Florence and Gator Sliders, Y'all

Day 2 of our trip was a success. After breakfast and blogging this morning, we hit the road and headed to Nashville. The drive was mainly uneventful, except for our stop just over the Kentucky border to eat lunch at a place called Skyline Chili. Lee loved it... I thought there was something slightly weird about the chili, but it was filling and cheap, and our waitress was super nice. And yes, that is cheese.


After lunch, I read a few chapters of my latest book, and took a two hour nap. I must have really needed the rest because I slept like a log without even being able to recline the seat. While I slept, we passed into the Central Time Zone. Somehow knowing that makes me feel even farther away from home... but my cousin Becca is happy about it. :) Tennessee was upon us before we knew it. And wow was it hot! Our car thermometer was reading 105 degrees, and it's usually only plus/minus a few degrees!


The hotel we are staying in tonight is beautiful. Much more stylish than our last, and still a lot of space.


But the key cards were by far my favorite part...dots!


For dinner, we went to a really cool place called Caney Fork. The food was great, the decor was sweet, and we had an awesome waitress again.


Ok, you have to admit that last picture is pretty funny. They definitely had some interesting food. Frog legs anyone?

We opted for the fried pickles instead! Mmmmm.....


Lee stepped out of his comfort zone and LOVED his meal.

Yep...gator sliders...


Something else we didn't expect: fritters coated with powered sugar (in the North, aka fried dough balls).


When our appetizer came out, another waitress brought us a basket filled them. Lee thought it was a dessert for some other people that was accidentally placed on our table, so he was hesitant. I told him he was ridiculous and that I was going to eat them. I tried to persuade him that they were the equivalent of the complimentary bread you usually get at most other restaurants, and that they couldn't charge us for them even if they weren't complimentary because we hadn't ordered them! After our waitress brought us a refill, Lee was convinced. They were sooooooo good! I asked our waitress what they really were, and she told us. Then she asked if we liked them and if we wanted more. You should have seen Lee's face. After she left our table, he said to me, "See, that's one of the reasons I married you. You can get me food." His second mentioned reason? So that he could beat me in mini golf. Guess where we went next...


We were so close to our hotel (there it is in the background).


Hole in one, baby!


I totally won the first round. ...We don't need to mention the second one.


Things I am already learning about the South:

1. People are nicer.
2. There is really good food.
   
3. We need to get a washer and dryer STAT. Clothes that stick to you are not fit to be worn again without washing.
4. Showers are for nighttime too. In fact, they are becoming necessary.
5. Air conditioning is amazing.
   
6. It can be really hot even at 10:00 pm.

Alright that's it for now. It's late and bed is calling. One last picture to post, in case anyone can explain this to me... "Florence Y'all"? Goodnight!


~Hooks

"Got to Admit...Waking up in Ohio Feels Pretty Good" -Lee

I really wanted to write last night, to tell of our so-far adventure and the range of emotions I was feeling, but alas... There was graduate work to be done that had to be turned in by midnight, so the laptop was in use until then. And I figured that since posting after midnight would change the date to today anyway, what was the point? So here's a blog for yesterday and a little bit before that too. Sorry for the delay, my faithful readers (all two of you so far...) :)

First of all, let's start at the beginning, shall we? We had to ship our beloved Malibu to Texas ahead of us. Here's the old girl on the truck...


We started "packing" a few weeks ago. This is what we had done until about last Wednesday.


Slowly but surely, our pile grew...


For all of you who have never really made a cross-country move before...it's hard work! We were sweaty, smelly, and tired for about a week straight. I guess packing in our 90 degree apartment didn't help much. And no one warns you about the little things, like having to test all of your pens to see if they work...


...or having to eat Grape Nuts out of a cup because you packed all of your bowls.


But seriously, if we didn't have these guys moving would have been SO much more terrible. If we hadn't hired them, I'm sure I would have ended up physically harming someone by the end of the move. And can you say, "Now we don't have to carry all our stuff up 3 flights of stairs in the Texas heat!"? Go on, say it. Basically, movers are amazing.


After about four hours, this was all that was left.


Thanks to my parents, our apartment was immaculate. My mom helped me clean the kitchen and bathroom (thanks for the big-butt picture Dad), while my dad was dubbed the "Vacuum King." He even did his famous starburst in the middle of our bedroom. Too bad our walkthrough was literally less than a minute long. The man came into our apartment, walked into the kitchen, opened the oven about 4 inches, walked back into the living room and down the hall to the bedroom, glanced at the carpet and then said those sweet words: "Looks good; no charges." Ok, now should I be happy about that? Sure. But why did I bother vacuuming the window screens or washing the walls?! Ughh...


It was definitely a bittersweet saying goodbye to my parents, but we will see them again soon! (October's not that far away, right Mom?) And yes, we took a picture with the vacuums. They were such a central part of our day that we thought it was necessary to honor them. :)


With our car packed, our plant safe between us, and homework in progress, we set off for Bob Evans in Fredonia, where we ate dinner with Lee's family.


There were a few tears rimming our eyes, but the reality of leaving our home really hit us when we crossed the border out of New York. (Pretty sweet picture, if I do say so myself...and I just did.)


Our first potty break. Ok...it was my first potty break, and YES this is worth blogging about. I am sure our future children will want to know about all the details of our trek, even "firsts" like this. (Right...?)


As we passed into Ohio, we were thinking of and missing our awesome brother-in-law and native Ohioan, David. Our hotel was called "Chase Suite Hotels" - yet another reason we thought of David. The hotel was pretty nice. A little old with outdated decor but spacious and comfortable. You will have to check Facebook later for pictures because Lee is gently pressuring me to stop blogging so we can leave to move on to our next destination: Nashville.


As for our stay here, we got to eat a hot breakfast outside by the pool, and as Lee brag-texted David this morning, "...Got to admit...waking up in Ohio feels pretty good."



Missing our family, but excited about the journey ahead...

~Hooks

P.S. Our plant was NOT so safe and sound between us. One slam of the brakes and it tumbled forward, spilling its freshly watered dirt all over the car...and me. Nice. :)