Mississippi Here I ... Came

On The Way

Me and planes don't go to well together. Especially little planes. As I held back calling out "Jesus" and gripped the seat in front of me, I had a chance to look out the window and see flat land and lots of trees. We were not in Orange County anymore.

We had to travel from Jackson, MS to a little town called Columbia. Blink and you may miss it. Cute and quaint... okay that wasn't my initial reaction. I saw all the horrific things and didn't see any of the good until a few days later. I told my sister that she would have to come visit me because I sure wasn't coming back. lol but I changed my mind and now, if I must, I will visit from time to time.

The Proposal
The first night there, my sister's boyfriend planned a dinner for her and us at this little place that looked like a sandwich shop. The menu's on the wall had fried everything, but the tables were set with rose petals and candles. We, my mom and I, watched from a distance as this happened...

My sisters fiance is the production manager at the local newspaper, so he had a full color page for his proposal.

We had fried green tomatoes for the first time, fried calamari fresh from New Orleans, garden salad and the best shrimp scampi ever. It was perfectly cooked and seasoned. We finished dinner with Chocolate mousse and strawberries soaked in Grand Marnier. Divine. That's all I have to say. Divine.

Wedding Errands

On Saturday morning we woke up at 4:30, 2:30 CA time, and drove to Pensacola, FL. We had to be there for a morning appointment at the caterer. We had appointments one right after the other at the florist and bakery. We then headed to Orange Beach, AL to see where my sister is getting married and the house we will be staying in the week of the wedding.

This is the beach we are staying on. The sand is incredible, fine and white.

I took a few pictures of my sister and her fiance Paul, we called them engagement pictures but it really was a few shots here and there.

The ride home never ended... it seemed as if these Southern roads could go on and on... that wore me out along with the fact that I'd only gotten 7 hours of sleep in the last two days.

The B&B

My sister's fiance was kind enough to get us a room at the local B&B. We had the whole upper floor to ourselves and each morning the B&B host would make us breakfast in the formal dining room. This picture kind of reminds me of Green Gables.

Bottle trees are a Columbia staple. You drive down the street and see one of these in almost every yard. My mom wanted to put one together at our house and I told her it's best to leave these in Columbia. =)

My Favorite Part

I think the best thing about this trip were the fried pickles. I do not like pickles at all. I give them away or just throw them out, but these were mouth watering goodness. I have been craving them since and have no where to get them.

Sunday Go a' Meetin'

We visited my sister's new church on Sunday morning, one the most beautiful churches I've seen, Woodlawn. Afterwards we were invited to a luncheon for Cath and Paul at a co-worker of Paul's. The house was on tons of land, green and lush. Made me want to pick it up and take it back home with me... don't know where I'd put it, maybe on a cement building... that's pretty much taking up all our land here.

We spent the last two days looking around town and resting since we completely wore ourselves out.

I was so glad to hit land in Orange County... there really is no place like home.