Vacation with a side of Engaging!

SPOILER ALERT: I'M ENGAGED!!!

Just thought I'd throw that out there so you didn't have to wait in suspense for too long.  Anywho, this is the story of BobShley's adventures through the southeast. Enjoy!

Stop 1: Nashville, TN

On Friday, we managed to get our butts out of bed and out the door by 6:20am.  We journeyed to the faraway land of Nashville for the sole purpose of experiencing the WORLD'S GREATEST BISCUITS.  Loveless Cafe is a motel-turned-restaurant that is known for its homemade biscuits and jams/jellies.  As Teeners knows, I could probably win an eating contest involving these biscuits, so I had warned Bobby that I planned to eat 17 of them.  He didn't believe me, but I did it!....almost...I ate 4, which is essentially a synonym for 17.  Then we drove home.

Just kidding. We headed to downtown Nashville for CMA Fest.  For those of you who are not country savvy, this is a four day long country music festival where there's pretty much live country music everywhere all the time.  We wandered Broadway (the main drag) for a while and then made our way to the riverfront stage where we first saw some old dude singer and later Eric Paslay and Chase Rice (I know them so this was exciting!).

Listening to good music and getting burnt

Other things we did included getting free samples of scented wet-naps, having a margarita flight at Margaritaville, and playing cornhole with our new friends!  We played against this guy and girl, and while the boys took the game very seriously, the girl and I were busy talking and I discovered that she's a nurse practitioner who works in labor and delivery and is applying to midwifery school! So we're basically best friends.  Also, don't worry, team BobShley won.

Margarita flight, best flight

We had planned to spend the night somewhere around Nashville, but by late afternoon we were super sweaty (which became a major theme of the trip) and ready to move on so we got back in the car for another four hours and headed to Atlanta.  But before we left, we were lucky enough to run into Blaine and have southern style fried chicken with our friend Emily.

Mini-Stop: Atlanta, GA

We spent the night with my aunt and uncle in Atlanta, and then got up in the morning to go see one of my favorite things.......babyyyyyyyyy!  My cousin Garrett just had his first baby a couple weeks ago (well his wife Ava did the actual baby-having), and it worked out perfectly that we got to stop and see her!  Her name is Leighton.  

Baby Leighton!

Stop 2: Savannah, GA

On Saturday afternoon, we arrived in Savannah aka our new favorite place.  The weird thing was that when we checked into our hotel, there was a bucket with champagne sitting in our room.  After much investigation, we learned that it was free (remember this detail....it will come up later in the story). Savannah is pretty cool because it's super easy to walk around and it's known for its 22 squares.  Each square has lots of pretty trees and places to sit with a statue commemorating someone in the middle.  Someone we got to know really well was James Oglethorpe.  Not only did he found the city of Savannah, he also fought lots of battles and did many positive things for the city.  He even has his own road!

They're basically the same person

We spent a lot of the day wandering into cute shops.  One store we really like is the Savannah Bee Company.  They make every honey and honey-based product you can imagine.  They also have lots of taste testers (another theme of the trip), and Bobby may or may not have tried all 20 flavors at all three of their stores.  Another food we got to sample lots was pralines.  These are pecans coated in a sugary, carmely substance.  Every candy store gives out free samples, which tend to be the size of a full cookie, so that counted as our lunch several days along with a side of ice cream/gelato.

Honey everywhere!

Desserts everywhere!

At night, we went to the city market, which is just a little strip of shops, bars and restaurants at the city center.  We ate outside and listened to live music/stared at all the adorable dressed up babies.  ALSO, we saw someone walking a cat! And it was actually successful!

Savannah City Market

On Sunday, we did some more explorin'.  We wandered through some of the squares and saw more trees and statues.  Our ultimate destination was Forsyth Park, which is the most awesome place in Savannah.  The park is pretty big with lots of room for activities, but the main feature is the fountain in the middle.  The fountain was built in 1858 and resembles this fountain in Paris.

Fountain at Place de la Concorde in Paris

Forsyth Park- maybe this is the true Paris of America

 Later, we walked along the river and stopped in some of the little gift shops.  Mostly we just wanted to steal their air conditioning.  One cool thing about this area though was that you're allowed to drink on the streets, so we got to refresh ourselves with some beers as we strolled.

