I attended my first family renunion this weekend in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The group consisted of my Dad, my brother Zach, my grandfather Papa, Aunt Boo & Uncle Tim, and cousins Anna Page & Kelly Anne. We set out for S.C. Friday morning and little did I know that the car ride would be one of the most interesting parts of the short trip. The GPS- if I would have had a hammer I would have busted that thing up in a million pieces. I consider myself to be a patient person for the most part but obviously not with navagational devices. How hard is it? Stay on intersate 20-59, then get clearly follow the signs. For all of those who have a GPS, the women will drive you crazy. "Left turn ahead." "In 2 miles, you will exit." And in my thoughts, (which were not very nice), I just sat in the back seat & kept my mouth shut. What happened to road maps? Nevertheless, we arrived safe & sound at our hotel. We headed to dinner at my Papa's brothers house. It was great seeing everyone & we had a blast playing with the kids Ellis & Anna. I always enjoy well-behaved kids!
We went back to the hotel & for the rest of the night just chilled. I got a good laugh when my brother was trying on the robe in the closet. I am almost certain it was for a women. We got up on Saturday & headed for downtown Greenville. It did not take long for me to fall in love with this beautiful city. The trees were towering over the downtown area & the shade was perfect for the hot day. The people were having some sort of what I would call a farmers market-fruit, vegetables, bread..etc. It was pretty neat. Then, we went to the park down the street that was really neat. We walked out onto a bridge that reminded me of a pirate ship. Surrounding us on one side- a waterfall with huge rocks in the middle. Breathtaking. On the other side, there was a park with some very pretty flowers. Perfect place to visit for a weekend vacation. I would recommend it to anyone.
After visiting downtown, we headed to the house where my grandfather grew up in. So much history. My dad & his sisters would visit almost every summer when they were growing up. My dad had not been back in almost 25 years! We were now off to the family reunion....(with the GPS on of course) ahhh :) Lots of people & lots of food. Everyone was so friendly but the 2 people that stick out in my mind are an older man named Don Blake & an older woman named Tootsie.
Don Blake was 85 & married into the family so I'm not really sure how I was related to him, if at all. He sure didn't look 85 years old. He was from Wilmington, NC and had such a sweet spirit about him. He reminded me of my great grandfather so that's probably why I liked him. Some advice he gave me was "to never stop moving." Get out there and do something, whether it's taking a walk or traveling half way across the world. I truly respect older people and this man had even fought 3 wars. He said he didn't enlist after that because he did not want his luck to run out!
Tootsie was my grandfathers- mothers-sister. Whew! She was older, either her late 80's or early 90's. What a blessing she was! She came up to my dad- who had not been to a family reunion since he was nearly my age, and she knew exactly who he was! The whole entire conversation she put her hand and placed it on my dad's arm. Tears seriously came to my eyes because just knowing how much this meant to her. I can't fail to mention how amazing her skin was. She barely had a wrinkle on her face! Talking to her was probably the highlight of my day.
Overall, I had a great time even though it was a short trip. As we were driving through Atlanta, the Braves were playing the Red Sox! We were going to stop but tickets had to have been sold out! Another great weekend with my great family. Now, it's time to get back to working out because I sure did stuff my face this weekend.
have a good one,
-Cat
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