Home Sweet Home

View from our hotel room

Grandma and Will at Camp

Lunch with Polly

Kathy's House in Macon

Home Sweet Home in Grandma's House

We checked out of the Dahonega hotel and drove Grandma around the city. It was fun to see all of the places on the square where we have spent much time during the summers there. We met Will at the Welcome Center of Camp Glisson. When Cody and Katie were leaving camp, Grandma was so used to following them, that she tried to get back into the jeep rather than going with Will. It was cute. Grandma loved the camp. She said she understood why we liked working up there so much. She was very happy to see Will, too. It was not hard to say goodbye to Will because he is coming home the next day!

We met Aunt Polly for lunch at Atlanta Highway Seafood Market which was excellent. It was a very unique market that also served great seafood in its restaurant. It was great to see Polly, and we arrived all at exactly the same time.

Next we continued our journey down to Macon where we had coffee at Cody's mom's house. It was wonderful to see her. Grandma LOVED her house and saw how talented she is with her art. We all enjoyed the break and time to catch up with her in her fun house.
We arrived home about nine o'clock last night. Nancy was very glad to see us and loved her "hog whisperer" t-shirt Grandma got her at Pappy's in St. Louis.  When Cody parked the red jeep in the garage, the trip odometer was at 2,697 miles. That's a lot of driving! It was weird to say goodbye because we are all used to staying together now. We are having a family reunion dinner together tomorrow night with Michael and Martha and Will and Brayton since everyone will be home then.

On the ride home, we talked in the car about our favorite parts of the trip. St Louis was everyone's favorite city. Everyone liked how friendly everyone was there and how the pace of the city wasn't rushed. All the museums and music were also great. Our favorite hotel by far was the Hampton Inn in Nashville. It was decorated with instruments, the people at the desk were friendly, and they had the biggest hotel rooms any of us had ever stayed in. We had too many great restaurants to choose a favorite, but some of them stood out in our minds. Cody really liked the pizza place in St. Louis called Pi, Katie loved The Dizzy Gypsy in Little Rock, and Grandma liked the Thai place in Nashville called The Smiling Elephant because its name and how unique its architecture was (and of course the food). That's just a handful though of all the things we enjoyed on our trip.

Thank you all for following our blog. We hope you enjoyed the trip as well.

Driving towards Dahlonega

Getting ready to leave our awesome large hotel room.

Unpacking the car in Dahlonega

A gorgeous sunset from our window

We got up this morning and headed towards Chattanooga.  It was funny when we went in and out of GA and TN. Grandma decided that her cell phone was confused, and that was why it did not change back to Eastern Time at first.  We ate lunch at Good Dog which had every creative combination of hot dogs and broughwosts you could think of. They also had curry ketchup and wasabi katchup on every table for their special fries. Next we went to the Aquarium which is divided into Ocean and River in two different buildings. We all liked the Jellyfish a lot. There were even upside down ones. The building was set up where you start at the top and work your way down through the exibits. The Georgia Aquarium is a must visit in Grandma's future.  Afterwards we started towards Dahlonega. We stopped for dinner at Blue Cajun Bistro in Blue Ridge. The drive today was beautiful in the mountains and Katie drove smoothly on the winding roads. (All were impressed including Katie) Now we are all settled in for the night and caught up on the blog.

Katie wants everyone to know that the boring photo captions for today and yesterday were written by Cody and not her.

Noticing the Niceties of Nashville

Grandma at breakfast in the hotel dining room

The Parthenon replica in Nashville, TN.

A ton of geese in Centennial Park.

We did a different type of touring by mostly car in the morning. We drove through Vanderbelt, Centenial Park, and Belmont. Cody said he saw the "panthanon." Even after hearing why there is a full-scale replica of the Parthanon in Centenial Park, it still seems strange to all of us. We went to the best toy store any of us had ever been in (which is saying a lot between the three of us).  Cody and Katie got excited because they bought "Christmas" presents for Brate and Will, but then they realized that both their birthday's come first...oh well. They have birthday presents instead.  We ate lunch at a Thai Restaurant called the Smiling Elephant which was wonderful. Cute tiny shop with a fabulous name. 

