Vacation

My mom is the entire reason that I moved to Corpus Christi back in 2001. She had lived here since I was in the 4th grade, and at 20-years-old I was needing to reconnect with her. I never meant to make a life here, but after graduation I met my husband and the rest is history.

Four years ago, my mother and step-father moved to Charlotte, NC to be closer to his son. My mom has made it back down to Texas 3 times, but I had yet to go see her. So, I finally decided to make it happen this summer. It turned out to be a wonderful vacation and I wish I wouldn't have waited so long to go.

I got on the road around 6am Wednesday morning and drove to San Antonio to catch my flight to Charlotte. Even with gas and parking, flying from SA saved me about $200! It made for a long day, so I may have to re-think that in the future. My mom and Colin met me at the airport and we waited for Havie's flight from New Orleans to arrive. They immediately took us to this "artsy fartsy" area of Charlotte called the NoDa District. It was my kind of place- we had a great dinner at Cabo Fish Taco.

This place was super busy for a Wednesday night!

Historic Fire Station

Some Brand New Lofts that actually stuck out like a sore thumb in this historic neighborhood.

The Crepe Cellar

Mom standing in front of Beet

We got up early Thursday morning and got on the road. We drove about 4 hours south to Beaufort, SC to see my husband's oldest brother and his family. We were just a few more miles from Savannah, GA. I wish we would have had more time to keep going and see it, but we'll save it for next time. We did a little bit of sight seeing, but mostly spent time with his neices.

This is the only thing you see for miles on the highway!

Beaufort, SC

Havie's oldest brother Sylvester and his baby Aemiliana (Milly)

Havie and his neice Gabby

Friday night, my mom and Colin took us to this awesome little BBQ joint called Rock House. It has a lot of historical significance, but I'm not going to bore you with that. North Carolina bbq is different from Texas Barbecue. The ribs had a dry rub like the ones you find in Memphis, but they also had a number of sauces. They were really sweet and vinegary- yum, yum! Right outside was a little farmer's market. We picked up some fresh strawberries, tomatoes, corn and squash for our big Father's Day grill-out. We then took a tour of Charlotte and ended up at the coolest Starbucks I've ever seen. The night ended with the girls inside talking and the guys out on the patio smoking cigars...

I had to get a shot with Colin's Harley

Some great bbq!

My mommy and I at the farmer's market

Havie picking out a tomato for his world famous beans!

Saturday morning started with coffee on the sun porch. I absolutely love this part of my mom's house. Her back yard sits right on a green belt, so there's huge trees just feet from the porch. It stays shaded and cool. The rest of the day was spent shopping with mom for a piece of art to go over our fireplace- and I found just what I was looking for at an awesome place called Old Time Pottery. Then we met up with the guys for dinner at The Green Tomato. Good old fashioned southern food... the fried green tomatoes were to die for! We left with our bellies full! We went back home and watched movies in our comfy clothes!

Now, this is what I call living

You really have to look UP to see the sky in this neck of the woods

Isn't it great?

Sunday morning we had a big breakfast for Father's Day. Havie and I decided to get out on our own a little bit and explore Charlotte. It is a big city, but it doesn't look like one. The trees are so massive and everywhere that you can't see what's right around the corner. There aren't huge signs for every store everywhere you look. And another thing, people were incredibly polite. I thought that Texans were nice... Even the servers at fast food places would say things like "my pleasure". We were floored.

Anyway, Charlotte has a ton of history and the architecture to prove it. If you are considering a vacation, but want to go somewhere inexpensive- I highly recommend it. We had a great time and we didn't even scratch the surface of what was available out there.

Monday morning rolled around and we headed off for the airport. I actually got to hang out with Havie until I boarded my flight which was really nice. The last flight from DFW to San Antonio was late, but my bag was the first off the plane! I was on the road back home by 1:30pm. Got back here around 4pm and crashed.