Anniversaries Past

The picture below is from our first anniversary in 1967.  Look how dressed up we were!  We went out to eat at a restaurant on Panama City Beach and picked up some little knick knacks so we would always remember the day.  I have no idea where they are now, but I still remember the day.  After dinner we stopped by my aunt's house and picked up my grandmother to come home with us.

The hands on the Bible was a pose suggested by Bubba's mother.

I don't remember much about this anniversary except that I got flowers!

Big hair, big glasses and big sideburns!

I vividly remember our 20th Anniversary.  Amy made signs to mark the occasion and wrote several love poems in keeping with the anniversary theme.

Smaller hair, big glasses and big sideburns!

Anniversary #25 included a trip to the Smokies and then a spontaneous trip across Tennessee to Graceland.  We used to rent cars for vacations.  This time Bubba rented a big Lincoln that we picked up at the Tallahassee Airport.  It was so big that Amy stretched out across the back seat and slept through the trip across the state.

Still got big hair and big glasses!

For Anniversary 40 we rented a cabin in the Smokies and went there via Amy and Darryl's where we left Archie (our dog).  Amy had a little wedding cake for us.  While sitting on the porch of the cabin and drinking coffee at sunrise, Bubba surprised me with a pair of diamond earrings.  So romantic!

Smaller hair, smaller glasses and no sideburns!

And we went to Dollywood for the first time!

And of course, the big 50th Anniversary was celebrated with our family on a trip to Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons.

Raft trip on the Snake River!

AND

We went on a second trip to commemorate the actual anniversary on August 4 to the Smoky Mountains.

"Grow old along with me.  The best is yet to be!"

50 Golden Years

Our "official" 50th Anniversary was August 4.  Although the trip to Yellowstone earlier in the summer with Amy and family was our family celebration, we decided to celebrate the actual day by going to the Smoky Mountains.  Probably thirty anniversaries out of fifty were spent in the Smokies so it seemed fitting that we return for the big one.  Bubba used to always schedule his vacation for the first week in August so we could do something special.   

We started our trip by spending two nights in Atlanta.  We stayed with Amelia on Wednesday so that Amy and Darryl could both work.  Amelia started school on August 4 so we got to see her off for her first day.  She was really happy to be back in school.

After giving the Atlanta traffic time to settle down we started on the four hour trip to Pigeon Forge/Sevierville, TN.  Our first stop was at Jaemore Farms where we purchased peaches and boiled peanuts to take with us and had a fried peach pie with homemade peach ice cream for "lunch".

We arrived at the Comfort Inn Apple Valley and found that the accommodations I had reserved were perfect.  This inn had won the platinum award several years in a row and Trip Adviser had only positive reviews for it.  I don't know that we have ever stayed in a cleaner room!  We had a balcony that looked out on an apple orchard plus one of our favorite restaurants, Applewood Farmhouse Restaurant was close by.

My Breakfast

Bubba's Breakfast

We changed clothes to eat out since it seemed appropriate for the occasion and went to Alamo Steakhouse for a delicious steak dinner.  Afterwards we went shopping at the outlet mall and Bubba bought me a Le Creuset Dutch oven I wanted.  Yep, that was what I wanted for my anniversary.  (He got two knives and a display case for knives and a $2.00 hat.)  These are not the traditional anniversary gifts but we both got what we wanted.

Anniversary Dinner Out

Bubba's $2.00 Hat

The next day we went into Gatlinburg and looked around.  We watched the taffy pulling machine at the candy kitchen like we always do.  Although the mornings were cooler (slightly), by noon each day it was sweltering just like it is in Florida.  We had an early dinner at the Applewood and then came back and enjoyed cooling off in the pool and relaxing poolside.

Smoky Mountain Candy Kitchen

Enjoying the scenery!

Definitely not the Grand Tetons!

Bubba on a rock - That must be where Amelia gets it from.

Saturday evening we at at Big Daddy's Pizza in Pigeon Forge.  We had an appetizer plus the "Mama Mia" pizza with everything on it.  It was soooo good!  We took three pieces back to the motel with us.  The next morning Bubba ate the free breakfast at the motel and I ate all three pieces of pizza for my breakfast.  And you know, it was very filling.  Maybe diets would work better if you could eat pizza for breakfast. Hmmmm.

On Sunday we went back to Atlanta via two produce stands that were packed with people.  In addition to buying some produce to bring home, we stood in line to get yet another fried peach pie and homemade peach ice cream.  (Boy am I dreading that scale!)

