they called them), 

and utilized cistern's on three different levels.)

(Oh yeah, at it was also gorgeous.)

 (Admission to the Owens-Thomas house also included passes to the Telfair Art Museum.

Although there collection isn't terribly impressive, I did get to see Crow Girl.

The statue from the cover of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

Unfortunately, they didn't allow photography of any of their pieces, which I found strange, but oh well.)

(After the museum, we headed down to the River Walk.

After walking it's length we grabbed a drink at the rooftop bar of The Bohemian Hotel.)

(It's there that we caught our ride for the night!

Wes and I road in a hearse for an hour long ghost tour of Savannah.)

(The tour was really cool.  Just enough spook and history to keep me interested without

making me roll my eyes every 5 seconds.  We both learned a lot.

Did you know Savannah is said to be a city built upon her dead?

I also learned the real meaning behind "saved by the bell" and "graveyard shift".)

After a very full day in Savannah we headed back to the Island.

On another recommendation from my mom, we reserved a table at Sundaes Cafe on Tybee.

It was conveniently located between a gas station and a liquor store and had some of the most

delicious food I've ever had.  My favorite had to be the blue cheese bread pudding that was served as a side to my steak.  Absolutely wonderful!

(Sunday morning brought a breath of fresh air in. The weather was absolutely beautiful.

This is Tybee Island Inn where we at breakfast both days.)

(After breakfast Wes and I packed up our room and headed for a walk on the beach.)

(On our way out of town Wes and I drove through the Hope Isle community.

Home of the largest Live Oak Alley in the country.  

We had to pay $20 to go beyond this point, so we just stayed here.  Hahaha.)

(A stop at Forsyth Park on our way out of Savannah.)

(The park was brimming with people.

Volleyball, basketball, runners, hippies sitting around in a circle, artists, kids, you name it. They were there.)

(Wes and I are seriously going to have to get some new poses 

because we look exactly the same in all these photos!)

(And our final photo op of the weekend.  A view of Jones Street.

Voted Savannah's Most Beautiful Street by Southern Living.

Cobblestones, Spanish Moss, and million dollar homes. 

Yup.  That about sums it up.)

With the rest of Super Bowl Sunday being a little bit disappointing, I'm going to go ahead 

and start looking forward to next weekend.

The Aggies are headed to Athens for a basketball game and me and some other gals

are going to cheer them on.

Until next time...