If you're looking for some witty, entertaining, exciting, blog..
go look somewhere else.. at least for today. I don't really have any fun updates about what we did or where we ate because we didn't go anywhere and we didn't eat anything. :) Today RJR and I did nothing, and it was fabulous. When first planning this trip RJR warned me that we would be doing nothing besides laying out and reading the entire trip and that it's pretty boring at her grandparents. Well, then I got involved in the trip planning and we somehow managed to get really busy really quickly.. which isn't something new for me, I don't remember the last time I actually relaxed on a vacation. I'm one for exploring, adventure, and bringing home loads of stories to tell my friends who weren't lucky enough to come along for the ride. The day was spent putting a dent in the new book I started called The Lost Girls and sweating my face off outside in the 80 degree temperatures. After a couple hours I came inside and worked out, hoping something I do this summer will contribute to my 'fab swimsuit body'. Ha. Who am I kidding? A nap was necessary to complete my 'lazy day' agenda. I woke up and went back outside for some more summer time sun worshiping and stuck my nose back into my book so far that I could barely see the sun. I'm back inside now and RJR had probably the first serious conversation we've had since she was diagnosed 2 years ago.. and it was about politics.. We were talking about presidents and how she wanted to vote and how I never have and things of this nature when I caught myself referring to Americans as 'they'. For some reason in my adult life, I've never felt connected to my country.. I know that probably touches a raw nerve for some of you but this is my blog, so I feel like I can express my thoughts freely. I guess I feel like I can't be in the wrong for not being 'one' with my country because I don't have a clue why I feel this way. Maybe because I'm a wanderlust at heart and I have this deep feeling that I'll never feel at home anywhere. Or maybe I'll feel at home everywhere I decide to go. Anyways, enough of that heavy talk, we're going to finish up our day reading more of our books and maybe watching a movie before calling it a night. Watch out, our Friday night is about to get wild (please note the sarcasm). I also have no pictures for today, and for that I am deeply sorry. This is my last blog for the trip, unless something nutty happens on the way home. Check back here just in case and if you don't find anything new by SUNDAY, mosey on over to checking my daily blog by clicking here. Thanks for keeping up with my travels for the week, I can't wait to figure out where I'll be headed next, I'll be sure and let you all know as soon as I
1 Comment
This morning started with another workout I slept through. I am really not starting this whole 'get into shape' thing very well. RJR and I woke up and went straight outside to bronze our skin for a bit. Once the lawn mowing crew came into the yard we figured it would be a good time to go back inside, I don't think they would like to look at us in our skivvies.. well.. we didn't want them to get the chance. We spent the day lazing around; laying out and taking naps. RJR and I had big plans for the evening. A lady we met at the french bakery told us to go to Alive After Five tonight. It's supposed to be the biggest 'Happy Hour' in Charlotte. After primping and prepping we were on the road to downtown Charlotte. We stopped to eat at a home style southern food place called Dish, a couchsurfer told us to go there for some good eats! Once we stepped in I did a double take thinking the place was closed because there was no one inside! We were welcomed by a server so we figured they were open for business. Sitting on the patio seemed to be the best choice since the weather was so nice. While eating dinner we had to start scheming of a way to get Rhea into Alive After Five. It was a 21+ event and she isn't 21 quite yet. Our imaginations took us from wild stories about an eaten license, a cancer free outing, giving her my expired license, which came with it's own story of why she didn't have a proper license, and any other sop story we could think of so they would let 2 pretty young ladies in the doors. Come to find out you don't even need to be 21 to get in. That made things a tad less interesting, but a lot easier. After our yummy dinner of Mustard and Bourbon glazed pork chops, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, a deviled egg, and a biscuit with honey, we strolled along the street walked through various shops and thrift stores that we didn't get to make it into yesterday afternoon. RJR and I both found something at a little vintage store called Hong Kong. I got a key dish for my new apartment, it's so cute! (sorry, my inner girlie girl came out) At around 7 we decided it was a good idea to go over to the party. And it sucked. It would have been fun if 1) you were 21 and 2) you were with a huge group of girlfriends all out for a good time. We were neither of those things. One crazy thing did happen though! We were waiting in line so I could get my I.D. checked and we ran into the same girl from Amelie's 2 days ago who told us to come here! What a small