Fried Pickles



Military Museum/Antique Store



Notice the sign pointing to Myrtle Beach :)



Our lazy day trip to Southern Pines started out with us stumbling upon Gulley's Garden Center/Military Museum/Christmas Cottage.  I didn't take many pictures because I was so overwhelmed with all the plants, flowers, shrubs, trees, colorful pots, etc.  You wouldn't know it from the outside but this place is huge and absolutely beautiful!  One of the curved walkways took us down to the Military Museum/Antique Store pictured here.  The owner, Pete, was in Special Forces during Vietnam and collects military memorabilia (and we also found some UNC vintage magazines retailing for hundreds of dollars!).  Cute, cute, cute!  We loved everything about this place and found a very rustic piece of home decor we decided to purchase.  For those of you that don't know - I'm obsessed with everything rustic and we're trying to make it work in our rental house in Raeford.  Finally, our last stop at Gulley's was the quaint Christmas cottage.  Oh, how wonderful and spirited the decor was!  We will most definitely be returning to pick up our annual Christmas ornament to commemorate this year's big event - the beach house.  We weren't quite ready to decide on one beachy ornament so when the weather gets a bit cooler we'll make another trip to buy our ornament.  I mean who doesn't want another excuse to go up to Southern Pines anyway ;-) Oh, and here I am posing with the cute sign station, I got all giddy when I saw Myrtle Beach on there!  We dressed in "active gear" because we had intentions of going to a yoga class in Southern Pines and/or going on a hike afterwards but... long story short, we only dressed the part.  There's just too much to do here to try to workout!

We spent the afternoon meandering through the shops in downtown historic Southern Pines.  I'm so lucky to have such a loving husband that will view these days as fun little adventures and not boring window shopping!  Although, the next time we come into town, I want to make sure we do spend more time in the Wine Cellar & Tasting Room.  This unique combination retail wine shop/wine bar has a vast selection of wines and live music on Saturday evenings!  What's not to love?  Oh, and I read in their store they are having a BIG sale next weekend :-)

Another noteworthy place we ventured into was The Jefferson Inn, a 100+ year old landmark turned boutique hotel.  We asked to look around the hotel and Kelly, the manager, indulged us with keys to one of the fifteen rooms.  Adorable. Absolutely adorable!  Immediately we decided we're staying here next time!  Southern Pines is only a 35-45 minute drive from where we live but with all the upcoming events happening in SoPines we're sure to find an excuse to stay for a night. 

Finally, hunger hit AND the Carolina football game was about to start.  Obviously, it was time to find somewhere to eat where they were showing the game, which usually means bar food.  I'm a big fan of non-bar food so of course we were a bit skeptical and assumed that I'd be less than pleased with my meal but that was a sacrifice I was willing to make for the Carolina game.  In we went into The Bell Tree Tavern and surprisingly, this is probably what made my trip to Southern Pines so special - FRIED PICKLES.  One of the best things ever created and I rarely get to eat them because Jon is not a fan (so strange) and they're usually big appetizer portions.  Our waitress was kind enough to put in a request for fried pickles as my side item and I was ecstatic.  Out of the past 500 times I've asked for this, no waitress has ever complied but finally, FINALLY someone gave in :-)  We had a great experience at The Bell Tree Tavern (minus Carolina's miraculous come back only to lose to Louisville) and the staff was incredibly efficient and friendly. 



Brisket Sandwich & Sweet Potato Fries



Smoked Turkey Panini & FRIED PICKLES



And before I forget - we had arroz con pollo and homemade sangria waiting for us at home that night to celebrate Costa Rica's Independence Day!  To answer your question, yes, our lives revolve around food.

Something To Call Our Own

 During the week of the 4th of July, Jon and I took our parents on a little vacation to Cherry Grove Beach (the most northern part of North Myrtle Beach, SC).  We stayed in a community called "The Cottages at Surf Estates" that is located within the Surf Estates subdivision.  We absolutely loved the peacefulness of the neighborhood, the proximity to the beach, and how spacious (and modern) the houses were.  The more we kept talking about how much we loved it there... the more we got to thinking... we even called the real estate agent and asked for him to show us around through some of the different floor plans.  It was all fun and in the back of my mind I thought, "This would be perfect for family vacations, both now and in the future when we have kids."  We loved all the floorplans but the most practical and best use of space was the 4 bedroom.  "Well, that was fun" we thought, as we continued to enjoy our vacation and decided we'd look into it more when we got home.  A couple weeks after we returned home from vacation (and reality set in) we were still (to my surprise) considering putting in an offer.  I thought surely the excitement will wear down and we'll decide to wait until the Army tells us where we will be stationed next, but as we did more and more praying, research and number crunching it just seemed so right. 

Archie resting on Jon @ the beach

Fast-forwarding two months, we put in an offer and after some negotiating finally got a signed contract to start building our new beach house!  That next weekend, Jon and I took a mini trip down to the beach to sign some paper work and meet with our realtor.  We were able to stay in a townhouse that allowed pets - Archie's first trip to the beach!  He loved it so much :-) and we were able to spend some quality time with our friends Sally & Peter and Monica & Dusty (who had to moved to Washington state a week later).  Thankfully, Sally & Peter will still be here for another year before following suit.  We also took some time during this trip to pick out the outside color of our house (Stone Mtn Clay) and look at some of the cabinet, countertop, hardwood, etc. decisions we'll have to make in the near future (boy, was that intimidiating!).  

Moving on to last weekend (Labor Day weekend was spent in Lincolnton) we took a day trip to Raleigh with Sally, Peter, and Michelle (Peter's sister).  We all did a brewery tour of Lone Rider Brewery and the boys got Sweet Josie beer in growlers & commerative pint plasses.  Of course, they absolutely loved that!  The girls got in a shopping trip to Trader Joes and then we all ate at an Ethiopian restaurant called, Abyssinia.  It was a great experience (and tasty too) given that Peter and Michelle lived in Ethiopia as children while their parents were missionaries there. 



Michelle, Sally, Me outside Lone Rider Brewery



Jon & Peter @ Lone Rider with their growlers & new glasses