A Quick Trip Diary

Again, as much for my own recollections as for your edification, a list of what we did while my family were here.

The second day we did some shopping (sister #2 bought me some pj's for an early birthday gift) and then went to a place called the Archibald Smith Plantation. It was gorgeous inside and out and we were the last tour of the day so we wound up being alone with the tour guide who was terrific. After that we went to 'Folks' for dinner (semi authentic Southern food) and then to Cold Stone Creamery afterwards.

The next day we drove out to the Chattanooga area and did the Incline Train thing which was very neat. We went up a very steep hill, backwards and then got to look at the beautiful scenery. After that we went to Ruby Falls which I highly recommend. It's a little under an hour walk through a beautiful cave system and then culminates at Ruby Falls which is a huge underground waterfall. It was very lovely, the downer was that they let tours down every 10 minutes or so and because it is a cave the passages are so tight that when a tour goes by the other way you have to squish up against the wall, and that happened at least 8 times. I would have also liked to sit by the waterfall and stare at it a bit longer but they herded us through pretty quickly. Really lovely though. On our way back we stopped at a tiny store that sold handmade quilts and other homemade goods. It was an adorable little store and I got Paul some taffy (he was THRILLED) and sister #1 bought me a birthday gift of a quilted pillow sham which I hung on the wall here at home (makes the apartment look very homey).

Day Four we didn't do any sightseeing, but did some more shopping, had Mexican for lunch and I insisted on authentic Kansas City style barbecue for dinner. It was SOOOOO good and they loved it too. During that afternoon they all hung around our place for a bit and my mom made me the birthday cake that she makes me every year, once a year. We finished it off the next day.

Then on the last day we went to the Georgia Aquarium which was super tremendous terrific.

Everything went really well and we all enjoyed ourselves. I took a lot more pictures, but the ones below are the ones that either turned out the best or are the best representations of what we saw.

My mom bought me some great clothes (2 pairs of pants, 3 shirts), and I got shoes and a handbag with the birthday money from her.

I'm all rambly here so I'll shut up now. Everything went well, I miss them, I got a lot of great stuff and a lot of great memories. Bernice, thanks for the Canadian chocolate bars! Sorry I forgot to pay you back...whoops :( Nothing more to say at the moment. Next time I wear my new magic minus 15 pounds jeans, I'll take a picture. Bye!