We drove down to Franklin for the afternoon and walked around the downtown area. There were a ton of cute shops that reminded us of Thomasville. Jay Jay met up with us, and Lauren joined us after she got off work. We walked around a great used bookstore and had frozen yogurt at Sweet Cece's. Jay Jay walked up to Grandma and gave her a hug for a greeting. Grandma thought he was a confused guy who thought she was his grandma, and she didn't say anything becuase she didn't want to embarass him.  When she saw me talking to him, she realized that she should know him, and put together that she had met him the night before, and he was Lauren's boyfriend. Grandma went back to the hotel for a quiet evening and sent Katie and Cody out on the town with Lauren and Jay Jay. (They were back and in bed by eleven though.) Overall, it was a great Nashville experience.

St. Louis to Nashville 2

The blog was being weird, so we just did it in two posts. We know, we know. We have not written for two days. (insert your frustrations here) (insert our excuses here). We packed up from the hotel and headed to downtown St. Louis to visit the Arch up close. There was a beautiful garden leading up to it that we all enjoyed. Cody and Katie decided against going up in the Arch because it would take an hour and a half, and we did not have enough time nor did they want to leave Grandma for that long. We stopped by City Garden which is only two years old. It was awesome with cool sculptures, creative pools, and beautiful gardens. We could have spent a long time there, and it was very impressive. Next we got lunch at Pappy's Smokehouse. They are VERY famous for their barbecue. We met the owner, and his son got us samples while we waited in line. I have never seen a longer line for food nor a more patient line. The line was out the door and snaked through the establishment where others were eating. You order at the counter, and then the servers yell until they find you and the table you have chosen to sit at. The food was great, and it was worth the wait. Then we were off to Nashville.
The drive took about 5 hours, and Cody drove the whole way. The Nashville hotel is our favorite so far. The room was so large that Grandma thought they forgot to put the beds in here. We love that each of the Hampton Inns is so unique to the area where it is located. We met Katie's good friend Lauren and her boyfiend JayJay for dinner at Jackson's Bar and Bistro in downtown Nashville. The food was good and the atmosphere was unique in the college area near Vanderbelt.  Lauren said it was a local spot. They had a variety to chose from for food to eat. After dinner we said goodbye and came back to the hotel to sleep.

We will blog about day 8 and 9 tonight to make up for our lack of posting. We are driving to Chattanooga and Dahlonega today and are stopping by the Chattanooga aquarium. Should be an interesting day.

P.S. Cody fixed the comments, so everyone who has not been able to comment should be able to now...

St. Louis to Nashville

Grandma takes a picture

Katie and Grandma

We loved the old Firetruck as a refreshment stand in City Garden.

Grandma playing "Pat the Bunny"

Driving to Nashville

Savoring St. Louis

Penguins, Yep, there they are...

This Jaguar was posing for us.

The baby Giraffe was so cute and kept sticking his nose out of his stall toward us.

Grandma and Cody in the Reptile House. Cody wanted to see a Cobra...

Grandma checking out the elephant

Yummy Stand!

Cooling Off with Custard

Look at the cool Monarch Butterfly Statue in the background.

yeah, that's a big moth.

This is outside for people to sit and play on. How cool!

The very old Greenhouse in the Botanical Garden

Inside the Climatron Rainforest

 Sorry for the late post again... we were very tired last night.

We officially made the most of our day in St. Louis. We went to the Zoo early in the morning about 8:30 to see the animals before it got too hot. That zoo is the hilliest we have ever been to! Cody and Katie got a work out!

We were so hot after the zoo, and we went to Ted Drewry's Frozen Custard which was perfect. Grandma had peach, Cody had Tarty Cherry, and Katie had Hawaiian. We all liked it a lot.  Katie is sad that she cannot get this down in south GA. :( Next we went to "Grandma's Surprise" which Katie would not tell her where or what it was. She finally guessed when we pulled up at the Butterfly House. She loved it! Cody had never been to one before. All three of us liked the Blue butterflies the best. Cody was partial to the epic music in the Butterfly life educational video. Next we went to a Border's to see what goodies we could take from their misfortune. We tried to comfort Grandma and tell her that she did not single-handedly close Borders with her Kindle. :) Cody is now reading another volume of The Walking Dead comics, Katie is reading Room, and Grandma is trying oh so hard to finish the John Grisham book.

