Ella got out of school on Thursday, May 31st, and the very next morning we set off to Gulfport, Mississippi to see Sara, Wyatt and Miles. I was trying to squeeze in a visit before her husband was home from deployment and we figured we'd have a week to hang out with the kids. I always love visiting, the kids get along great and Sara is the closest friend I've made in all my years in the US. She's more like a sister to me :) We do all sorts of things with the kiddos and it's such a relaxing, fun-filled getaway....
Aunt Sara teaching Ella to crochet...
At the park to play and picnic....
No visit is complete without a sunset on the gulf of Mexico....
Only an hour from New Orleans, we took the kids to City Park and ended up finding
this little gem, "Storyland". It was a great way to spend the morning!
Ella and I took a day to sightsee and give the boys a little break. We went to the Nasa
Space Center in Slidell, where every engine has been tested. Look at how big one
engine is compared to her (bottom right)... they need 5-8 of these to lift off!
A gorgeous drive along the coast on the way home.
We were are Sara's for a week and on the Friday, headed out to see some old friends
from Hawaii who were in Alabama and getting ready to move to Kansas.
We made plans to stop for a quick visit and let the girls catch up....
Gosh we miss our friends in Hawaii, but after a couple of hours of catch up
it was time to head to Atlanta.... Ella is the best road tripper!
We took the back roads from southern Alabama all the way to Atlanta and it was
beautiful and such a nice change to be off the highway. For hours we barely saw any
traffic and spent time looking at old historic south along the side of the road.
Sometimes it was a bit too country and deserted if I am being honest :)...
It's always good to see family in Atlanta and Ella adores her grandparents and her uncles.
On Saturday, we headed south to Peach County for the Peach Festival with Grandma...
Sunday night dinner with the family at Mary Mac's, an Atlanta landmark and some very
good southern food. Fried Green Tomatoes have to be my favorite southern side dish.
We celebrated Uncle Joey's belated Birthday and an early Father's Day with Grandad...
On Tuesday, we drove Grandma to Charlotte so she could catch her flight to Europe and
we stayed at Joey's new house. I have to say, most American cities take some getting used
to, but I loved Charlotte! Old southern charm with a modern attitude. North Carolina
in general is gorgeous anyway. I can add Charlotte, North Carolina onto the limited
cities I'd love to live in America: Seattle, Portland, Charleston, Charlotte, Hawaii.
Yes, I know Hawaii isn't a 'city' but I would live anywhere on if it was on the islands....
Uncle Joey took us to the Discovery Center Children's Museum and IMAX.....
We stopped in and visited with Uncle James and Aunt Gloria....
Once we were already in North Carolina, I figured it would be just as long a drive going
across to Memphis and down as it would be going back the way we came. So I called my
girlfriend in Memphis and we headed out on this road trip that is turning into the most
spontaneous adventure. We drove through Tennessee and made it all the way to Memphis
in time for dinner. Maryrose and Lucas showed us around Memphis, the Mississippi River
waterfront, the Lorraine Hotel where MLK was shot, and downtown with it's live music
and bustling nightlife. We even the went to the Peabody hotel, where there are ducks that
live on the roof and every morning, they are walked through the lobby to the fountain.
The highlight of our trip has to be our tour of Graceland. I remember Elvis from my
childhood, my mom loved him and we had all his albums. His was also our only Christmas
album. I love young 50's and 60's Elvis and all his movies. Unfortunately, 70's Elvis seems
to permeate all homage to him and I had forgotten about the Elvis I grew up on. Graceland
brought so many memories back and Ella and I ended up listening to Elvis for the next three
days. Learning about him as a person makes me love him even more. In a time of civil
unrest and oppression, living in one of the most intolerant places in the US (Mississippi)
and still supporting equal rights and growing up with no biases with a love for all music
astounds me! I remember my mom always saying she wanted to go to Graceland, and I
spent the morning remembering her and enjoying my daughter's company.
I think my mom would be happy that she's on the wall....
We tried to drive as far as we could home and made it all the way into Texas. The weather
turned and a storm rolled in so we decided to get a hotel in Mount Pleasant. It was crazy
and we were in a hotel, on a hill, surrounded by nothing by sprawling ranch on the third
floor. I have learned, living in Texas, I have an irrational fear of tornadoes....
and though there was no warnings or watches, the weather was very nerve-racking.
This is the view from our hotel room...
But the giant jacuzzi tub in the room made this little one forget we were even in a storm...
We got home Saturday, just in time for Father's Day. Here's the road map of our girl's road
trip. I hope she's old enough to remember how much fun we had together and all the wonderful things and people we visited. 2700 miles, 44 hours, 10 states, 2 weeks = traveling rockstars!!
