Day 14 - Tuesday July 10

Happy birthday Steven!!!

We are only 6-ish hours from home so we are taking it easy this morning. As always, we decide to grab breakfast in the lobby. Dean, Steven, and I were enjoying our breakfast, seated where we could see people fixing their breakfast items in the lobby. A middle-aged couple had put waffle mix in the iron and was patiently waiting on its' completion. You can hear the beeping signaling that your waffle is ready. As we we are finishing up, we notice that the beeping has been going on for quite some time. When we look in that direction, the lady has lifted the waffle iron from it's cradle and is flinging it about it air wildly. I've never seen anything like it. It was as though the waffle iron was a water hose flailing about in the air as she tried to control it. I'm fairly certain I just stared with my mouth open. After what felt like an eternity (for the waffle iron for sure!) Dean asks, "Do you think I should go help?".... Absolutely. He sprang from his seat and moved ever so quickly. "Would you like me to help?" Thanks goodness, the lady put down the waffle iron and Dean talked them through the art that is the Hampton Inn waffle making process. Steven and I just sat staring. Obviously, we had just witnessed a super hero in action..... (trumpet fanfare) Waffle Man!!!! Oh man, we laughed. He was just missing a cape. He already smelled like syrup....

We arrived back in Thibodaux around 2 and dropped the Landry's off at their house. It was a great trip. We talked and prepped for so long for this trip and it seems to have flown by. Thank goodness we have lots of pictures and this blog to remember it all.

Some trip stats:

• 16 states
• 2 countries
• 4,754 miles (424 on water)
• Not one eggplant!*

*During our planning we decided we needed a 'safe word' (eggplant) in case some one needed time and space. If the safe word was spoken there would be no discussion, questioning, etc just provide time and space. Proud to say, not once was eggplant called!

I know everyone is concerned- update on Lobster Lips Landry- at the time of drop off, she reported that her lips are still not back to normal and do require regular application of Carmex... #FirstWorldProblems....

Thanks for coming along with us! Until next time....

Day 13 - Monday July 9

We were up at 'em eager to get to the Biltmore House & Winery this morning. We were just a short drive from the estate so we got our tickets and headed in.

Just wow!

This is the 250-room chateau that George Vanderbilt completed in 1895. I'm certain photographs will not do it justice. It is massive. We decided on the regular admittance and paid for an audio self-guided tour. This was a nice option as it gave you specific numbers to type in as you entered each room or area of the house to learn more. We found out later that we only saw 20% of the entire house on this tour. You can pay for additional tours that might interest you, we were short on time. Our self-guided tour took us about two hours. It is an incredible home that the city of Asheville took over when the family could no longer keep up with the expense of such a large estate.

It was very common during this time period to have an indoor garden and that is the first stop inside the house. A giant atrium!

Interesting note about the grounds. When Mr. Vanderbilt purchased the acreage it was non-farmable land. It had been burnt etc. He brought in landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted. We saw some of Mr. Olmsted's work earlier on this trip in Central Park in NYC. He also created the Niagara Reservation in Niagara Falls. He saw that 1,000,000 trees were planted on the estate for the Vanderbilt family!

My favorite spot- the back porch!

Some of the one million planted trees...

The great dining room is so impressive with the fireplace inside. It has three larger than life fireplaces that they still light in the winter time.

The Library

The Library

Front of the house- note the slanted windows left of center

The staircase with the slanted windows

Their very own bowling ally

Indoor pool- filled with mountain water...brrrr

Man cave- the billiards room

After we explored the house we decided to head to the winery. It is on the estate grounds, but it five miles away so we drove there.

It is the most visited vinery in the US. We walked through cellars and made our way to wine tasting room.

The Winery

Yes, please!

Good times!

We enjoyed our sampling of the wines and conversation with our server Dave. We decided on some bottles that we'd like to take home but needed to get some lunch in first before hauling bottles of wine with us. We decided to eat at The Bistro on the grounds.

The Bistro- so quaint!

Becky decided that this was probably going to be the nicest meal left on the trip and tomorrow is Steven's birthday. We will celebrate his birthday today! Our server overheard the conversation and agreed with us. Well, as the events laid out, you would think it was Becky's birthday. Let me explain.

Beck is a fan of a martini. Not just any martini. Not sweet martini's (sorry cosmopolitan, lemon drop, hunk, chocolate, etc) nor a dirty. She's a fan of a dry martini. But it's not quite that easy either. There are some specifics to this martini. Every time we have cocktails on this trip, she'd search the menu for her type of martini- typically without luck. Last night she ordered one because she discovered the restaurant in Asheville had blue cheese stuffed olives. When she placed the order she basically dictated step-by-step instructions to the waitress- that sweet girl filled more than one page with becky's cocktail how-to. When it was delivered to the table, we all held our breath and Beck gave it a thumbs up! It even had the necessary ice crystals! Yeehaw!!!

