Erwin Family Vacation 2014

Just 48 hours after I returned home from the Low Country trip, I left on the Erwin Family Vacation!  This year our travels took us to Tennessee and the Great Smokey Mountains.

First Stop – Duck Commander.  Yes, we are that kind of family.  We stopped to have our picture made with the famous sign. 

We stopped in Chattanooga for a few nights first.  Of course you can’t go to Chattanooga without seeing the famous Chattanooga Choo Choo.  

We also road the incline railroad up the mountain to Lookout Mountain! 

We dined at the Station House one evening which was lots of fun.  The wait staff sings and entertains! Our waitress Ruby was great.  

 We toured the cavern and saw Ruby Falls.  

Next we headed to Sevierville, Tennessee!  We stayed in a great condo, thanks to the Rents. We got some pool/rest time at the resort and also enjoyed some outlet shopping.

We spent a day at Dollywood, which was fun.  

 I think my favorite part was seeing her movie wordrobe.  There were outfits from Steel Magnolias, Best Little Whore House in Texas and 9 to 5!  

Her coat of many colors was also on display. 

We attended the Dixie Stampede one night which was really fun! Beau was very impressed.  It made me think of the year my grandfather, Daddy Red, took us all to the Dixie Stampede in Branson and there weren’t enough seats on the Rebel side.  He was incensed that we had to sit with the Yankees.  This time we sat with our fellow Southerners.

Summer is over and here we are in October – it seems crazy.  School is in full swing and the holidays will be here before we know it.

I had surgery at the end of August and I'm finally feeling more like myself.  I’m sure the holiday season will bring on many more fun activities and maybe I’ll actually blog about them as they happen instead of doing 3 months of review at a time.

In other news . . . my BFF Christa is engaged!  I’m a bridesmaid in her February wedding in Dallas.  I’ve so very excited for her.  A friend’s engagement always gives me hope that it’s not too late for me – ha! 

Happy Fall, y’all.

Summer fun. . . .a little late.

Well here I go again, catching up on months of blogging in one post.  Oh well, all I do is say I’ll try to blog more regularly.  We’ll see if that happens.
I finished the school year in June and headed to South Carolina and Georgia with Amy!  We had a great time as always.

People always ask why we go to the same place every year.   Ummm. . . . . because it’s awesome!  Really the Low Country is one of my favorite places ever.  Who knows, one day I may just decide to move East.  There are some places and things we visit each year, over and over, because we love it so.  But we also look for new things to see and try each year as well. 

Here’s the break down from this year.

Things we do every year. . . .

Hyman’s Seafood in Charleston.  This was a fried green tomato on a bed of cheese grits, covered in Carolina cream sauce - have mercy!

Charleston City Market 

Iron gate jewelry at Dacuba’s  in Charleston. Picking up an iron gate charm is a tradition for me.  These charms are inspired by all the beautiful iron work in Charleston.  I have 4 of these charms now, they are all a little different.  I hope to have enough someday to put them all together on a charm bracelet.

Charleston’s Rainbow Row

Shopping on Broughton Street in Savannah

Savannah’s River Street Sweets

The Lady and Sons

Leopold’s Ice Cream

Shop SCAD 

History Tours and Ghost Tours

Forsythe Park and Beautiful Squares

Tybee Island Beach

Boneventure Cemetery

Flea Market Shopping – Two Women and a Warehouse

Back in the Day Bakery

Some new things from this trip. . . . .

High Tea at the Gryphon Tea Room.  This was so fun!  I love the old building.

Middleton Place Plantation.  The grounds were beautiful and we at lunch at the plantation's restaurant.  We took a  carriage tour of the property and toured the home as well.

Nathaniel Russell House.  This house has been used in a few movies. I think this beautiful staircase was the most impressive part. 

Chicken Salad Chick was a new discovery for us on this trip.  I pray we get one in Tyler before too long.  All they serve is chicken salad, like 20 different kinds - yum.  My kind of place.

St. Simons Island.  I fell in LOVE with this place.  I must return, and soon.  I was absolutely beautiful and so very charming.  We visited the pier and the village (downtown area) and made our way to the public library and community center for a book signing.  We also visited Christ Church and the cemetery.  Eugenia Price is buried there.  She wrote the Savannah book series which I will admit can be a little hard to get into, but they're good once you get going.  

Meeting Mary Kay Andrews at a book signing on St. Simons Island. I've read her books for years and it was such a trill to meet her.  She was candid and funny - Can't wait to read the next one! 

Cheerwine Icee - Awesome!

Jestine’s

Fannie’s on the Beach, Tybee Island

We visited the First African Baptist Church in Savannah.  The tour was great and the story of how the building came about is remarkable!  

Tybee Island Social club is a fairly new restaurant on the island.  I'd heard about it through some of the blogs I read.  I wasn't impressed when we were seated, but the drinks were so strong I soon didn't care - ha.  

As you can see we always find new things to do even though we return to the same place year after year.  If you’ve never visited the Low Country – you should!