Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Travelin' Fools


This is just a sneak preview to all the other pictures in this blog! Aaron and I have been happily using up his 45 days of leave and loving EVERY MINUTE! We just returned from a trip down to Savannah where I got to see one of my favorite people and college roommate from APU, Shelley. It was so much fun to see her! She took us around down town Savannah and it was adorable. Aaron loved all the spanish moss on the trees. She showed us the little upstairs apartment she used to rent from some people and I loved it because it has so much character!

After spending the night and one day in Savannah, Aaron and I were off to Charleston to see his cousin Haley and her boyfriend Bryant who attends the Citadel. They took us to an incredible true, southern-style restaurant where we got the most amazing grits and crab cakes and hush puppies that take the cake over any others that we've tried! Yum! I wish I had gotten a picture with Haley and Bryant, but somehow I forgot to do that :( We loved Charleston so much that we decided to stay for a second day. Not only is Charleston one of our new favorite places, but we stayed on Charleston Air Force Base and it was probably one of the nicest AF bases (according to Aaron.) We really enjoyed our stay, and it was close to town, 20 minutes from the beach, and 5 minutes from a really great outlet mall. Yes, Aaron let me splurge a little bit...so fun!

Honestly though, one of the best parts of our trip to Charleston was randomly running into Aaron's best friend who is a C-17 pilot stationed in California. Let me try and explain how all of this craziness unfolded! Aaron and I had just left the cutest wine bar (where I met a new furry friend! Hence the dog in the tu-tu at the top of this post. Bliss is her name and I LOVED her! She was the "mascot" at the wine bar!) and we were walking over to a hotel with a roof-top bar. All of a sudden, someone grabs Aaron from behind and says, "Give me your money!" We both jump and turn around and BOOM! There's MATT! It was the most amazing experience because Matt didn't know we would be in Charleston and we didn't know he would be either! It turns out that he and a few other pilots were spending the night re-fueling their aircraft. We joined all of them for a drink and had a great visit. He said they had never stopped in Charleston before, so it was truly meant to be. Isn't that so much fun?!? Our favorite spot in Charleston is now the Isle of Palms. It's a gorgeous beach town! Let me just admit right now that I even bought a t-shirt. I NEVER do that. I loved this place!

After spending an exra day in Charleston, we were off to Virginia Beach. We drove through Kitty Hawk, which was really fun. We had hoped to see the museum, but it was 5 p.m. when we drove though and they had just closed. So we went on our way to the beach and checked into our beach-front cabin at Fort Story, a small army base along the VA. Beach Atlantic coast. Even though we didn't love it as much as Charleston, we HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend this place to anyone. And we especially recommend Cape Henry Inn at Fort Story to any of our military friends (Mari :) hint hint) The boardwalk at VA. Beach was a little ghetto. Not because it's old and/or run-down, but because there are some weird-o people hangin out there. Seriously. Lets put some clothes on people!! As Aaron says, "It's just annoying to be around people who only want to draw attention to themselves." So true honey! All in all, it was a really great stay!

Finally, after two days in VA. Beach, we packed our stuff and hopped in the car to Williamsburg. I don't need to go into much detail on this one, because Jamestown and Williamsburg speak for themselves! It's amazing to walk around the oldest towns in the United States. The history just blows me away and I loved, loved, loved it!

Before we knew it, it was time to go home and 5 minutes from our house, our car started acting up. We thanked the Lord that this hadn't happened earlier in our trip when we were so far from home. I went to take the car into the shop yesterday and couldn't even get it into reverse. Nothing. Ugh! I had to call a tow truck and the mechanic thought the transmission might be shot. Thankfully, the filter just needed to be replaced and it was just that all of our trasmission fluid had spilled out causing it to not shift properly. I guess all of that driving really did it in. But it was a much easier fix than we had prepared ourselves for. We only have one car, so this would have been a huge blow. God is good and he provides. We give him thanks!

There's so much more I could blog, but i'll have to do that after our trip up to NY to see a broadway show for my birthday at the end of this month. We'll also be picking up Aaron's brother, Jesse, in Harlem to make our way up through some of the New England states. I can't wait to see Boston which is where my grandparents are from. I love traveling and these opportunities for us are not taken for granted!

We officially close on our house this Friday and then the movers come on May 20. Thanks to Joel and Maggie, our amazing "God-Parents" at our church here in Virginia who mentored us before we got married, they are providing us free housing at their gorgeous home until we move. AMEN!! We can't thank them enough and we feel so blessed.

I'll do my best to keep everyone posted on how things are going for us!

Uh oh. Public humiliation at the courthouse in Williamsburg!

I know, I look too happy!

The historic Williamsburg Capital

At lunch with Shelley in cute, cute Savannah Georgia!

Shelley's first apartment when she moved to Savannah. Isn't it amazing?!?

Sitting down to visit after running into Matt in Charleston. AMAZING!

The Gas Light wine bar, downtown Charleston

2.5 million dollar homes at the Isle of Palms. Whoa.

Beach lovin' - My man needs a tan ;)

Life is pretty rough...

2 comments:

..melissa.. said...

Sounds so wonderful Jenn!! I want to just drive all over..someday!! I am also glad to hear about your house closing! Whoo hoo!

Ohh, and when is the move to WA happening??

I am so glad you got to spend time with Mrs. Starling ;) She looks amazing!

Mari said...

Ahh you don't even know how excited this blog makes me!

1st - come October I am SO calling on you for more info about Charleston! I'm ALL about staying at Lodging on the AF base too! Sounds so great!

2nd - we had the BEST vacation of our lives at the Cape Henry Inn! It was before Gabe's deployment last June. We were in the cabana closest to the boardwalk/pool, 2 bedrooms for $95 a night! Sweet! And the girls loved the aquarium there too. Ahh, just talking about it brings back good memories.

3rd - you know how I feel about Willaimsburg - my favorite place on the east coast!

So, to sum it up - sounds like you went on our dream vacation! Hopefully we can recreate it someday! Especially if we can convince the grandparents to come out here and babysit ;)

PS. Have you ever heard of the Armed Forces Vacation Club? I just saw it today...a week at a resort for $329! They are all over the place, so if you have any extra leave time - look it up!