Well, as we were looking through the lunch menu @ The Bistro, I grabbed the cocktail menu and lo and behold....

Come to momma Blue Goose Martini!

There, in print, was HER cocktail. Exactly as she likes it. Grey Goose vodka, a splash (hint) of vermouth, blue cheese stuffed olives (3 please), shaken and very, very cold (there should be ice crystals upon serving). Our girl was pumped! Since it was Steven's birthday, we ordered cocktails (minus Dean the driver). According to Becky, it was the perfect martini! Total. Bliss.

Note- her glass is empty....

We enjoyed our cocktails and then our lunch. Becky was so happy- you know, with it being Steven's birthday and all.... Our server brought Steven out some birthday truffles!

Birthday boy & his truffles

We can't have nothing nice.... note her happiness though!

More happiness!

Pecan Chicken Salad- soooo good!

Needless to say, the conversation between myself and the guys was how long would she remain 'happy' in the truck before succumbing to sleep. None of us bet on anything more than the beyond the winery parking lot. We were spot on!

Too much happiness....

I still can't figure out how she can sleep with her head remaining upright. I've witnessed it at the camp in the rocking chair and daily in the truck on this trip. A couple of times I ended up in the back seat with her and attempted the same sleeping position. No luck. Is it that my head is really large and every one has just been so kind as to not say anything about it? lol! If that picture above isn't one of peace and tranquility, I'm not sure what is.

It's ten hours from Asheville to Thibodaux and it's already the afternoon. We will drive through at least Atlanta and then decide on a place to rest our heads to finish the drive home tomorrow. I drove this afternoon leg, through ATL and we ended for the day in Lanett, Alabama.

Day 12 - Sunday July 8

We started our day in Colonial Williamsburg. This is a first visit for all of us so we are all excited about what the day holds. The weather is picture perfect again so it will be a great day for exploring.

We parked at the visitor center and took the shuttle into the village itself. (Exciting side note- if you visit, they offer a teacher discount for admission! We got 50% off of our admission!) CW is not a part of the national parks services, it is an independent entity. This city reflects life in the 18th century on this exact location. Many of the structures that are there currently are original or if rebuilt, they are on the original footprint of the previous structure.

The Capitol 

We took a guided tour through the Capitol learning how the colonist dealt with their British Governor and ruling of the day.

After our Capitol visit we ran into a local who gave us some background on the city and also mentioned that Mr. Grey was in the process of baking ginger cake just up the street..... oh how I LOVE ginger cake! We found our way to the bakery and walked in to see the oven and the baker hard at work.

Once the fire is started in the oven and the embers established, the oven temperature is around 900 degrees. It slowly decreases throughout the day so the agenda for the day had to be based on what could be baked at various temperatures. For  cookies baking (350-ish degrees) they get about an hour and a half to two hours of baking time a day. When I inquired as to how could they determine the temperature at any time, he told he sticks his arm into the oven and uses that as a gauge. We laughed and said that he must be hairless on his arm- he showed us- it was!

Wasn't always easy being a colonist! 

Colonial Uber!

We found our way to the carpenter in the city and enjoyed talking to he and his helper. They were working on a door and everything that they do is just as it was done in the 1700's.

Our last stop was the Governor's Palace. This was home to Royal Governors and then the first two elected governors of Virginia. A beautiful home and grounds.

One could easily spend several days here at Williamsburg (there are lodging options within the city) to take it all in. There are numerous talks and activities to take part in the truly learn the history here.

It is getting close to our return trip home (we have to be back home Tuesday) but are trying to squeeze in as much as possible. We are going to start the return trip but stop off in Asheville, NC as we want to visit Biltmore.

Our dinner in Asheville was at a local eatery and Becky finally got a martini that she has been wanting.

Dry Martini, Pale Ale, Long Island Ice Tea, Old Fashioned

Not enough space in the caption to truly capture the essence of the martini...more on that soon!


Poll results from yesterday:

You guys are hopeless romantics! I do love Gone with the Wind but my first choice would be The Shawshank Redemption. When we were at the National Soldiers Cemetery, our tour guide stated that the reason President Lincoln's address was so powerful was that in those short two minutes he gave people/the nation hope. I remember a line from The Shawshank Redemption that Andy told Red about hope- "Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies." Good stuff!