world! After 20 minutes we got out of there looking for something else to do. A different couchsurfer told us to check out this place called Whitewater Parkway Center for the Whitewater River Jam. It was awesome. We pulled up and there were rows upon rows of cars and we could hear the music from the parking lot. RJR and I looked at each other with smirks because we knew this was going to be way more fun than Alive After Five. As we walked through the archway we were blasted with the site of hundreds of people! I swear it was a like a 'mini-woodstock'! There was a gorgeous river with people kayaking while the band played on the bank. Everyone was jamming and drinking and talking with each other. They also all brought their dogs. There were so many dogs everywhere! We walked into the 'concert' right as the sun was setting over the river and it was breathtaking. The mood was contagious as I was tapping my feet and bobbing my head before we had even sat down. At 930 we headed back to RJR's grandparent's house so we didn't make them stay up until the middle of the night. I was so happy we found the River Jam, it was an awesome experience, if anyone is in the area I highly recommend heading out to see it. Well, I'm tired, and a little sore from my work out I squeezed in last night before bed. Tomorrow I swear I'm not sleeping through it again. Until tomorrow, goodnight! Lots of pictures from today! Check them out below! Today was a day filled with uncertainty as we had no idea what we were going to do. Last night we stayed up way too late being stupid and goofing around. 'Who would you rather defeat in a fight Batman or Spiderman?' -RJR- 'Spiderman, he's so agile and quick, he's like a cat, and I love cats.' -Me-And so the conversation goes.. it didn't get any more intelligent from there, trust me. I woke up to the sound of my alarm with the intention of working out, in the end I just turned it off and set another alarm for a later time, a much later time. Once RJR and I did wake up we went straight to Zada Jane's Corner Cafe' for brunch. Zada Jane's is an all organic cafe and their food is delicious! As we opened the glass door our noses were bombarded with the familiar smell of freshly ground coffee, steeping tea, and a little dash of TLC from the cooks. Again, like at Amelie's, people were working, reading, and giggling with friends. I love the atmosphere of cafe's, it's so calming and mellow, perfect spot for a breakfast while on vacation. I ordered the Nachos with black beans, squash, zucchini, and guacamole, while RJR stuck with breakfast and got pancakes with turkey bacon on the side with a coffee.The food was, like I said earlier, delicious! The pancakes were crisp and even tasted clean, that's one reason why I love organic food.The quality of the food made it completely O.K. with me to pay $8 for a plate, sometimes it's just worth it to me. I ordered a Chia Latte to go and we headed down the street to explore some of the little shops that lined the streets. We didn't have a lot of time because RJR was going to get new tires put on her car before the trip home! WooHoo! This is a big deal people, we probably wouldn't have made it home alive. You laugh, but we're serious! RJR left with her grandparents to get the tires put on and I decided to buckle down and finish my book, Beautiful Boy, while laying in the sunshine. Once everyone came home RJR and I decided we were going to cook dinner. We made a yummy Tangy Ranch Chicken with homemade mashed potatoes, green beans, and biscuits. It was really good and super easy to make! RJR and I are headed out on the porch to sip on some sweet red wine and read our books while watching the sun dip below the hills. This morning I woke up at around 9AM and worked out (what is this world coming to?!). I showered and ate breakfast and we headed out to IKEA, stopping at Walmart on the way so RJR could get another pair of sunglasses since her pair died yesterday. (Rest in peace sunglasses.) She amazingly found the same exact pair at Walmart! Oh the little things. When we got to IKEA we stopped and ate a little snack before our trek through the store. We wandered around there and thankfully didn't burn a hole in either of our pockets. While wandering through the store we had to keep convincing each other not to buy something, I'm not the best influence, and I did a pretty good job if I say so myself. :D After IKEA our stomachs were grumbling and we were ready for a real meal. If you've never been through IKEA, it's huge and you work up quite an appetite looking at all the beautifully crafted furniture. Following a fellow couchsurfer's advice, we drove down to a place called Amelie's French Bakery (ah-mel-ee's) It was pure perfection when we stepped inside. There were many people busy doing work on their laptops or scuffling through piles of paper with a highlighter in hand, some enjoying their time with their noses stuffed into books, others giggling with friends over the latest gossip. The environment was beyond cozy as I felt right at home sitting on a couch next to a young lady eating soup and writing something in a small, black, leather, notebook. I asked Rhea what we should order and the lady next to us perked up and said the chicken salad sandwich