The Botanical Garden of Missouri was our next stop. It was absolutely beautiful there. The art, creativity, landscape, and plants were awesome. We took a tram around the whole place to give all of us a good overview without the long walk.  We also looked into the oldest Greenhouse West of the Mississippi and their climate controlled Rainforest. Cody and Katie found a sign that said "Please do not feed our Foxes." We were very disturbed. After the Botanical Garden, we did not want to eat a full meal, so Grandma and Katie split a "Heart Stopping BLT" at Crown Candy Kitchen while Cody at a Rueben and drank a Chocolate Malt. This place was on Man vs. Food for its Malt challenge to drink 5 malts in 30 minutes.  We did not try. This place has been open since 1913.

We drove down to the Mississippi River for an hour cruise at 6pm. It was nice to be on the water, and Cody had never been on the Mississippi before. Our Riverboat was named the Tom Sawyer.  We came back to the hotel to clean up and rest for bit, and then we went to dinner at Anthonio's Tavern on the Hill. Their food was a mix of Greek and Italian. Very creative and delicious. We tried Toasted Ravioli there. We slept well when we got back to the hotel last night.

So Long Tulsa . . . Hello St Louis

What a blessing to travel in cloud cover today!

Um...Hello coolest rest stop/visitor's center in Missouri

Lunch :)

What are the different types of plus?

Dinner at Pi in St. Louis

 

 

 

 

At Breakfast we introduced Grandma to the wonders of Panera Bread. She loved looking at all of the choices. She finally decided on a cheese danish. Cody and Katie had bagels. Katie drove the first half of the day to Springfield IL. The cloud cover made the morning keeping the temperatures lower. Cody had us a part for the jeep ordered by 9:30 and being shipped to St. Louis. We were so excited and hopeful. We all looked pretty wind blown at lunch! The portions at Grad School were huge!!! Grandma's meal was three tacos, rice, and chips! Katie's alfredo was three times what she could eat! Cody wants to mention that he ate a cuban sandwich. (not interesting to Katie) Katie overhead two ladies in their 30's talking at lunch. One lady asked the other if people could get degrees here or if it was a real restaurant...wow...
After lunch, the sun came out...Need I say that we were quite warm in the jeep? Grandma wanted to stay at the gas station when we took a break. We made her get back in the jeep for two more hours to St. Louis. Once in St. Louis, we all ran for the hotel lobby. The air felt wonderful! Katie and Grandma stayed at the hotel while Cody went to pick up the part. Little did he know, the part was in EAST St. Louis which is VERY different from WEST St. Louis. There was a hired security guard at the AutoZone. He was slightly sketched out...After braving East St. Louis, he fixed the air!!! :) Grandma gave him a big hug.
We went to dinner at Pi which is known for its pizza and beer.  Yum! The atmosphere was fun, and the service was incredible. Katie tried to explain to Grandma that the waiter thought she was "cute" (in a Grandma sort of way) She said he was too young for her. We all love St. Louis already. It is so exciting, and we have a huge day planned for tomorrow.

Last day in Tulsa

Trinity Episcopal Church where Grandma was baptized and confirmed

It pretty much speaks for itself

Boston Street Methodist Church in Downtown Tulsa. Cody said its spire could pass as the the third tower in Lord of the Rings (we didn't take this picture)

Taken outside the Gilcreast Museum

On Sunday morning, Grandma decided to order us room service before we went to church. They said to give them at least 45 minutes, so we waited...and waited...and waited, but it did not come. Finally Cody called to see if something was wrong, and they said that our order had been misplaced and only found in the last few minutes. They were sorry and told us to come downstairs to a free breakfast in the restaurant! The meal was great, and we were so excited to be treated to a free meal. (Cody and Katie are still such college students.)

We went to church at Trinity Episcopal in down town where Grandma was confirmed and baptized.  It had beautiful architecture and great stain glass windows. A man pointed out that one of the windows is a reminder of world war two will Hitler and other Axis leaders faces in the stain glass. We found this very strange.  Cody and Katie are not fans of chanting... Grandma said she is definitely more of a Baptist now.  Many people were dressed up for church, but some came in wearing shorts and t-shirts which surprised Grandma a lot. After the service a man stopped us and said he knew the Deck family which was great for Grandma to have a connection in her church.

After church we went to Gilcrease which is a Western musieum put together by Mr. Thomas Gilcrease. There were tons of exibits of american artists through the years.  We ate in a restaurant in the museum which was serving Sunday Brunch.

