{Weekend Adventure} CU in Tampa

Wow!  What an exciting season!!!

Clemson seasons like this don't come along every year (though we came verrrrry close last year), so of course, we just HAD to make the trip down to Tampa, Florida to support our beloved Tigers in the College Football Playoff National Championship!

With the threat of snow looming over us, B and I hit the road Friday afternoon and didn't stop until we got all the way down to Valdosta, GA (and far away from any chance of snow or ice)...

Saturday morning, we continued on to Tampa, and made our way over to Playoff Fan Central, our favorite CFP treat...

From getting up close and personal with all of the important trophies (or versions of them)...

  

to checking out all the fun games & booths...

 

to collecting autographs from Clemson players of the past...

Antuan Edwards...

 

Dexter McCleon...

Adrian Dingle...

Leomont Evans...

and Tajh Boyd...

We ended the (cold & windy) night, with a stroll along the Tampa Bay waterfront...

before going at it all over again on Sunday...

 {We couldn't resist parking by the C81 marker in honor of Clemson winning the 1981 National Championship! - See what we did there???}


We started the morning right where we ended the night before, checking out the sights around Tampa Bay...

before heading into the convention center to catch a few more former players, who currently play in the NFL...

Sammy Watkins...

 

 Shaq Lawson...

and Jayron Kearse...

Hubby had drill all weekend, but finally arrived in town late Sunday night, just in time to rest a bit before GAME TIME...

 

and, THIS year, our favorite team DID come out on top!

Sooo very proud of our team...  What a year!!!

{Girls Trip} - Christmas 2016 - Nutcracker Ballet at The Fox

So happy to see the month of December roll around once again and the chance to go see the Nutcracker at the historic Fox Theatre in downtown Atlanta.

Much like last year, the 5 of us got up early, drove down to Atlanta and grabbed lunch before Hubby and B headed out to a movie...

Sharing the magic of The Fox with my sweet girls is just the best treat!

Our show got out earlier than Hubby and B's movie, and we had some time to kill until they could get back to pick us up, so the girls and I walked a couple blocks down the street to see the church where my parents were married and where I was baptized as a baby...

It was sweet to see them sitting right there in front of the backdrop of a few special memories from so long ago!

From there, we bundled up and headed back over to The Fox to wait under the marquee for our chariot to arrive!

I'm already looking forward to next year!

{Weekend Adventure} The Tigers Take Tally

This weekend, we headed down to Tallahassee to watch our Clemson Tigers take on the Florida State Seminoles, and brought our little football expert along for the ride...

Because I believe that getting there is more than half the fun, we of course made a few stops along the way...

We trucked it clear down to Tifton, GA on Friday night.

Then, on Saturday morning after admiring the seemingly endless fields of cotton, we made our first stop at the First Presbyterian Church in the tiny town of Quitman, GA...

 

Though I think this building was built after his tenure, James Pierpont, author of "Jingle Bells",  once served as the organist of this congregation...

After crossing over into Florida...

we stopped in another tiny town, Greenville, FL, the boyhood home of Ray Charles...

 

 

After our musical morning, we continued on in to Tallahassee...

and grabbed lunch at Andrew's Capital Grill & Bar, a favorite among local politicians and sports fans alike...

before another run up the state capitol steps just a block or so away...

 {See that little bit jumping?}

You can read about his first capitol steps run in Tallahassee here...

From there we headed over to the stadium...

 

and enjoyed yet another nailbiting Clemson win...

On the way home on Sunday, we made a quick pitstop at a memorial to President Dwight Eisenhower and his support of what we know as our interstate system today...

Phew...it was a quick little trip, but some good fun with our boy...