{Weekend Wrap-Up} Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

My Cooper SIL & I have been talking about doing this for a couple of years, but we finally did it! Since we both have a birthday in March, we thought this would be a perfect month for a girls' weekend. Chattanooga was the perfect spot since it's halfway between both of our houses. The hotel where we stayed couldn't have been more perfect. We were able to park our cars there when we arrived, and didn't need them until we left on Sunday.
On Friday, we sat for a while & caught up, then we had to find some dinner. It was St. Patrick's Day, so we had to find an Irish Pub, and the hotel employee we spoke with had the perfect spot for us. 

At first, we sat in the pub, until we realized there was outdoor seating. We were able to escape the smoke in the pub, and, thankfully, it was warm enough to be very comfortable sitting outdoors. 
After we ate, we walked around for a bit and strolled into the Moon Pie General Store.The only thing I bought was some vanilla Moon Pie Coffee.  I love moon pies, but I knew if I bought something, I'd want to eat it. And, I've been doing well with not eating sweets...until Friday night. My SIL makes a wicked peanut butter cake, and she brought one for us. With a glass of cold milk, the cake was just amazing. We got back to the hotel, watched Miss Congeniality 2 and had our cake.
Saturday, we followed some friends' advice and ate at a popular biscuit place.

The line was long, but moved quickly. It was very worth it. They had maple coffee that was so good that we dropped back by that night to buy some to take home.
We strolled down to the Rivermart in the parking lot of the Tennessee Aquarium. We visited booths of some very talented artists. Our favorite booth was jewelry made from classic books. They had earrings, necklaces, bracelets. We were mesmerized and couldn't pull ourselves away. If you have a book-lover in the family, check out their Facebook page. These are some pictures of some of the other jewelry they offer. I'm not sure why I didn't get a picture of the book jewelry.

 There was also a lady that made jewelry out of hardware; it was beautiful. How she could look at a sprocket and know it would make beautiful earrings is beyond me. She has an Etsy shop, so go check it out.
We walked over to St. Paddy's on the Parkway and were instantly under-whelmed. The entry fee went to a good cause, but it was much smaller than we thought it was going to be. The most excitement I had was meeting Tank:

My SIL said he was unhappy because he had on a green tutu. Poor little thing! He was such a sweetheart.
Then, we saw these guys the night before, and they showed up on the Parkway:

There were bands on the outdoor stage:

And we knew there were going to be some inside, too, so we headed in The Honest Pint:

We were awed by the building:

 I ordered the same kind of beer I had before we came in, and was disappointed. My SIL ordered Harp, and was told that they were out. So, we ordered Guiness Blonde, and it was flat. I felt sorry for our waitress...she had a few tables upstairs and downstairs. We ordered a couple of appetizers, but were told that they were out of the dip. (And then my SIL saw someone eating some later.) All of that didn't deter us from sitting at the table for a few hours and enjoying some of the music. This was our favorite (Molly Maguires):

On our walk back to the hotel, we saw some interesting structures. The Dome:

Part of the First Methodist Church in 1881:

A random gate that my SIL noticed:

Eyes on a building. There's also a confederate statue on a fountain and a cannon in front of the building. This would appear to be a popular hangout with the college crowd.

My SIL noticed the tile on this building:

We ate a supper of biscuits & peanut butter cake (with milk, of course!) and watched a couple of episodes of Say Yes to the Dress. Overall, it was a pretty low-key weekend, but it was so nice to be able to spend time with my SIL...alone. Without the guys and without distractions.
Before I left Chattanooga, I went to Mass at the Minor Basilica, Sts. Peter and Paul. I saw the building as we were walking back to the hotel (it's across the street from The Dome Building), but I didn't realize that was it because it looks very non-descript on the outside. Oh, but inside!

 The altar

The 3 physical signs that a church is a "lesser basilica": 

 The first is the presence of the conopaeum — a silk canopy designed with stripes of yellow and red, traditional papal colors.  The minor basilicas also have the right to display the papal symbol as in the above picture (the crossed keys). 

The third is the tintinnabulum, or bell. It is mounted on a pole and carried processionally, along with the conopaeum, at the head of the clergy on special occasions.

 I'm not sure about this side of the altar. 

This side is pretty self-explanatory, especially if you're a Catholic!

 The stained-glass windows were designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany.

The Stations of the Cross:

 Kilgen Organ. The Basilica has had the same organist since 1960.

 As American Churches go, this one is pretty old: 1890. But, as in European Churches, it's always important to look up.

The Mass was different than what I'm used to: lots of chanting with Latin thrown in, and, during the Eucharist Prayer the priest had his back to the congregation. It was just amazing.

So...back to work tomorrow, but no kids, making it almost like a day off! 9 more weeks until summer break!

{Weekend Wrap-up} Underground, HEMA, Relaxation

I kicked off my weekend by going by the church and going through the outdoor Stations of the Cross. It was a little chilly; I was glad I had my jacket with me. One of our parishioners completed this as his Eagle Scout project. He did an excellent job with it. The pictures he used for each Station are very nice.