He could get used to this

**If you're only reading this post for the engagement story, here is where you should start paying attention**

We had dinner reservations at a place called the Olde Pink House.  It is the oldest mansion in Savannah dating back to 1771.  Not only is it beautiful, it's also really a unique building.  The outside stucco is pink (hence the name) and it still kind of looks like a mansion inside with several different dining rooms decorated with paintings, mirrors, and chandeliers.  Our food was amazing and the wait staff was fantastic!  The weird thing was that multiple waiters/managers came up to us and asked if we were celebrating a special occasion, and we just kept saying no just vacation, so I think they might be psychic.  It is a stop on the ghost tour after all.

Bobby got chicken, sweet potatoes (which I
discovered I like), and collard greens (which
we discovered we hate)

I got filet mignon, asparagus, and a twice baked
potato. We like all those things.

After 700 attempts, we finally got a decent picture in front
of the Olde Pink House

After dinner, we headed to Forsyth Park again because we wanted to see it lit up at night.  We walked around a little and then made our way towards the fountain.  Bobby started to tell me that he knew where the mystery champagne had come from (I told you it would come up again).  He said that my dad must have sent it because he was the only one that knew where we were staying and he was the only person who knew....I never really got to hear the other half because at this point I was balling my eyes out (in a happy way, duh).  Bobby managed to get out "Will you marry me?" and pulled out the most gorgeous ring I can imagine!  I obviously said "yes" and I'll spare you the rest of the details because it gets pretty sappy from there.  But we did top off the night with a stop at Lulu's Chocolate Bar.  This place is known for its desserts and dessert flavored martinis.  It was the perfect end to the perfect night <3.

First photo as an engaged couple!  One thing
we've had to get used to is having me stand on
Bobby's left side because notice in all previous
pictures I'm on the right. #engagedwomanproblems

Lulu's.  Get used to seeing this hand.  It made
many appearances for the rest of the trip.

Celebrating with our champagne!  Side note:
My dad actually did not send the champagne,so it
will always be a mystery as to where it came from.

On Monday, my fiancé and I drove to Tybee Island, which is a beach town just outside Savannah.  We spent the morning laying on the beach and playing in the water.  Oh, I also made Bobby take really cheesy photos like this one:

Whoever wrote that did a really good job

At night, we wandered around and got some sweet daiquiris.  There's a chain in the region called Wet Willie's and they have about 20 daiquiri flavors that you can mix and match together.  Yum! Also, this happened.  Some guy just backed into it....casual.

Normal

And the night ended with some fascinating people-watching on the pier. It was a combo of adorable babies chasing doggies and fishermen with very unique clothing styles.  More lovey-dovey and ring pics were taken of course. 

We're really good at sunset pictures

How did that hand get in there? My bad...

Mini-Stop: Beaufort, SC

On Tuesday, we ventured to Beaufort in the morning.  This is another historic town along the coast.  We had lunch at a restaurant called Plums and then strolled down the main street with shops.  After getting nice and sweaty, we got back in the car and headed to Charleston.

Two of my favorite things!

And the heat index was 111 

Are we in love or what?

Stop 3: Charleston, SC

We arrived in Charleston in the afternoon, so we did some window shopping at the high-end stores.  Then we got cleaned up and ready for our dinner cruise through the harbor.  We were seated with another couple for dinner, who we liked but probably wouldn't be friends with because they said things like "the Mason-Dixie Line".  Our food was pretty good...mostly we liked the bread they served beforehand.  We also saw lots of cool things from the boat including a sailboat race, Fort Sumter, and water.

Go sailboats! 

Fort Sumter

Another very successful sunset pic

On Wednesday, our tourist game was strong.  We took our pal, Fodor's, and followed its walking tour through Charleston.  We saw lots of churches, government buildings, and famous hotels.

St. Philip's Church

I fit right in with the locals

The guard at the custom house wasn't very social 

St. Michael's Church and the Post Office. Rachael,
you would like this intersection because it's called
the "Four Corners of Law".  There's also a city hall
and courthouse right there.

Pineapple Fountain! Ahh I'm sorry, I really
don't know how that hand keeps getting in
the way

After our walking tour, we went through the city market, which looks kind of like a flea market but much classier!  There are lots of handmade things to buy and it is also surrounded by more stores (another theme).

City Market

In case you didn't know

In the afternoon, we went to Folly Beach for a couple hours.  It had really nice sand, and the waves were fun!  The only thing I disliked about it was that I had to take my ring off for this adventure.

Watch for us on the cover of SI July 2015

Our evening activities started with walking to the Battery, an area with cannon replicas, a park, and lots of HUGE mansions.  Then we strolled by Rainbow Row...no explanation needed, just see below for picture.

