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.