What to do, what to do? Finally it was decided to have a trip to Gainesville in behalf of Graham's Nana. So Friday night we enjoyed ourselves at Ale House and staying awake til an obscene hour. The next morning we were feeling it- bleh. But we had a schedule to attend so after staggering around for two hours we finally left! Ross, one of my boy's new favorite stores (eek! yay! I must be rubbing off on him), was our first stop to look for new casual shirts for him. Our original plan of 15 minutes turned into a 45 minute one; but we ended up with a nice haul. So to Gainesville we went!
After sneakily evading all the towns dedicated to gaining revenue by speed traps (all eyes on you: STARKE and WALDO) we made it! Gainesville kind of reminds me of a Waycross, an old place with a few options of entertainment.
Nana, Graham's maternal grandmother, seemed thrilled to see us. She showed us around her future plans for remodeling, gave Graham two huge Asian paintings he had been asking for, then was ready to explore the town with us.
Finally we were on the road and all hungry! Turns out Graham or Nana didn't know the location of restaurants very well so we meandered about for a few. Eventually we came across a BJ's Restaurant and Brewery (I dedicated an entire post to my love of this place) and opted for that since nothing else was in sight. As we parked in the mall parking we noticed a huge red sign proclaiming "Red Robin!" Graham, for those who may not know, lived two years out West and grew to love this place. He said it was surprising that they were on the East Coast- all I could chirp was "Red Robins- yum!" So we decided to head that way. Apparently it was relatively new, but they set up shop well. We all had our fill, with Graham and I chugging Freckled Lemonade like it was going out of style (we both ordered it before reading the price was 4$ a person). It was decent, yet pretty pricy for a burger shop.
Then it was the age old question: what can we do now? Well Gainesville is home of the University of Florida Gators (chomp, chomp) so almost everything is surrounded by that. Lake Alice was were Graham picked, a lake right off of the UF campus. I know zero facts beyond that one!
But here we are standing on the small peninsula before the lake. I should have tried to get the scenery better I guess!
And here is one of several alligators and soft shell turtles we kept seeing! It was nuts because they were right on the bank with a three foot drop off separating us.
So Lake Alice was nice! If you're ever at UF I would say go for a visit. We even saw a couple picnicking there! However, I know Graham's only regret is that he didn't bring a pack of hot dogs. He continually shares a story about long ago his Dad who threw a mint at an alligator who clamped its' mouth shut, thinking it was something worthwhile ;)
But exploring was slowing down with lightning and a chance of rain. So back to Nana's we went! She thanked us for coming, said "everyone just thinks I've fallen in love with Lacey!" and asked us to stay another weekend for church.
We enjoyed our time at Gainesville, also seeing Nana Boo Boo (ain't kidding y'all, they call her that occasionally). But our fun wasn't over yet! Oh no, lads and lasses, we still had to get home. In typical fashion, we saw a Beall's Outlet, I panicked and Graham whipped us around to get inside it. As we parked we saw a Goodwill on the same complex and decided to head over. Every three feet the windows had a sign saying "EVERYTHING IS $2!" We went in, as the workers assured us that it was true so we searched for any kind of goodies. I found 3 adorable dresses, Graham found a blue Lacoste shirt, I even found an adorable vest for our future son (G thinks I'm weird). So as they announced the were closing a worker gave us a long speech about the store. "This is the only $2 Goodwill in America! There is no others. Why think about everything here is $2! Laptops, televisions, I even bought a 500 vacuum for $2! Just yesterday a massive stereo state went for $2."
Um hold up- everything is $2? So we immediately searched all over for things- we ended up finding an awesome set of speakers! They found refuge with the G&L party train. And there you have it, just two dollars for everything in Starke, Florida's Goodwill. Y'all know I am going back!
Well that just about wraps it up. I did notice though a thing or two about our pictures. I love to keep them for memory's sake so we always are taking them. Each seems to capture our big smiles at fun places. But accidentally I took a picture of us as we prepared for it. Um, quite the change.
This weekend so was laid back that it was nice. Nothing to do specifically, no horrible never ending drive, nothing but messy buns. Seriously, I'm the queen of them.
Until later!
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