What a Weekend

22°f/-5.6°C this morning when we left Nashville, TN. Light snow most of the way home, and about 3-4" on the ground here at home.

It has been a wild few days. With way too much food. 

Oldest son George and his son Clayton arrived Saturday afternoon. We visited, then Larry and Clayton changed the oil in the truck while George and I made spaghetti for dinner. 

Sunday morning we all went out for breakfast in town: eggs, biscuits and gravy, coffee...then George, Clayton and I were on the way to Nashville for granddaughter Cassie's wedding, while Larry stayed home to care for critters and deal with whatever snow might happen. It was in question whether we would go to the wedding or not as the weather forecast was all over the place, with no meteorologist giving a clear view of the coming storm. But we decided to chance it anyway.

Our route took us across Kentucky, and I thought about Jim as we passed all the bourbon distilleries! 

We stopped for lunch at the neatest place; I am not sure what the little village was called, but I can tell you that The Whistle Stop Cafe was a fine choice.

It was about 2 hours from Nashville and I would bet that the area was a day trip destination for the city folks, with its cute antique stores, coffee shop, etc. 

One of my less than stellar photos. Oops. Mr. Wavy got in the way!

Lunch was homemade bread with homemade jam, fried chicken, lima beans, and mashed potatoes. Carbs, much? But so good.

The wedding was fabulous! So much family, so much joy, so much music and dancing and talking! I will post photos as I get them; I didn’t take any as I wanted to focus on my family and not have to step away to be photographer too. Here, though, is a sneak peek, taken by one of my granddaughters. 

And of course, there was food. I ate little because I wasn't hungry, and avoided the wedding cake entirely! It was nearly midnight when we got back to our hotel, and I was soon asleep.

Morning came too fast. I was up at 5 to get ready for the return trip home, and was glad I was awake because my son who is vacationing in the Philippines texted me. That was nice, as I had not heard from him since he left February 3rd.

By 7 this morning we were on the road again. We stopped at this place called Buc-ee's, which is apparently very trendy right now. It's like a huge convenience store, with probably 100 gas pumps and everything from clothing to perfume to food of all kinds in a store the size of a giant department store. 

Not my kind of place, but interesting. We got gas and picked up breakfast to go.

Six hours and lots of snow squalls later, we met Larry in Charleston (WV), I hugged George and Clayton goodbye, and an hour later was home in my comfy chair. Fortunately we didn't run into any real snow, but the two guys sure did as they continued on to their homes on the other side of our state. They had no trouble, but it took a little longer than usual as those higher mountains got quite a few inches, around a foot I think. I don't know how George could see where he was going!

Here we had only a few inches.

When I got home Larry had a chocolate cake waiting! He decided to bake while he was on his own. I ate a small piece but declined his offers of ice cream and hot chocolate. I swear, I feel like I have eaten 5000 calories this weekend. Time to get back to real food, and plenty of veggies. 

I learned that my throat is entirely out of practice when it comes to loud music, crowds, and much talking! I woke up with an almost nonexistent voice, and I am still squeaky, but slowly improving.

I was glad I did not go to the after-party, which didn't break up until the wee hours, or I am sure it would have no voice at all! But it was so good to see grandchildren from California, Florida, and Colorado, and to be surprised by the presence of my sister Maggie and sister-in-law Bonnie! I hope I will get photos of us three together.

Tomorrow life goes back to normal, but my goodness, what a weekend it was.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.