Monday we arrived home around 4:00 and unloaded in the rain.  We enjoyed the trip very much.  My only regret is that I wish I had planned so that we weren't in Pigeon Forge on the weekend.  The traffic was terrible on Saturday and it would have been nice to shop for produce without so many people.  With that said, it was definitely a good trip and I'm glad we did something special for the actual day.

Amelia story:
     She got up in the middle of the night and put on her school clothes for Monday morning and went back to bed!
       

St. George Island (Copy Cat Trip)

Three times in a row to St. George Island didn't sound like too much when I made the reservations.  I chose three times because I wanted to be sure Amelia got in a camping trip to the beach since she loves it so much.  Our girls camping trip was great.  On July 10, Bubba and I headed back to SGI for three nights just us.

It was very similar to the outing with Amy and Amelia except this time I rented three Red Box movies for me to watch instead of Amelia.  The first one was "I Saw the Light".  It was the Hank Williams story and contained a lot of the old country music I listened to as a child.  I did not realize that he was only 29 years old when he died.  The next night I watched "The Lady in the Van" starring Maggie Smith.  I'm a fan of hers after "Downton Abbey".  It was a sweet, but sad mostly true story.  Then I watched "The Choice" which was a Nicholas Sparks book that I had read at least twice.  The book evoked copious tears but the movie didn't portray the angst of making the choice nearly as well as the book.  Not even a tear was shed for the movie.  As I've mentioned before, there is usually not any tv reception at SGI other than PBS.  Bubba can be happy with that, but I need more.

We had two really good days at the beach.  The umbrella worked great for Bubba and we were able to read under its shade when we weren't in the water cooling off.

We ate at the Blue Parrot which we both enjoyed and at BJ's where we had a good pizza.  So we enjoyed two good meals out, but I must say that when I did this trip with Amy and Amelia, we had ice cream.  When I mentioned ice cream this time, I got the looks that says, "How can you possibly hold anything else?"

Grouper Fingers

Popcorn Shrimp

While eating out on the deck at the Blue Parrot, Bubba said "Did you see that girl in the skimpy bikini?"  "The one with all the tattoos?" I asked.  "She had tattoos?" he responded. (He's all mine!)

While we were enjoying the pleasures of the beach, Amelia was attending volleyball camp at the high school where Amy teaches.  One of Amy's fellow teachers who helped with the camp told Amy that Amelia said, "I'm taking down my ponytail so I can have a great sweat."  (I'm recording all the funny Amelia stories until Amy resumes her blog.)

We were supposed to return to SGI this week for another three nights, but the weather didn't look favorable for spending time on the beach so we stayed home.

Amelia had her first piano lesson Monday.  Amy sent a video of Amelia playing her first piece.  It was precious.  She was counting by nodding her head.

Precious

Amy has been busy working on things for the writing lab at school which she will be starting this year.  Students complete with cute "writing" t-shirts will be helping other students perfect their writing skills.  This will require more time at school for Amy, but she seems to be excited about the potential for high school students to hone their writing abilities.  I'm excited for her and I wish her well in this endeavor.

Love their t-shirts!  School name is on back of shirt.

Girls Camping Trip (And Events Prior)

After a dream vacation everything else seems mundane.  But life goes on just not quite as thrilling.

First order of business after returning home was getting a new roof.  Our old roof should have lasted us a few more years, but there was a really bad leak on our back porch which was causing a great deal of unnecessary stress.  Bubba asked one roofer to give us an estimate for repairs and he did not even want to attempt it.  We then decided to go ahead and get the whole thing replaced.  We dealt with a contractor who showed up early for his appointment, called back when he said he would and started the job on the day he said.  His crew came in and took off two layers of shingles, repaired a number of rotten places that we didn't know about and put a composition roof on our back porch. The whole thing was done in one day.  He had a big crew and we had trucks parked in front and in back of our house.  They finished up just after dark and we now have a roof that should last longer than we do.  Hallelujah!!

Cooking up stuff to go on porch roof

3 of the 20 roofers

Household and yard chores were done.  We put some corn and peas in the freezer.  Then began the countdown until Amy and Amelia arrived for our planned Girls' Camping Trip at St. George Island.  Bubba was going to set us up at the St. George Island State Park in the travel trailer and then he was returning home.

Amy called and she had decided to come here via Baton Rouge.  Her friend, Samantha, had invited them to come for her daughter Grace's birthday party. Grace was Amelia's best friend when they lived in Baton Rouge.  They accepted the invitation and planned to surprise Grace with Amelia's attendance.

