My Visit to Alabama: Part 2

Wednesday, July 20th


Tressie suggested a place called Tip Top Grill for lunch on Wednesday, which sits at one of the highest peaks in Alabama. Of course I was all about it because I love mountain scenery! On our drive there, Tressie pointed out all of the houses that are literally built on cliffs. For example, you would see a house, a small backyard, and right behind the backyard, a straight-up cliff! It was crazy! Of course the homes were beautiful brick houses, but I'm not so sure I could live on a cliff!

We sat outside and enjoyed our lunch and the scenery that surrounded us. Lover's Leap is right next to the Tip Top Grill so we ventured around on the big mountainous rocks, a bit apprehensive of our vulnerability, knowing we were on a cliff! (If true hikers read this, they're going to think I'm ridiculous for calling it a cliff. But for this Florida girl, we were on a cliff.)
After lunch, we headed to a town called Hoover, to do some shopping. Now that I had my dress for the cruise, I needed shoes to match, right? Right! :) I found two pairs of shoes on clearance at DSW. I love finding good clearance deals! I also got to experience a Hobby Lobby for the first time! It's such a fun store!! Since I've been in the "blog world," I've seen a lot of people post about things they've bought for their home or materials for DIY projects all from Hobby Lobby and I've been disappointed we didn't have one here. Well, they broke ground for one not too long ago here in Lakeland so I'll be a regular customer shopping there soon! I can't wait for it to open now that I've been to one! I'm hoping it's open by Christmas-time! Can you imagine all the fun things I'd find?

Before heading back to Tressie's house, we stopped by a bakery to get a sweet treat. I had been having this craving for chocolate icing. So I bought a cupcake... and a brownie. I am SO one of those people whose eyes are almost always bigger than their stomach. Don't worry, I didn't eat them both at the same time. And by the time I went to eat the brownie, I could only handle half of it. Chocolate overload.

Tressie's husband, Jonathan, was out of town so Tressie led youth group that night and I went with her. It was neat to see their church and meet the people who they're experiencing life with right now. They were all real friendly! It must be that Southern Hospitality in their Alabama blood. :) Before we went to youth group, I spent time reminiscing through Tressie's scrapbooks of college and her wedding. Tressie and I were college roommates our freshman and sophomore years and I was in her wedding. So those scrapbooks held lots of fun memories, good laughs and great friends!

Thursday, July 21st
Tressie had some great suggestions for restaurants during my stay in Alabama! Thursday's suggestion was a place called Flip Burger in Birmingham which was convenient since I was flying out that afternoon to go home.

It's a very unique and modern place and one of their specialties are liquid nitrogen milkshakes! They come out smoking and it's just something different and fun to experience! We both had one. Tressie ordered a Krispy Kreme milkshake and the flavor I had was Nutella Chocolate and Roasted Marshmallow. Yum!
My small little burger with "smoked mayonaise"..whatever that is?

After lunch, I still had a few hours before I needed to be at the airport. So we went to The Vulcan in Birmingham.


We took the elevator about 130 feet up so that we could get a bird's eye view of Birmingham. It was beautiful!



When you walk out of the elevator, you're standing on a platform in which you can see the ground below! I was just a tad bit queasy!

The Vulcan is 56 feet tall, a HUGE iron structure, actually the largest cast iron structure in the world.

Here's my foot in comparison to Vulcan's gigantic foot!

I enjoyed my trip to the Vulcan and learned some new things about Alabama's history!


This concludes my trip to Alabama! The trip went very fast since I was only there for 3 nights, but I had so much fun! It was great spending time with a good friend who I don't see very often these days and catching up on our lives. It was fun to just talk, shop, sight-see, and hang out like old times! Thank you, Tressie, for your hopsitality at your lovely little home in Alabama! I definitely would like to visit again, but in either fall or winter!

My Visit to Alabama: Part 1

{It's been a while since I've blogged, which I'm disappointed about considering I was on a roll the first few days in July, thinking that I might actually become a "regular blogger." I guess there's no real pressure to blog daily, but what can I say? I have high expectations for myself. Ha!}

I visited my friend, Tressie, in Alabama this past Monday-Thursday, July 18-21. Tressie and her husband, Jonathan, moved to Alabama two and a half years ago. Her husband is a youth pastor at a church and they have a cute little house right near the church. I had been wanting to visit for awhile, but Tressie and I are both teachers, so the most practical time to plan a visit was in the summertime. I had been looking forward to this trip for a long, long time!

I will warn you now that this is going to be a long post filled with pictures!

Monday, July 18th (my dad's 50th birthday!!)

