You know you're living in the Bible Belt when television commercials have not so subtle messages like a huge tapestry cross behind the spokesperson, you drive past businesses like Trinity Dry Cleaning, and there are murals like this along the road.

Exploring

One thing I love about being in a new place (and having a GPS) is the ability to just hop in the car and go for a ride.  There are plenty of back roads here with a small cafe or bbq every few miles, a plethora of single wide trailers and lots of trees and open fields.  More than once we've just decided to check out a new area we're unfamiliar with.  Our last excursion a couple of days ago drove our GPS mad as we went out of our way to avoid the one toll road that crosses the river to get back home.  It's only $1.50 but it was the principle of the thing.  We kept going on and on assuming we were driving alongside the river and eventually we would have to find an alternative crossover.  We ended up in Wetumpka (about 30 minutes away) and happened upon the CreekCasino which looked like a big blow-up building or some kind of temporary tent-like contraption.  We had to check it out so walked inside.  It was a brief visit that included a rest room stop, a free soda at the fix it yourself beverage area, a peek at the buffet and a walk through the casino.  No tables, only one armed bandits.  Didn't even see any video games but I tell you the place was SO smokey that we reeked by the time we walked outside.  Eventually found an alternative way home and immediately tossed our smelly clothes in the washer.  Can't imagine how people spend hours in there!

Holiday Wrap-Up

Nice when you have fresh greenery to cut right outside your door!

 Thought I would hit the highlights of December that I missed along the way.  The Holiday Ball for all the students was held the 9th in downtown Montgomery at the gorgeous Renaissance Hotel & Convention Center.  Tom helped with registration while I checked out the silent auction items.  I sang with a band made up of one other female spouse and two students who played guitar and bass along with some backup comical percussion from the MC.  We had ONE rehearsal the night before but sounded pretty darned good for being thrown together so quickly.  We were the entertainment for the night but there was so much going on I'm not sure we were heard very well.  Our camera battery also died so of course there are no pix other than this of our table and the lovely lobby decorations.

 Went with minimal decor at the apartment.  The only thing we brought was the "deployment tree" which is the tree Tom bought when he was in DC for a year.  It has little fiber optic ends that change colors and yes, it was lopsided all the time. I've also kept cute Christmas cards I've received over the years and cut them up to use as tags on gifts.  This year I cut them up and used them as ornaments on our tree.  I did buy a couple of strings of white lights for the veranda but everything else was adapted from All A Dollar or sent to me from my mom or my friend Linda.  Both were afraid I'd miss my Santa collection so sent me a couple of St. Nick's to help with the holiday spirit.  Loved being able to take it all down in half an hour!

Christmas

 On our downtown trolley tour of Montgomery, Taylor saw a store called Looking Good that he felt compelled to frequent.  If you don't know Taylor, he has a sense of style that is all his own.  Right now, he wants to wear suits and this place just happened to have a 2 suits including tailoring sale for $100.  By the time we got back from Florida his brown and white (yes, white) suit were ready in time for him to wear to the Christmas Eve candlelight service we attended.  It was early so we came home to our turkey dinner for 3, opened our flannel pj pants and relaxed.  We got up when we wanted Christmas morning and waited for Taylor to open the few gifts that we had under our tree.  I have to say, the stress level of this holiday was minimal and there is something to be said for cutting way back.  I didn't enjoy the holiday any less, in fact I think I enjoyed it more without twenty lists of things to do.  If I felt like I wanted a hustle and bustle feel I headed to a shopping area and just enjoyed the lights and such without all the purchasing.  The rest of our day we ate munchies and played RISK which Taylor got for Christmas.  He of course, kicked our butts.

 We thought his plane left at 4:30 on the 27th but when we printed his boarding pass the day before it turned out he had to leave at 2:30.  He had wanted to spend the day in Birmingham so we went early and did a little sight-seeing.  We went to the Vulcan Park and Museum which is up on a hill above the city and a great place to see Birmingham.  It was cold and rainy so we spent the majority of the time inside the museum before a brief run to the top.