was the best thing on the menu. Of course, we struck up a conversation with her about what to do in Charlotte and how we ended up at Amelie's. I told her about couchsurfing and she said she just met a girl in here the other day who was involved with couchsurfing, see?! I'm not as crazy as you all think I am, other people couchsurf too! She told us of a few places to check out and I furiously wrote them down as she spoke. We told her thank you so much and she said she hoped to see us at the vineyard on Saturday, sadly, she won't be seeing us. :/ RJR and I ordered our food; she with a turkey, cheese, and bacon sandwich on a croissant and myself with the suggested chicken salad sandwich on a croissant. We also got a hot chocolate, for her, and a chai tea latte for myself. I was amazed that when they brought the drinks out they were actually at an acceptable temperature to drink, usually they scorch your tongue with the first 30 sips. While we were waiting for our food we enjoyed taking in the beautiful interior design of the bakery. (wow, sounds so girly of me to say) The inside was vintage, beautiful, unique, and inspired the crafty girl inside of me. I was ready to go to Hobby Lobby and buy the place out! I didn't take a ton of pictures because I didn't want to be that girl that acts just like a tourist. But the ones I have will suffice, and my memory of the place should hold me over. :) Once our food came out we devoured it and it was delicious! We ordered a desert and shared it, I mean, it's a bakery, we had to get a sweet treat! Raspberry lemon torte'. (who knew raspberry had a 'p' in it?! I had no clue! I just found this out, embarrassing!) It was amazing as well, although I wasn't expecting any less. We drove right into downtown to check out a place we'll be headed to Thursday night for a 'the biggest happy hour' in Charlotte, we'll see about that! Afterwards we went back to RJR's grandparent's house and relaxed a little. I had a glass of wine and read a book out on the screen porch while it was raining, it was so calming outside. They had fixed us dinner and we all ate together at the table, talking about when we were younger and laughing about the funny stories. Her grandma then proceeded to ask me if my mom was a good cook.. I look at her and said 'my mom?! Lady you are crazy.' We had a good laugh about how awful my mom is at cooking, sorry mom. We have zero plans for tomorrow, I'm totally O.K. with that though, we'll figure something out. In the mean time, check out pictures from today! Today RJR and I woke up at 8:15AM (not fun) and headed to Target to grab some much needed sunscreen. We also went to the library so I could check out a book calledThe Lost Girls. You can click on the link and read what it's all about, but, for those of you who are too lazy to click the link, it's about these 3 best friends that travel the world together. So, basically, it's my type of book. After running our few morning errands we were on the road. We drove and drove and drove and drove and drove for 10 hours until we finally reached Charlotte, only stopping for RJR to get her necessary coffee and for bathroom breaks, caused by the said coffee. It was a surprisingly uneventful considering RJR and I are like 2 clowns full of accidental jokes and clumsy injuries. We only hurt ourselves a few times; RJR falling out of the car at the gas station, slamming a seat into my teeth/lip, RJR squirting hand sanitizer in her eye, and RJR forgetting her sunglasses were on the hood of the car causing for a very tragic death when I hopped on the interstate and she forgot about putting them there. After a million cheesy songs from RJR's iPod we were getting closer. Once we reached the area we headed over to a local diner called the Diamond Restaurant. It was your typical diner, turquoise painted walls with the paint chipping off, black and white checkerboard tile, and the signature neon coca-cola sign hanging outside. The one thing the diner did have that surprised me was the amazing fried pickles, yes, fried pickles, killer hot dogs, and cheap juicy burgers. It was definitely a hole-in-the-wall, 'locals only', bathrooms so small you questioned if it was actually built for midgets, kinda place and I absolutely loved it. My favorite part of going on trips is challenging myself to see how well I can blend in with the local population, tonight we were successful, except for RJR updating her facebook status about how 'cool' she felt in a local diner. What a newbie. :) We're at RJR's grandparents house winding down and trying to get in contact with her twinner, RDR, who is in Haiti for the next 2 months. You can check out her blog here! Tomorrow will hopefully be a little more exciting but if not, we'll lie and make up some cool things we did. Talk to you tomorrow! |
North Carolina
My friend RJR and I are going to North Carolina for the week! We're leaving tomorrow (05/16)! Guess how much we've planned for the trip, NADA. :) Oh well, I kinda like to travel that way. We're staying with her grandparents in Charlotte and we plan on doing lots of book reading, nap taking, and sunset watching. Just like my other travel journals, I'll be updating daily starting tomorrow so check back on this page to see what we've been up to! |