Then I learned that Amy wanted to drive at least as far as Mobile on Friday the day before they were to be in BR.  (Sounded good to me.)  Then I heard that Amelia was in a play at the Fine Arts Camp she had been attending that week and the play didn't start until 3:00.  Amy said, "We'll be packed and ready to leave right after the play.  You know it doesn't get dark until late anyway."  So....I tried not to worry, but when it was really dark I called Amy to see if they were in for the night and they were going to be on the road another 45 minutes before they reached their motel.  I prayed and prayed.  (Bubba said he prayed too.)  I even texted Judy and asked her to pray.  I was really worried, but finally they arrived and were safe in their room for the night.

I think these are the cutest pictures!  What a great surprise for Grace!

Amelia was also reunited with Sophia this weekend!

Amy said that they were in the pool from 9:00 - 5:00 on Sunday.

Their weekend with old friends was great.  I'm truly glad they made that trip. They arrived here Monday evening in time for supper (Fried Chicken).

Tuesday we proceeded to St. George Island and Bubba set us up and left.  We were on our own.  We got on our bathing suits and went to the beach.  Conditions were perfect for swimming and Amelia stayed under the water as much as she stayed on top.  There were a lot of little fish bumping against our legs but eventually we all got used to that and quit jumping every time it happened.  After the beach we all showered (sort of) outside the camper and went across the bridge to the dollar store in East Point where we rented some Red Box movies for Amelia to watch.  Our plan was to eat at the Blue Parrot on SGI, but the line waiting was daunting and we decided to go with pizza at BJ's and return to Blue Parrot for a late lunch another day.

I fixed chocolate chip pancakes and bacon on Wednesday morning.  Then we set out to spend the whole day at the beach and were going to grill hot dogs and make s'mores for supper.  It was another beautiful day, but we soon developed problems with our umbrella. In fact, it turned inside out and died.  We went back into "town" where I bought another umbrella which blew over and Amy had to chase it down the beach.  So we spent the majority of our time in the water with Amelia.  I got too much sun and Amy was a little red, but Amelia, who already has a beautiful tan, was coated in sunscreen and did not have a pink spot on her.

Amy and Amelia - beautiful day!

The hot dogs turned out great.  I think I even impressed Amy (and myself) with my grilling ability.  Our s'mores had to be done in the microwave since it started raining about the time I took up the hot dogs.  

Later that evening we took flashlights and went down to the beach.  Amy thought Amelia would enjoy seeing the crabs scooting across the beach at night. Boy she was wrong about that!  Amelia, who is always so brave about things, began shrieking and crying to leave.  She was so afraid that a crab was going to get on her foot.

Thursday began with rain and it stayed that way all day.  We went to Apalachicola to look around in the various little stores there.  I was surprised at the number of people.  I guess that is all there is to do when the weather is not good enough to go to the beach.  We made it back to SGI in time to have a late lunch at the Blue Parrot.  We ate out back on the deck and it was very pleasant.  The food was delicious.  Amy got fried grouper fingers and I got fried popcorn shrimp.  Amelia, of course, got a grilled cheese.

Watching a movie and drinking her morning hot chocolate

Just before dark Amy talked Amelia into going for a walk on the beach with her.  I stayed behind and spent my time sweeping out all the sand that had accumulated in the trailer.

Our special girls!

Thankfully, it was too early for crabs!

I hope Amy and Amelia enjoyed the outing as much as I did.  We read and talked --- important topics like our favorite cake, pie, restaurant, etc.  We also enjoyed a variety of snacks.

I don't remember taking this picture, but I like it.

Bubba arrived the next morning to pull us back home.  Amy decided that she would go on back to Atlanta that afternoon since she was leaving for California on Sunday.  We had a quick lunch and they were on the road by 12:30.

Amelia's signature on Bubba's Father's Day Card

I've just got to tell this funny thing Amelia said from a few weeks ago.

Amelia:  "Nana, I have a Goosebumps book."
Nana:  "You do?"
Amelia:  "Yes, I read the first chapter.  It was real creepy.  Can you believe my                mom lets me buy stuff like that!?"

She is the funniest kid I've ever known!  Love her bunches!

Yellowstone/Grand Tetons Anniversary Trip (Day Eight)

It was time to go home. (sigh)  We drove back to West Yellowstone, Montana, to catch the short flight to Salt Lake City.  We took a different route and traveled through Idaho.  (We saw potatoes growing.)

We arrived at the small airport with time to spare.  Darryl turned in our rental van and we waited to go through security.  It was a little different.  The small airport was probably more thorough than what we experienced before.  We didn't have to take off our shoes, but I was patted down (randomly) and Bubba had to take off his belt.

