{Road Trip} Day One - Indianapolis, IN

Well, we arrived at our first stop, Indianapolis, IN, ahead of schedule (which NEVER happens!), so we were actually able to add on one more stop, much to B's excitement...

So, we spent a FULL day... 

smiling with the ones that we love the most at the original LOVE sculpture by Robert Indiana in the outdoor gardens at the IMA...

exploring the grounds (and running up & down the steps) of the capitol building...

visiting the racing museum and taking a lap around the famous racetrack at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway...

touring both the home and the grave of President Benjamin Harrison...

and spending the entire afternoon at the Children's Museum Indianapolis, the largest children's museum in the world (the traveling "China's Terra Cotta Warriors" exhibit happened to be on display, as well)...

More on this amazing place in a later post...

We ended our day in Indianapolis with dinner at the Slippery Noodle Inn...

before continuing on down the road to our next stop.

It took about 3 seconds for all 3 littles to look about like this...

More {Road Trip} 2014 Fun

Day Two - From Springfield to Madison

Day Three - Playing Games and Winning Sights

Day Four - To the Northwest Angle and Back

Day Five - Winnipeg and the Center of North America

Day Six - Bismarck, Theodore Roosevelt and the Center of the Nation

Day Seven - Mount Rushmore and The "Street Corner" Presidents

Day Eight - Cruising Through a Few Capital Cities

Day Nine - St. Louis and HOME!

Ready to Road Trip! {2014 edition}

Stay tuned...

 {Road Trip} 2013 - A Look Back at LAST Year

Day One - Pennsylvania

Day Two - Sesame Place

Day Three - Bridges, Lighthouses & Methods of Transportation...Oh My!

Day Four - Oyster Bay, Long Island, NY

Day Five - More Presidents & a New Baby Cousin

Day Six - Notable Lunch Spots

Day Seven - Cheers! to the Presidents from Boston

Day Eight - Yogurt on the Way to Kennebunkport

Day Nine - Beaches, Shops & Lobsters!

Day Ten - More Parks ~ State, National & International...

Day Eleven - From Maine to Montreal...

Day Twelve - Canadian Holiday

Day Thirteen - Niagara Falls & Making Our Way HOME

Day Fourteen - Home Sweet Home

{Summer FUN} Scattered, Fizzed and Chicked

Oh, what FUN we had today!

What started out as a trip to visit the Waffle House Museum, now housed in the original Waffle House restaurant, the very first one - Waffle House #1...

became a random little tour of famous GA eats and drinks...

On our way to the museum, we stopped for brunch at where else but Waffle House, of course!

After learning that the original Waffle House actually sold Chick-fil-A sandwiches once upon a time (the Waffle House guys were apparently good friends with the Chick-fil-A founder), I did a little search and learned that yes, Chick-fil-A started out in Atlanta, too!  Don't you know I decided right then and there where we'd be grabbing an early dinner!

In between our two "first restaurant" visits, we checked in on my daddy's tree (planted in his memory) in Inman Park...

and spent a good chunk of time at World of Coca-Cola, thanks to some nifty FREE tickets (read - my bad habit of loving Coca-Cola a little too much, translating into a ton of Coke Rewards, being used to "purchase" all of or tickets)...

We enjoyed an early dinner (sit-down with table service, nonetheless) at the original Dwarf Grill (later renamed the Dwarf House) location, where Chick-fil-A founder, Truett Cathy, developed the pressure-cooked chicken sandwich, and the idea behind the popular Chick-fil-A chain...

{Summer FUN} Georgia State Capitol Building + The Varsity

Oh, what a treat!  Today I had the pleasure of meeting one of my probably my all-time favorite author, Mary Kay Andrews, at the launch party for her newest novel, Save the Date, set to be released this Tuesday, June 3rd...

While I was a the party, Hubby took the littles over to the state capitol building to knock another off B's list of state capitol buildings.  Though he's been to Atlanta many, many, many a time (I mean, his momma was born there!), we had not yet made it over to the actual capitol building for him to complete his "running up the stairs" routine...  With today being a Sunday (read: not even close to as much traffic as normal), it was perfect timing to hit it up and cross it off...

a tribute to a President...

running up the stairs...

reached the top!

fun with the cannon...

A fun afternoon was had by all, and we reunited at the Atlanta institution, The Varsity, for dinner...

packed the littles back in the car and trekked home...

{Food, Friends & Fun} St. Louis, MO

 I just got home from St. Louis, MO where I spent a few days attending a volunteer leadership conference ~ my last of 7 total conferences that went along with my most recent volunteer "job".  Celebratory, yet bittersweet, it was a wonderful way to end an incredible 2 1/2 years... 

I hadn't been to St. Louis since college, and it was nice to make my way back and visit.

We flew out early Thursday morning and were able to make it over to the Gateway Arch first thing before the conference got going...

 

 

 I must say that I had forgotten how small that little tram is that climbs up to the top!

 

  

This is one of the planned stops on our road trip this summer...

so hopefully I'll be back to visit again soon!

Here are some of the highlights (friends, food & fun) from our trip!

After a morning of sessions, I attended the Opening Reception at the Missouri Botanical Garden...

 

and met up with the other South Carolina girls for dinner at Nico...

 On Friday we had a full day of sessions, along with a luncheon.  That evening we headed out to the ballpark to catch a game, one of the planned events by the conference hosts. 

As luck would have it, our Atlanta Braves were in town, but sadly, they lost...  The game was little too cold for us South Carolina girls, so we headed across the street to enjoy it from a balcony at Cardinals Nation, which was great!

 

Saturday morning was packed with another session, the annual (voting) meeting and keynote speaker.  The afternoon was free, and we signed up to tour the Anheuser-Busch brewery...

 

 where we saw a few of the famous Clydesdales...

 

 
 

toured the brewery buildings...

 

 and tasted a couple of samples...

 

 

 

 before heading back to get ready for the final event of the conference, the Awards Banquet...

  

 

   

We headed back home Sunday morning & were home in time to spend the afternoons with our families...

What a fun ride it has been!

 

January, 2012 - Houston, TX

April, 2012 - San Francisco, CA

September, 2012 - Chicago, IL

January, 2013 - Las Vegas, NV

May, 2013 - Washington, D.C.

September, 2013 - Detroit, MI

 

As has been tradition with all of these travels (except Las Vegas ~ couldn't find anything there!), I've brought back a book or two (that relates to the city or state that I visited) for each of my little ones.

This time I got this one for B...

 

 

 

this one for L...

 

 

and this one for M...