That evening we went to dinner with Aunt Carolyn and Kirk at Goldies for hamburgers. After dinner we went over to Aunt Carolyn's house to visit for a while.  It is so much fun to listen to the sisters talk and share their lives, pictures, and stories.  Aunt Carolyn knows all the details, names and dates so well. Grandma says that was always her strength.  It was sad and hard to say goodbye because none of us knows the next time we will see them again.  Grandma and Katie are fully invested in their books and read awhile in the hotel. Katie finished Water for Elephants last night, and Grandma is close to finishing The Confession by John Grisham. (It is really intense right now).  Cody is working on tying new knots from his knot book when he gets the chance. He finished a really cool ring of coins knot he has been working on for a while.

We will blog on time tonight for today. It has been an interesting afternoon...

Touring Tulsa

Baker family plot in Okmulgee

Grandmother and Grandfather Baker's house

Lunch at Dilly Deli

Papa Deck's grave in Tulsa

The house where Grandma grew up

Wow, today is hard to comprehend...We visited so many historical places and relived so many memories. Katie and Cody are trying hard to remember and record everything that happens. Katie is beginning to understand some of her family history so much better. We went to Okmogee in the morning to visit the Baker family plot which is Grandma's mother's family.  Crazy to see Katie's great great grandmother and grandfather's graves along with all of their boys, wives, and Grandma's mother.  We also found (after some creative searching) Grandmother and Grandfather Bakers house which looks almost exactly the same to Grandma. She knew it right away.  She would take the train up there when she was old enough to stay with them on holidays. Grandfather Baker was a banker during the depression and owned a lot of Okmulgee and the first automobile in Okmulgee. 

We found a cute sandwich place back in Tulsa for lunch called Dilly Deli.  Food was great and really interesting open atmosphere.  There were games and books on shelves lining one of the walls.  After lunch we met up with Aunt Carolyn, and she toured us around through the family historic sights.  Grandma's house is so cute! Katie loved the area where she grew up with the park, neighborhood, and Philbrook art museum.  Fun fact: Grandma's father and step-mother were next door neighbors until they started dating. Then she had to move to a different part of town because it looked too scandalous. We went to a cemetary in Tulsa where there is a Deck family plot where Katie's Great Great Grandparents and Great Grandfather are buried.  We also went to see Aunt Janet who was married to Grandma's brother, Bill.  She was very cheerful.  Grandma showed Katie the hospital where she was born. Here Katie tried to teach Grandma not to just jump in any car that pulls up to the curb, but to check who the driver is first...We ate dinner tonight at a restaurant called, Charleston's with Aunt Carolyn and her son Kirk.

That is the basic summary of today except...It is 104 degrees average...It is really really HOT! Well, the litle red jeep had a heat stroke and quit producing cold air around noon today. So Cody spent a lot of time trying to get the car fixed. Luckily, it is a minor part issue, and can be easily fixed just not on a Saturday with an older vehicle that needs older parts. Not to worry! We have it all under control. It will just be a little warm for a little while...

This trip has already been such a blessing for all of us! Katie and Cody are loving having Grandma all to themselves and talking with her. She is so much fun to be around! The deep conversations and light-hearted laughter are priceless.

Truckin' into Tulsa

 What a cool way to enter a state being on a bridge.

Arkansas...Yes...It's flat...

 Little Rock Skyline

This is where we ate lunch. It is called Dizzys Gypsy Bistro. It was really fun and had AMAZING food! 

Little Late/ Little Wrong

The view from our Hilton hotel room

We finished the second of our long drives! Woohoo! We ended up driving over 900 miles in two days!
 Katie drove the first six hours.  We stopped in Little Rock for lunch. Arkansas was flat...really flat, but what we saw of Little Rock was beautiful. The restaurant had great creative food and a very unique atmosphere. We all had delicious sandwiches there. It really amazed us how long we drove on each road. It really is a very straight shot to Tulsa from Tupelo. The GPS would say "Drive 200 miles" which always surprised us!
 In Tulsa, we went first to Aunt Carolyn's place. She is Grandma's stepsister. We ate Grandma's Grandmother Baker's spagetti. Katie and Cody got to meet Aunt Carolyn for the first time along with two of her children ( Kay and Kurk) Kay's daughter Tracy and granddaughter were also there as well. The baby is 5 months old and adorable. Grandma got to hold her. :) We went to our hotel about nine and went to sleep pretty quickly. We were tired!