The flight to Salt Lake City was uneventful. (That's always a good thing.)  I have discovered that I really like airplane coffee (Starbucks) and airplane cookies.

We had over two hours in Salt Lake City and we ate at Darryl's favorite Mexican restaurant in the airport.  Lo and behold.... it was really good too.  Who knew?

The plane back to Atlanta was not crowded so we were able to spread out a little more.  Bubba watched Fox News flying back and I watched Jurassic World (ugh).  More coffee and cookies and refills and we were back in Atlanta by 10:30 PM, arriving back at Amy and Darryl's by midnight.

We rested on Sunday.  That evening, Amy and I were able to go out for dinner just the two of us.  (Surprise, I'm not going to tell you what we ate!) That was nice.  Monday morning as soon as the traffic was predicted to let up (around 9:30) we started home.

Darryl and Amy proposed this trip to us in September as a celebration of our 50th anniversary.  Darryl said that he would make all the reservations and that they would take care of our plane tickets.  That was probably the best part of the plan.  I would not have known where to start.  He made our reservations at Canyon Lodge in Yellowstone in September and would send me an email every now and then asking our preference about doing this or that.  We were going to split the other expenses involved;however, when I saw where we were staying and when he told me what "our part" was I knew that they were pretty much paying for the condo as well as our plane tickets.  (It was NICE! And COMFORTABLE! And had a great VIEW!)

Both he and Amy were very patient with us as we bumbled our way through the airports with them.  (Amelia knew more what to do than we did.)  While traveling in the park one day, Bubba mentioned that a Snickers candy bar would be good and then when Darryl turned in at an unexpected stop, Bubba asked him why we were stopping and Darryl said, "To get you a Snickers."  Anytime we wanted a picture, Darryl pulled over. 

This trip meant so much to us.  We had always wanted to go out west and just didn't know where to start.  We will never forget how we celebrated our 50th anniversary. (Even though we forget a lot of other things.) This has also shown us that just maybe we can travel some on our own, especially if we don't start in Atlanta.  I like this statement by St. Augustine, "The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page."  

My desire is that we read as many pages as we can for as long as we are able.

Thank you to Amy, Darryl and Amelia!  It was perfect!

Yellowstone/Grand Tetons Anniversary Trip 2016 (Day Seven)

Our final day on this fantastic trip started with breakfast around 10:00 at The Bunnery in Jackson Hole. I had been reading about this place for some time and apparently Amy had too since she suggested that we eat there.

My breakfast!  The only food picture.  Yes, I ate it all.

Bubba had pancakes, eggs and sausage. Darryl had biscuits and gravy. Amelia had four pancakes and bacon. Amy had quiche Lorraine with fresh fruit and I had an omelet with bacon, Swiss cheese and tomatoes. (Sometimes Bubba says that people don't care what we eat, but I'm always interested in what people order when they are eating out and after all, it is my blog!). On the way out, we bought some of the delicious looking pastries in the show case and thoroughly enjoyed them later for a snack.

We entered the Great Tetons National Park and went down a dusty road to look at a small settlement that had been established years ago by Mormon pioneers. It, too, was a very picturesque setting. 

On the way back, we took another ride down the dirt road where the grizzly bears were supposed to hang out.  We still didn't see a grizzly, but we were back in the field of flowers.  I decided that I wanted a picture of Amy, Amelia and me sitting in the field of flowers.  Darryl obliged by stopping.  It was pretty funny.  I guess if everybody had left me, I would still be sitting in the middle of the flowers waiting for the grizzly bears to show up.

Bubba should have been in my place......

Then this embarrassing picture wouldn't have been taken.

Our next stop was at the Jenny Lake Visitor's Center for Amelia to complete her final task, a ranger presentation, to earn her Junior Ranger badge for Grand Teton National Park.  The ranger talked about how to identify which animal had pooped in the woods.  He had a display containing various animal poop.  I guess he knew what would be interesting to kids.  We spent some time looking around at different exhibits about the history of the park.

Amelia had her swim suit on and was ready for a swim in String Lake.  Amy had read that this was a good place for swimming.  Amelia gradually eased into the icy water.  I had promised to wade so I tried to be a good grandma and keep my promise.  I stood at the edge and when a little bit of water splashed on my foot, it made me jump.  It was soooo COLD!!  Amelia said, "It's only cold when you put a new part of your body in it.  If you stay in long enough, it feels hot."  Right, sweetie, Nana believes that.

