Because we could

This weekend, we took a mini trip to a city that is about an hour and 45 minutes north of here and stayed in a hotel - just because we could! We ate out. We walked. We enjoyed each other's company. We met friends for lunch. 

Let me tell you about the very first thing we did - we drove over a VERY curvy mountain road (I get motion sick, remember??) to a place on the Sipsey River about 3 miles above the Smith Lake dam. Mark is interested in buying a NuCanoe and Riverside Fly and Float trips is one of two NuCanoe dealers in the state of Alabama. While Mark looked at ALL the stuff and talked to the "man", I spent some time looking at the flies.  I have always been fascinated with hand tied flies - maybe I need to take up that hobby! Aren't they beautiful??

We left the fly shop in Bremen, Alabama and WAZE told us a different non-winding route (thank goodness!!!!) and we drove to Decatur. We did a walking historical self-guided tour and enjoyed seeing a beautiful garden and some cool OLD homes. One of the owners even came out to talk with us and she informed us that the brochure was incorrect. She went on to tell us that the original owner didn't transplant plants from the Sipsey wildlife area . . .she said that she did all of that work. I wasn't quite sure how to respond.

This garden was open to the public and it was lovely. We are always on the hunt for plants for our yard and there was a large variety of plants to admire!

We left Decatur and drove to Madison and our next stop was the Old Black Bear Brewery. I wrote about this place a year ago. Mark loved it so much that we had to return.

Mark loves dark beer and I love a good Moscow Mule. The brewery even makes their own ginger beer and their own vodka!

We ordered an appetizer and it was delicious. It was a huge chicken quesadilla.

We met our friends for lunch on Saturday at Rosie's - a restaurant recommended by a co-worker. He said they have the best Mexican food in THE UNIVERSE! I must admit it was quite tasty and the décor in the restaurant was awesome. We spent 2 1/2 hours laughing . . .and laughing . . . and laughing!

I ordered a yummy chicken dish with black beans and corn and pinto beans. This was the lunch portion - it was huge.

After spending two hours at the table, we realized there was a line of folks still waiting on tables . . .and it is a big restaurant. We moved out to the courtyard to hang out with the Mariachi band! Hayden decided to play along.

We are thankful for a day filled with sunshine and good friends and good food!