CH & I had a quiet Friday night. We went to our "new and improved" Captain D's for supper (it was a Friday during Lent!). They've remodeled it so it's now bright and cheerful. I did have a quick thought that I need to tell Daddy about it. 😔

Saturday, we were up early to drive a couple of hours to the town where we met. (Which had nothing to do with why we were there!) YS has been taking HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts) Fencing Lessons for the past 6 months. There were the "Highland Games" that were held. This was a very small event; we have a private college in town that puts on a good-sized game in the Spring. For YS' first outing, he did pretty well!

He's waiting for his gear to come in, so his shoulder has a pretty good bruise on it from getting hit. I thought we were going to be in a nice warm gym, but we were outside. And, it was cold! (Again, I was glad I had my jacket!)

There were women's events:

Non-fighting events:

Even the kids got in on some events:

This guy was my favorite (we dubbed him: Viking guy!):

It seemed like a very friendly competition; after the fighting, everyone talked, gave each other tips, and just socialized. I think YS had a good time.

CH & I couldn't be where we met without visiting some old haunts. The place where it all started:

The building in back of us used to be the fraternity house were I was a little sister for 3 years; CH was a brother during fall semester of my senior year. It's a family home, now. I was so very tempted to go up and stand on the porch! I spent many hours on that porch!

We went by Pals, grabbed some burgers, and sat at the amphitheater on campus while we ate. This is a popular place for students to picnic and/or study when the weather is warm. (I don't remember ever doing that, though; too many distractions for me!) The students are on Spring Break, so it was quiet. 

Saturday night, we started watching the series Underground. The show is about the Underground Railroad. Very good, and heartbreaking.

Sunday was the grocery store, a quick trip to our favorite watering hole, The Casual Pint, then just piddling around the house.

Nice end to the weekend!  Have a great week!!!

{Weekend Wrap-up} Last Weekend in February?

The last weekend in February. Wow; just...WOW. This has not been a good month at all. It can only get better, right? 
CH & I kicked off the weekend with a Mardi Gras celebration at church. The Knights of Columbus do a bang-up job with any celebration they hold. We sat with a couple we didn't know, and some friends of theirs joined us. We left early; CH was tired and I had to get up early on Saturday.

Saturday morning, I went to a nearby church for a Women's Conference. The sister who spoke was young, funny, and really brought the story of Martha & Mary to life.  We attended Mass before the conference began. The church is fairly new, being built in 2008. I loved that it was built in the style of old churches. Just beautiful!

We went to Mass Saturday evening, because we thought the mass intention was for my daddy. As it turns out, someone in the office made a mistake, because the mass was said for a man on the 30th anniversary of his death. Oh, well. It was a little awkward when we both were in the Narthex of the church, ready to take up the gifts. 
That left Sunday morning open. We lazed around, then went down to Daddy's house & moved a few things. I spent the rest of the afternoon moving some things around to get ready when some other pieces of furniture are ready to be moved. Here's a bookcase my father made in its new home:

OH! I almost forgot! We booked our campsite for next year. Looks like we'll be spending New Year's Eve in Panama City Beach again. This time, we'll be waterfront. It's not The Keys, but it's a lot closer & we don't have to go through Atlanta.
Ash Wednesday is this week. What are you doing to gear up for Lent?

{Weekend Wrap-up} Some Chilly Camping

 I hadn't been camping since July. JULY! We decided to go back to a State Park that we hadn't been to in a couple of years. The last time, renovations were just about to start. One of the things we like about this campground is the trails that are all around. This kind of puts things in perspective, doesn't it?

We walked, relaxed, and got away from some craziness. It was a little chilly, so I built my first fire:

At one point when I was sitting around the fire, I looked down & saw my boot smoking. I like my fires blazing! Check out this picture:

Doesn't it look like there's a face in the coals? (You may have to click on the picture to enlarge to see it.)
While we were sitting around the fire, I kept hearing leaves crunching. It was a raccoon...at first. Then, we saw a skunk. I'm okay with raccoons...you can make a lot of noise and they'll go away, but a skunk!  I may have hid behind CH & told him I wasn't okay with a skunk! Luckily, Laika was already in the trailer since it was dark. That could have been all kinds of bad! The skunk didn't hang around, so we were able to go on about our evening.
The moon was big and beautiful. It was a perfect night for moon-watching.

Surprisingly, the leaves are still very pretty. Since it's been so dry, I thought they would already be off of the trees. Some pictures from one of our walks:

These leaves were incredibly yellow:

I thought these trees were interesting how one of them wraps around the other:

It was a little cold when we got up on Sunday:

On the way home, a deer ran out in front of the truck that was in front of us. It appeared to just clip it; the deer jumped a couple of times and then laid in the median. It just made me sick to my stomach. The truck pulled over, and when we passed it I took a quick look back but didn't see any damage. CH said it's possible that the deer was just stunned and may have gotten up, but I think he was saying that to make me feel better!
We spent the rest of the day relaxing (after showers) and went to our favorite Mexican place for dinner.
1 full week of school, then a 2-day week...I can't believe it's almost Thanksgiving! Don't you just love this time of year?