This is one fearless little girl!

This is as far as I can go!

She got all the way in.  How can she stand it?

I think the melting snow makes it REALLY cold.

Bubba and I wanted to stay in for the evening so Darryl went into Jackson Hole and picked up some barbecue from Bubba's Barbecue for us.  Then he and Amy went out to eat.  

Bubba watched Fox News and Amelia and I watched "Say Yes to the Dress" which motivated her to share her wedding plans with me.  Then she started drawing pictures of her wedding dress.  She was really inspired.

We were talking about how much we had enjoyed the week.  I asked her what her favorite thing about the trip was and she replied, "Nana, my favorite thing was just spending time with you and Paw-Paw and mom and dad."  (Amy says that she plays me like a fiddle, but I love it!)

She also said, "Nana, I want to go to Sydney." "Australia?" I said, "I don't want you to leave the United States."  Then she replied, "I've lived in the United States all my life and I just feel like it is time for me to move on."

We watched several hours of "Say Yes to the Dress" and enjoyed snuggling. Amelia ate a bag of popcorn and drank a glass of chocolate milk.  It was a great way to spend our last night of this wonderful week.

Amy and Darryl came back.  Amy had brought me her leftover fried chicken and mac and cheese.  I wasn't hungry, but I had to try it.  Delicious!  I also learned that they had been back to Moo's Gourmet Ice Cream for a final ice cream cone.

Packing to go home was a big process.  We had carry on bags and our stuff was divided up into what we would need to spend the night at Amy and Darryl's house Saturday night, what we could carry on, and what could go home unopened. I learned that we had way too many clothes packed.  I'll know better next time.

Feeling a little sad...... It's getting close to ........

THE END

Yellowstone/Grand Tetons Anniversary Trip 2016 (Day Six)

Bubba and I woke up to the scent of cinnamon rolls, coffee and bacon. Breakfast was nearly ready and we were going to see Amy and Amelia off on the horseback ride that Amelia had been looking forward to all week. Darryl went for a five mile run and we went with the girls to the stable to take pictures and see them off for their hour long ride through the woods. (The things a mother/father will do for their child!) 

She's on her own.  They are not responsible.

Amelia is practicing for the real horse.

Amelia's horse - "Custard"

Amy's horse was "Top Gun"

Amelia came back excited about the ride; Amy not so much. Amelia thinks we should build a barn and buy a horse for her to ride when she visits. Apparently the funniest part of the trip was the horses were all a little gassy and they all peed and pooped a lot to the delight of the youngest riders. (Amy was not too impressed.)

We went into Jackson Hole for lunch at Pinky G's Pizzeria which had been featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on the Food Network.  It was very good. I won't go into detail this time about what everyone ate because I don't want to always be a slave to my stomach.

That afternoon we rode the gondola to the top of Mount Rendezvous where it was COLD. There was still a lot of snow on the ground. The scent of waffles was in the air and we went into a restaurant in a cabin that featured hot fresh waffles. My waffle was brown sugar and cinnamon. They cut a big waffle in half and put the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon in the middle and wrapped it up like a sandwich. It was without a doubt the best waffle I've ever eaten. Amelia got the waffle with Nutella on it which she was definitely not willing to share so it must have been really good. Darryl and Amy split a waffle with strawberry preserves on it and seemed to enjoy it as well.  (Slave to stomach!)

Our Ride

Two miles up!

Darryl is not cold.

Amelia and I were cold.

Waffles!!

That evening (Thursday) at 6:00 we were scheduled for a two hour float trip on the Snake River. When we arrived at the designated meeting place I heard someone say, "Amy". I thought they were calling to someone in their party, but it turned out that it was the Athletic Director from the high school where Amy teaches. What a small world and then it turned out that they were also assigned to the same float as we were.


We received a lot of instructions about what to do if we fell overboard. Then when we first floated out from the shore, Amelia got wet from a big splash and I started thinking that if we were starting out like that, it was going to be some rough water ahead and I didn't have anything for holding on.  Amelia liked getting splashed and was disappointed that it only happened once. It was a very enjoyable, scenic trip. Amelia had mentioned several times that she wanted to see a bald eagle and we saw two so she was pleased with that. She lay on her stomach with her hands in he water for a lot of the trip and they felt like ice when she took them out.

One of two bald eagles we saw

Dinner was at Snake River Brewery in Jackson Hole. It was late enough that it was actually dark so Bubba and I split a brisket sandwich which was more that enough to eat at bedtime. Thank you, Amy, for setting up the float trip. It was great.