 We headed to find a place to lunch and ended up in a part of town that is supposedly the "youthful, club oriented" area.  Had a mediocre Mexican meal but got a photo of The Storyteller which is this fountain in the middle of the roundabout outside the restaurant.

 We said our good-byes at the airport.  Check out Taylor's python boots.  He got those at Looking Good as well!  We loved having him here for Christmas and we had a great time.  Wish we could have convinced him to stay.

 After we left Taylor I wanted to swing by the 16th Street Baptist Church which was bombed in 1963, killing 4 young girls.  Our book group here in AL read Four Spirits which centered around this story.  Since it was early we decided to hit the Riverchase Galleria Mall which supposedly has the world's largest skylight.  It reminded us a lot of the mall in Crystal City in Washington DC.  Didn't buy anything.  Just enjoyed the last of the decorations, the hustle and bustle of the holidays winding down.....and we may have shared a pretzel!

And the Adventure Continues.........

The weather didn't improve after a couple of days and showed no promise of doing so, so we loaded up and and decided to drive along the coast until we found some sunshine.  Well, that didn't happen until we were on the other side of Florida, 6 hours away in Jacksonville.  And there, we found this little bit of heaven called Casa Marina.  Right on the beach and nicely priced in the off season.

 The next few days our itinerary went something like this:

1. Tom and I take advantage of continental breakfast in lobby then walk for miles on the beach in the early morning while Taylor sleeps.  Bring his breakfast up to the room when we return.

       2.  Spend the rest of the day doing this and more walking along the beach.  One of us would run up the street for lunch and bring it back to be eaten on the beach.

    3.  Evenings were spent going to dinner then a movie.  Discovered Taylor liked sushi.  Who knew?

     Simple days but perfect.  Got some sun, definitely relaxed and enjoyed a very different holiday season.  We checked out and headed home early on Dec. 23rd. so we could be home for Christmas.

Tay's Excellent Adventure Part 2

So Taylor was a little disappointed in the weather situation in Alabama as it wasn't quite as warm as he had expected.  Of course it doesn't help that Utah is having some sort of non-winter freakish heat wave so his standard of comparison was a little skewed.  Anyway, we hopped in the car and headed to Panama Beach, FL hoping for sunnier days.

 Once there, we settled in at Tyndall AFB and then set out for something to do.  The temp wasn't really
 conducive to beach going so we hit the tourist circuit.

After a little souvenir shopping for Taylor's friends we stopped for lunch at a great German place.

 We shared an appetizer pretzel and Taylor ordered the schnitzel which was yes, as big as this looks!

Next up was Wonder Works which is kind of like a big kid's museum.  Tons of interactive exhibits, puzzles, rides, and then there was that whole climbing across ropes and such up in the ceiling of the whole place.  Even though we were safety snapped in a hanging harness, I was having some height issues!  We had a great time though and spent several hours there.

And finally my friends, this is the kind of tasteful holiday decorating that goes on in Panama City Beach.  However, since my across the street neighbor in Utah decorates the same way it made me a little less homesick!

Taylor's Excellent Adventure Part 1

 Computer was down again, grrrrr.  Turns out it was actually our external hard drives which have been replaced so hopefully all is well now in our technological world.  However, it means a lot of blogging catch up!

Our baby, 18 year old Taylor, was able to come spend some time with us over the holidays.  He arrived the night before Tom's final so Tom stayed home to study while I made the drive to Birmingham for the 11 PM pickup.  I left quite early so got to do a driving tour of the city, visited a beautiful shopping area (Saks Fifth Ave) then settled into do some reading until Taylor's plane got in.

 He always gets lots of second looks.  Especially when he's carrying his guitar.  They think he's a rock star.

 Our first days consisted of Montgomery sight-seeing, movies, Christmas shopping for Taylor (clothes) and relaxing at the apartment with home cooked meals.

Dexter Ave Baptist Church where the Montgomery
bus boycotts
were organized in the basement by Martin Luther
King Jr.

Taylor and Rosa Parks