Dinner in Chattanooga

Since I knew that I would be off on Friday, the 25th, I made plans to drive up to Chattanooga, eat linner (lunch + dinner, the meal that happens at 3 pm in the afternoon) at Lily Mae’s (the best fried catfish & tartar sauce in the world), and meet Kourtney’s boyfriend (and loooongtime good friend), Brian.

It might sound crazy to drive all the way to Chattanooga to for dinner, but I think it is a great idea!  It is only about a 3.5 hour drive, which is totally doable in one day, even spur-of-the-moment. It also makes me feel like I’m not that far away from my family (I’m not!). Originally I was planning to drive up to Chattanooga, spend the night with Kourt, and drive back to Tuscaloosa the next morning, but then I was able to talk Brent into going at the last minute. Yay!  We left around noon to make it to Lily Mae’s for an early 4 pm dinner (3 pm our time!).

After Lily Mae’s, me, Brent, Kourtney & Brian went to Coolidge Park & the walking bridge.  I absolutely love this part of town.  I got engaged here, after all!  So many good memories.  I could totally see us living in Chattanooga one day.

[It was about this time when a bird pooped on my head as I was walking down the bridge.  Nasty.  Why always me?!]

Of course we stopped for ice cream before heading back across the bridge!

Then we said goodbye and headed back home!

We will have to do this more often!

Loooong Dam(n) Drive

Off to the GC, but first, Hoover Dam!

On the way out of town, we had the MOST FANTASTIC meal of the entire trip.  It was at a Sicilian restaurant right outside of Vegas.  Nothing fancy at all, we were just hungry & it was there, 1 of hundreds of places in a strip mall area..  But it was amazing!  It was authentic and family-owned. The waiter, who was a member of the family, was so kind and friendly, in an old-world, family sort of way.  And the food was WONDERFUL.  Absolutely wonderful.

Brent’s lasagna & my pizza.  THE BEST pizza Margherita I have ever had, hands down.  Ever. I should probably never have it again because it will only be disappointing.

After the lovely meal, we really were on our way.  First stop, the Hoover Dam!

It is pretty spectacular! After we left, we drove up the hill to see Lake Mead via overlook.  So crazy that this is essentially in the middle of the desert!

As we headed towards Tusayan (~ a 5 hour drive, not counting stops), we got to take in more of the beautiful, absolutely breathtaking desert landscape.

It was a long, long, long drive.  We saw a field of buffalo and a spectacular sunset (never can capture on the camera for some reason). We finally made it to Flagstaff, about 1 hour outside of Tusayan and stopped at a wonderful Mexican restaurant for supper.

We finally made it to our hotel and went to bed excited, ready to get up the next morning and see the GC!