Well, it's been a little over a year since I closed the shop in Tampa and moved myself to St. Augustine, FL. Hard to believe that time has passed so quickly...and I'm just now getting around to setting up a blog for the shop! Guess this is where "better late than never" comes into play.
During the past year, Marcie and I have done a LOT of traveling. We've hooked the trailer to the back of my SUV and driven all across the south. Our first stop last summer was Slidell, LA . Great ladies - lots of fun! Since then, we've been to Washington DC, Jacksonville, Hattiesburg, Atlanta, Naples, Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando, Tampa (lots of times) and numerous other locations. We've had a few adventures along the way too. Like the time Marcie decided we should go through Ruby Falls. The falls were interesting (if you like caves - I don't!), but getting up the mountain, pulling a LOADED trailer...not so much. We've been to dairy farms, beaches, water falls, toured numerous old houses, browsed through a pumpkin patch, and I can't tell you how many antique shops we've been through - some great finds too! We even stopped at the Talladega Speedway (and have the hats to prove it!) We haven't gotten LOST too many times, but when we do, it's usually a doozie - like the time we were going to a one of the local parks that looked like it was just a few minutes away (you know, just a little distance on the road map!). After driving for what seemed to be forever, we finally found what we were looking for. We drove in and found a "Closed" sign - not good! But, we never gave up, so we just kept on going until we found a spot where we could park. Once out of the car, we had lunch on the banks of a beautiful lake. Aside from a few fishermen out on the water, we had the whole place to ourselves!
On our first road trip, we decided to make it our mission to sample the local BBQ joints on every trip. Boy have we had some good food. My personal favorite up to this point was Dreamland in Tuscaloosa, AL. Their tag line is "Ain't nothing like 'em nowhere". They're right. It was at the top of a long windy road in the middle of nowhere (again, we were hauling the trailer...nuf said!). When we got inside, we both gave each other "the look". Seemed more like a bar than a restaurant, but there were lots of folks inside eating what looked like some yummy food and it sure did smell good. One look at the menu (posted on the wall of course) and we realized we had a choice for dinner...ribs or beer. I of course went for both, Marcie stuck with the ribs. When our order came out, they placed the biggest pile of ribs in front of us. Of course we both declared we could never eat that much...right! Yep, the plate was almost clean when we were done. Of course they served the customary "Wonder" bread with the ribs, and some yummy sides too.
One of the nicest things about being on the road is meeting so many new folks. Of course most of the folks we meet think we're kind of nuts doing all the traveling we do, but the longer we talk with them, they mostly all agree how much fun it would be (except for the set-up and break-down part of the job). We've done lots of guild shows and some of the larger national shows. We're learning that most quilters have stories to tell and love sharing them with each other. We've met some wonderful people and look forward to seeing them again when we return to their areas.
Thought you might like to see some of the pictures of our travels along the way...
Not sure where we found this guy, but he made us laugh...just one of the silly things we've passed along the way!
Another great BBQ joint. This was was in MS.
Marcie again - Of course we stopped at South of the Border!!! We needed another "tacky" photo op!
More to come later - we have a lot of catching up to do!
Take care.