My future home. Yes, this is someone's house. 

Rainbow Row!

We had dinner at a southern BBQ place.  So much good food! Then we went to a rooftop bar called the Pavilion.  I had a mango mojito, and now I've decided I need more of that in my diet.  Even though we like being super classy, we were getting antsy, so we looked for a more chill bar.  And we found a Big Ten one! We watched the basketball game, and then played some darts.  I lost, but it was still pretty fun! I even got a bulls-eye once!

View from the Pavilion Bar

My view of the basketball game

Go Blue!

 Stop 4: Gatlinburg, TN

While we loved Charleston, we were very happy to get out of there, as the church shooting happened about 5 miles away from us while we were out that night.  It was pretty scary that such a horrific event was going on so close to us.  So we hopped in the car and drove to Gatlinburg, which is in the Smoky Mountains.  One exciting thing that happened was that when we were about an hour out, we got hit with golf ball sized hail for 20 minutes.  That was a new experience for both of us.

We first had to stop in Pigeon Forge to check into our cabin.  Since I can't do the awfulness of Pigeon Forge justice, I'll just say imagine all the things you hate and that's exactly what this city is.  Luckily, Gatlinburg was way less gross and over the top.  Our cabin was called "Cuddly Bears' Lair" and had a hot tub, sauna, and awesome mountain view.  We went grocery shopping and then made a honey themed dinner with the honey we bought in Savannah.  The rest of the night we just relaxed, hot tubbed, sauna-ed, and started to wedding plan!

Honey grilled carrots, honey soaked fruit salad, honey fried
chiken, and honey beer!

On Friday, we biked the 11-mile Cade's Cove Loop.  The scenery was beautiful with the mountains in the background, and there were several stops to see old churches and houses.  The unfortunate thing was that we had to share the road with cars, so that made it kind of stressful.  But we survived!  And almost saw a bear!

Professional bikers

Since we're so athletic and fit, we decided to take a hike to Laurel Falls after our bike trip.  It was all uphill on the way there, but it was ok because we saw lots of babies and even one Michigan one!  The waterfall was pretty too, and then we got to go downhill all the way back.

Professional hikers

After a long day of strenuous activities, we had a relaxing night in the cabin and drove home the next morning.  And I think it's only right to end this post with one last picture of the lovely Smoky Mountains :)

Thank you for reading!

Teeners isn't the only one doing cool stuff

I do things too...sometimes...

It's been so long that I posted, so I'm just going to share photos of stuff I've been doing and comment on them:

These are my coworkers at happy hour. We went to the bar that is literally underneath our building. It's German themed kind of like Heidelberg, but they actually have a woman walking around with an accordion. Accordion is far from my favorite instrument, but she's really sweet and makes up funny songs about who is in the room. Also, we always get kind of too drunk when we go there. It's German magic.

I saw Love and Mercy with Brie. There's this theater here where they sell alcohol while you watch! I realize now that the first two "cool things" I said I do involve drinking, but I didn't actually drink at the movie theater. But it does seem like movies are more fun knowing I could drink. Instead I just ate way too much popcorn.

Love and Mercy was actually a really great movie that I wouldn't have seen without Brie asking me to. It's about Brian Wilson from the Beach Boys. The only thing I knew about him before came from the Bare Naked Ladies' song, but apparently he had like a complete mental breakdown and an almost complete recovery! And I guess it was pretty close to his actual life story, which was kind of a gripe I had with A Beautiful Mind.

I also ate maybe the biggest piece of carrot cake I've ever seen in my life right after the movie. It went with my huge bag of popcorn. It was at this really cool bar called Ted's Bulletin. They sell homemade poptarts too and a bunch of signature cocktails. If you guys ever come back/visit with me, we should definitely try to go here!

 

I went to Drag Brunch at the gay sports bar in town! It was definitely worth the money! It's $35 all you can eat with one drink, and a whole drag show. I went with Zack, my coworker Stephanie, her sister and her boyfriend. It just sort of ended up that Zack and Steph's boyfriend sat on the inside table, but I think that was for the best--the drag queens danced up on a lot of the men who were on the ends of tables and Steph's boyfriend for sure wouldn't have been okay with that. I think Zack would've been fine, but didn't NEED that kind of interaction. 