I flew into Birmingham on Monday afternoon at about 3:00. Tressie was there waiting for me and after getting my luggage, we headed to Tressie's house to drop off my bags. Her house is so cute! It's the perfect size for her and her husband. It has real wood floors which I love! I forgot to get a picture of the front of her house but I did get one of the room I slept in! I LOVE the white furniture she has in this room!
We spent the rest of the afternoon touring some of AL, including Ross Bridge which has the most amazing homes you've ever seen. Ross Bridge is its own community with some shopping, neighborhoods, doctors' offices, playgrounds, and even a fancy hotel that seems pretty expensive. :)

Tressie drove me by the school she worked at the past 2.5 years and then took me to the new school she'll be working at this year. It's a 3 story building and will only house 5th and 6th graders! That's how big the area is!
We ended the day with a quick mall food-court dinner and some shopping. I was looking for a dress to wear on the cruise and Tressie had found a few for me to try and one of them ended up being the perfect dress! It fit well and was on clearance with an additional 30% off so I was pleased with the deal!

Tuesday, July 19th
On Tuesday, we drove to Montgomery, AL to experience the trolley tour and view the sights. It was about a 2 hour drive from Tressie's house. While driving, a small pebble hit Tressie's windshield and cracked it in the far right corner! It was a pretty big crack from such a small rock or pebble! I saw it happen and it wasn't a big rock at all. The crack was at least more than a foot long! Thankfully the windshield stayed in tact and we were safe driving there and back!
Onto Montgomery...we rode the trolley for only $3!
The trolley tour guide showed us many historical sites in Alabama's capitol city. We learned about the meaning behind many of Montgomery's buildings. Buildings with green roofs or siderails are part of Alabama's Retirement System. We saw a 4-story building that was for "colored" people during the segregation era where Martin Luther King had his last haircut before he was assassinated. We saw Alabama's capitol building,which resembles the capitol building in Washington D.C. We got to see inside, too!

I love, love, love, staircases like these!
Look at the ceiling inside of the capitol building! Isn't the detail phenomenal?

We were able to see some of the rooms where the Confederates met and made important decisions, back in the "old days."




We went inside and toured the Rosa Parks Museum. This may make me sound nerdy, but I loved this museum. I read every plaque and description there was to read about and took my time walking through. Troy University, which is in the heart of Montgomery, founded the museum in 2000. They built the museum over the very spot Rosa Parks was arrested after refusing to give up her seat to a white person.
There was a life-like simulation of what took place on the bus that Decemeber day in 1956 when Rosa had had enough of the ridicule and humilation and refused to give up her seat. I learned a lot in this museum. I didn't know beforehand that Martin Luther King had so much to do with the bus boycott following Rosa's arrest. His philosophy was "victory without violence" and I just think there's so much power in that! There is no doubt that Rosa and Martin were extremely influential people in ending segregation and obtaining equal rights for all people.

This is the church where Martin Luther King Jr. was the preacher of for a few years.


The church was a common meeting place during the bus boycott. (We showed up too late to be able to see inside.)

Montgomery is very close to the Alabama River. We walked along the river's edge and I learned that after a very heavy rainfall, the river had risen a significant amount.

This is how high the water had settled after so much rainfall, 58 FEET, 1 INCH IN THE AIR! I can't imagine!


Touring Montgomery was a highlight of this trip! It was fun to learn more about Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, and it gives me more understanding and appreciation for who they are and what they had to endure, in order to achieve what they did for our country. I look forward to sharing what I learned with my students this year during some Social Studies lessons! Check back soon for Part 2 of my visit to Alabama to see what happened on Wednesday and Thursday! :)

Kayaking at Weeki Wachee

Today Dayna and I went kayaking with 2 of her friends, Gus and Rodney. They all used to lifeguard together. {Yes, I did feel very safe knowing I was kayaking with 3 certified lifeguards!} We went to a place called Weeki Wachee Springs. This river is so beautiful, peaceful, clear, calm and FUN! Gus and Rodney have their own personal kayaks, so Dayna and I rented a tandem for the day.

We left bright and early this morning, 7:30 a.m. to be exact. We woke up to overcast skies and the knowledge of a pretty good rain chance. But we were going kayaking regardless. To our delight, it didn't rain a single drop while we were there and we were there from 10-3! I even came home with a bit of a suntan!




The water was pretty cold, so in the morning, I was content just kayaking along. Later on in the day as it got hotter, I decided I would be adventurous and jump off of a huge tree branch which was facing horizontal a few feet above the water. See?
(This is the only picture I got on my camera, but Gus has some more action shots of us jumping off that can always be added later.)

I jumped off 3 different times, and the last time Dayna and I jumped together. It was SO MUCH FUN and the water was freezing! That branch was so slippery and every time I would get on it, I would think I was going to fall off into the water. Two different times, Dayna and Gus tried to go on the other side of me, so I had to duck (all while sitting on the slippery tree branch) and just hope they didn't fall off or push me off, even though it wouldn't have been a big deal since it was just the water underneath. I laughed so hard both times they did that which didn't help me keep my balance real well.

Look at how clear the water is! We could see fish so clearly!

After we had our fill of jumping off the tree, we kayaked down more of the river and found something else to jump off of...a rope swing hanging from a super tall tree! That was fun also, but there were many other kayakers enjoying the rope swing too, so we kept our time short there.

