“Alyssar? Oliviar? Well hello girls! How lovely to meet you girls! Come in, come in!” Judy gushed in her beautiful Australian accent while ushering us into the foyer. We signed in, were offered a Granny Smith, and then given a brief tour. Judy and John just moved to Texas from Australia a week and a half ago and were filled with excitement and a new-found love for the place. We were offered tea, coffee, soft drinks, juice, brownies, and told to ask if there was anything else we might need. It was then time to see our room: The Lakeview Room. Judy led the way and informed us of how much she loves this room. It was nicely decorated and very cozy. After unloading the car we began planning our afternoon.
So where were we? What were we doing there? Alyssa is leaving January 24 for Amazing Facts Center of Evangelism, AFCOE, and we won’t be seeing each other for six and a half months due to me leaving at the end of May. Because of this, we really wanted to spend some time doing something fun together. Time away from all the business of home. We thought about San Antonio, but it was too expensive. We thought about a camping trip, but didn’t think two single teenage girls should be camping alone. Then my mom thought of a bed and breakfast. After a little searching we decided on Granbury, picked a B&B and booked a room. We were amazed how cheaply we were able to do this.
On our way to Granbury
Lakeview Room
Other side of the room
In the "backyard"
The view of Arbor House from the backyard
Back to Sunday afternoon. Our first adventure took us to The Square, the middle of Granbury. Approximately a four-block walk from the B&B, The Square offered many quaint shops for exploring, several tasty restaurants to choose from, and a unique, small town feel.
Our view as we walked to town
Alyssa making life more interesting
After wandering through several antique shops we came across a gem. Upon completing the first story of this particular shop we debated on whether or not to venture upstairs. We were about to head for the door when Alyssa saw something of interest to her. “I don’t know why but I love quilts,” Alyssa had informed me only minutes before spotting a wall of quilts upstairs. She bounded up the stairs and I followed close behind. After a quick glance at the quilts we spotted the real treasure. Tucked into the back corner sat 20-30 old-fashioned hats just begging to be tried on. I kicked the fashion show off by placing a notably outrageous hat on my head. Before we knew what was happening, the hats were flying to and from the hat rack to our heads. Of course we had to take a variety of pictures so we wouldn’t forget the best ones! Here are several of our lovely adornments:
Finally deserting our glorious “hat room” we perused several more shops before deciding we had seen enough of other people’s old junk (I’ll admit some antiques are cool, just not the ones we were finding). Not yet ready for dinner, we decided to head back to the bed and breakfast to decide what else to do. However, the four-block walk back to the B&B combined with the precious little sleep with had both gotten the night before had worn us out and we ended up just chilling out in our room for a while.
Everything was fine and dandy until a loud noise and a painful feeling interrupted us. It was only four fifteen and we were both getting super hungry! After searching on the web for a place to eat we decided on Italian, but upon arriving at Pastafina we decided to head to Babe’s since Alyssa had never been there. How can a vegetarian eat at a chicken place you may ask? Biscuits, corn, and mashed potatoes are enough to satisfy most any girl!
The rest of our evening was fairly low-key. However, we did break our no-dessert-for-a-year for this special occasion and did devour a pint of ice cream each. Yes, I said a pint. And yes, I did go non-vegan for this occasion as well. I only ate half that night but was able to finish it the next morning. Alyssa’s disappeared somewhat mysteriously and quicker than she thought was possible.
Eager for our ice cream
Bluebell is the only way to go!
Alyssa's emptied ice cream carton
The next morning we talked and had a small worship together before heading downstairs for breakfast. It was pretty tasty and Judy was so excited for us to try “fried” tomatoes, an Australian delicacy. They were really more cooked than fried. We loaded up the car and began our search for Dinosaur Valley State Park where we planned to hike, talk, and study the Bible together. After two hours of searching for a non-existent road we pulled over and enjoyed a beautiful little peaceful spot by a trickling brook.
One of our dead ends
Poor carsick Alyssa
God led us to this beautiful little quiet spot
We finally decided to head back toward home. Our stomachs began to speak to us again not long after this and we shared a delicious meal at Joe’s Pizza and Pasta before heading to my house. A few more hours slipped by at my house before I took her home and ended our adventure.
Don't we look lovely
Through our conversations we discovered that this trip was such a learning experience for us. In many ways it made us feel so mature while in other ways it revealed our immaturity. I feel so blessed to have friends like Alyssa who are committed to sharing these amazing memories with me and who are eager to travel the twisting highways and byways of friendship.
Our trip was fabulous and I can’t wait to do it again. Thanks for going and growing with me, Lyss! I’m sure going to miss you! Love ya!
1 comment:
I had such a blast with you! Thanks for being you!! love ya!
-Lyss
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