The food was pretty good, if maybe a little too varied. Like, who wants hummus, fajitas, grits and bacon all in one meal? The only other sad part was that we forgot to stock up on dollar bills to give out! They definitely deserved dollar bills! They were so great and beautiful. Also the MC of the whole thing told us how she volunteers with a bilingual multicultural LGBT shelter called Casa Ruby, which seemed like a great cause, and kind of brought a more real side to drag brunch. Like, it's one thing to enjoy all the fun stuff that the gay community brings, like drag queens, dancing, fun entertainment, but I do feel like it's a little too easy to forget about all the real issues a lot of people face.

Lady Gaga Realness.

Another arguably cool/fun thing I did was Convention. It was actually really terrible in preparation for Convention. Everything I needed to do was dependent on someone else's work/approval/input and everything was super behind schedule. So I ended up having to do a ton of work at the last minute when I would've gone a much more reasonable pace if I'd been able to. But whatever. I did it. It worked out.

Mostly once Convention started I just had to sit at the help desk and reprint name tags for people who lost them. That should've been low stress but someone took my box with all the supplies I packed myself! Like it literally just disappeared. And then my printer broke. So I really wasn't very helpful at the help desk.

Christen and I matched one day. That's a big deal in our office, so we had to take a picture together and sent it around so people could marvel at it.

One of the receptions was at the AFL CIO and they have a really great view from their balcony. This is a picture of my boss there. It was great, but super muggy that day. But more importantly I got to meet three Cornell Law Students! They were all super nice! And two were from the Midwest, which was kind of something I was worried about--that everyone at Cornell is from New York or New Jersey and that they'd think less of me for being from the Midwest. That was super nice. 

This is Max. He's a good dude.

Wendy Davis spoke at our Convention. The video is pretty interesting. She seemed really chill. No security detail or anything. Also, some law student really geeked out when she saw her and pulled out a pair of pink tennis shoes and rushed up to get a picture with her.

One of the two panels I actually broke away from the health desk to see was about reproductive rights and how poorly that fight has been going. Wendy Davis didn't actually speak at that one, but it was a very informative, if a little bit depressing. I did tweet a lot and got a few new followers! So I guess that's a success.

I also went to a panel on the death penalty. That had a way different tone. That's definitely a battle "we" ("progressives") are winning. It was mostly the speakers guessing when capital punishment will be fully abolished.

Also I got to meet another Cornell Law grad. He's also a Michigan grad and is an anchor on MSNBC. His name is Ari Melber. I only talked to him for a few minutes, but he was very nice, and willing to take a picture with me--and I'm pretty much no one!

I tried to organize an all staff picture. People acted like that was an insane request. It was surprisingly harder than I thought.

The highlight was definitely seeing RBG speak! She's very funny in person. And also so tiny! One of our former board members clerked for her so he interviewed her and they talked about feminism, gay rights, rap, and a ton of other stuff. Everyone at work was really nervous we wouldn't have a full house for her because she wasn't scheduled to speak until the very end of a three day conference. SO WRONG. It was so crowded! 

They told us that we definitely would not be able to take pictures with her, which was kind of a disappointment, but understandable. Not everyone can be like Sotomayor and take tons of pictures with staff. In the end, we got one single picture with her as a whole staff. Which, I mean, is pretty much good enough.

I was SO tired after convention. It's like working around 40 hours in three days, so it super sucks, but it's only once a year and is for a good cause, so you can make yourself do it. Plus I got Monday off.

On Sunday we went to Pride! It was really fun! We went last year too and that was also fun. Zack did not try on undies this year though. He just took a picture with the Shalom Felicia sign. I almost had to join a Queer Drum Troupe. Just like how I almost joined a sorority. The guy in the booth asked "Are you gay? Do you live in DC? Can you spin a flag?" And even though I answered no to all three, he still said I should come to try out. I def thought I had struck out. Other highlights include: A guy offering Zack many of the gold (big) condoms, seeing a Taylor Swift impersonator, and getting pretty bad tan lines.

On Monday I took it easy, watched 50 shades of gray while drinking sangria with my coworkers and played trivia at a bar. My team won though! There were 10 people from work, and they're all kind of used to me bossing them around, so no one noticed when I made myself a dream team! The only kind of sad thing was that the prize was $100 off your bar tab, which would've been great, but I had already closed my tab so I didn't get any of the money! I guess knowing we won is enough. Or something.

Now all I have left to do is 1) move into Steph's apartment for 10 days 2) send all my stuff back with my dad 3) fly to Japan 4) enjoy my last real summer, like ever.