We saw a manatee up close! Dayna even touched him! We didn't take out the camera, but we saw one! I've seen them before, but never so up close. They are so calm and curious. They rode right underneath our kayak and just ate as they swam. They are fat little fellas!


The river is long and after 2 and a half hours exploring, our arms were getting tired and our stomachs grew hungry. We were ready to see the landmark that signaled we had reached the end! Our day of kayaking was such a fun adventure! I'm so glad I went. Two months from now, when lesson plans and grading papers have consumed me again, I'll wish to be kayaking down a peaceful river!

P.S. I just need to say thank-you to Shelly for my lovely new blog design! I was the lucky winner of her generous giveaway and I love the new look! Thanks again, Shelly!

4th of July Party

Tonight Dayna and I went over to a 4th of July party at Shaundra's, a teacher we work with. It was lots of fun! We talked, played Badminton (so fun!), ate, did fireworks and laughed.

I had never been to Shaundra's house before and it was so nice! I got some pictures of the festive decorations she had, but this is the only one that actually turned out decent. So here you have it-a picture of 4th of July napkins. Impressed? Ha!

A little while after we had arrived at the party, Dayna decided she needed Roman Candle fireworks to shoot with Shaundra's son, Ethan. Let's just say Dayna tends to be impulsive sometimes. Haha. So we drove up the road where we knew they had a firework tent set up, but the guy who had no teeth said that they didn't sell Roman Candles in Polk County. Darn. He said that a place 15 minutes away in Hillsborough County was selling them. Because Dayna insisted on having these Roman Candles, we made the trek over to get them and then went back to the party.

I enjoyed watching all the fireworks that Shaundra's husband lit off. They were some really pretty ones! It was fun watching Dayna have a blast with her Roman Candles. She and Ethan had a Roman Candle war which about scared me to death! I suffered a pretty severe hot water burn all across my chest when I was in 5th grade, so playing with something that could burn me is frightening. I really don't even like Sparklers. I did, however, enjoy watching Dayna light the Snakes fireworks that just kind of grow into big piles of ash. Know which ones I'm talking about?


It was a very fun evening! Thanks, Shaundra, for hosting us! Happy 4th of July!

Rock Springs

Audra, Dayna, and I went to Rock Springs today with Dayna's family. They've had this tradition for years, and Audra and I were glad to join in on the fun today! Rock Springs is located in Apopka, FL, about an hour and a half north of Lakeland.

Dayna's family had rented a pavillion which was good because when we showed up around 11:00, the park was already closed due to full occupancy. Luckily we had a parking permit for Dayna's car and we got in just fine since we were already accounted for.


Rock Springs is just a natural spring with clear water that is FREEZING cold! It has a sandy bottom and there is some natural wildlife such as fish and turtles living in the river. The picture (photo from Google) shows the "pool area" of the river where lots of people hang out at if they just want to swim. There's much more of the river that has a natural, gentle current which pushes you along, kind of like a lazy river.

Although holiday weekends such as the 4th of July attract a lot of people, it's not like a theme park where you have to wait in line for rides where there are masses of people all around. Before you get to the springs, there are several places along the road you can rent tubes for cheap. So you pick up a few and take them to the springs with you to use down the river.

This is how Dayna transports the tubes while driving...no need to tie them or anything. Haha!

The park has a concession stand, but you see many people with coolers and snacks. They've got charcoal grills so you can cook out which is what we did. We had a delicious, classic, summer lunch! Hamburgers and hot dogs with chips, potato salad and baked beans! One of the traditions Dayna's family has at Rock Springs is to bring an ice-cream maker and make homemmade ice-cream! Her grandma does a great job! Today's flavors were peach, strawberry and chocolate butterfinger. The chocolate butterfinger was SO good! I don't care for fruit so chocolate is what I had more than one serving of.

Audra and I

The three of us enjoying a beautiful day!


I didn't end up taking any of my own pictures of the river or park and I wished I would have for blogging purposes. Rock Springs is really a neat and unique place. There are built-in places to play Horseshoes, volleyball courts, open grass areas to play frisbee or to get your own game of your choice going. This was my 3rd time and it was SO much fun!

Getting ready to head home after a full, fun day outside!



Let me just say that today was SO needed for me. Seriously. I am not joking at all when I say that it has been overcast and gloomy in Lakeland since Friday of LAST week-7 days straight. It was getting really old. It wasn't even raining some days, but still was just straight-up cloudy and gloomy. I was soooo sick of it. Naturally, I was worried that today's weather might not be good either. Thankfully, the sun was out all day. The two times I sat in the tube down the river, I wasn't even really talking to Audra or Dayna. It wasn't because I didn't want to, but I was completely relaxed and just loving every minute of soaking up the sun. My body needed a good replenishing of Vitamin D. I know I'm going on and on and I'm about to end it, but I just wanted to say how good this day truly was! It felt amazing to be in the sun again! Thank you, God, for a beautiful day!