One Year Anniversary Trip

Hey y'all! This may be one of my most favorite posts yet: celebrating our one year anniversary. Our actual one year anniversary was on June 27, 2016, but with both of us taking boards this summer, we had to compromise on when we took our weekend getaway. We knew we didn't have time to take a long trip, so while I was still studying and before Tyler started studying, we took a quick weekend trip to Savannah, GA. If you know me, you probably know about my love affair with Charleston, SC. I have never been to Savannah, but I knew it was another famous southern city that I MUST visit. I wanted to love Savannah, but I was afraid it just wouldn't compare to Charleston. I was excited to finally get to explore this gem of the south even if it was only for a couple of days. 

The view from our room.

Of course, Tyler planned a wonderful evening to celebrate our first year of marriage. He made reservations for the night we arrived at The Old Pink House. Y'all, I have NEVER in my life had fried chicken as good as the fried chicken there. They said their secret is putting a little bit of tabasco sauce on the chicken before they coat it in the breading and spices. It isn't hot, but there is just a bit of heat to give it so much flavor. We had chicken, collards, mac and cheese, sweet potatoes.. you name it, we ate it LOL That was seriously one of the most delicious meals I've ever had! Plus, they had a specialty drink of raspberry pink lemonade called The Pink Lady. I just had to try one! It was delicious!! The restaurant is exactly how it sounds: an old pink house. The rooms are cramped and not big open spaces like normal restaurants. They utilized the layout of the house as best as they could, and although it wasn't as functional as some of the more modern buildings, the close corridors gave it so much charm. Not to mention they had the ceilings painted haint blue. I could've died when I saw that. I WILL paint a ceiling in my house (someday) haint blue.  

That blue ceiling makes my heart skip a beat!

After dinner, we ventured down to River Street to see the views and other shops/restaurants. We caught a bike taxi back to our hotel because my poor feet couldn't walk on the cobblestone in my Jack Rogers wedges any longer LOL 

The next day we wanted to explore all that Savannah has to offer. We found a list on Pinterest of must see sights in the city, and by the end of the day, we had walked the entire historic district. We had a blast seeing all of the historic buildings, parks, and the large oaks dripping in Spanish moss. We also drove about 40 minutes and visited Tybee Island. It was spectacular. It sort of reminded me of Garden City Beach at Myrtle Beach. It was very low key and not crowded at all. There were no big hotels or high rises, so you could truly appreciate the natural beauty of the beach itself. On the inlet side, we had lunch with a view at a local restaurant. Tyler tried their gumbo, and I had loaded nachos. YUM! 

Heading to Tybee Island.

Back to Savannah for the evening...

Forsyth Park

We had dinner at Paula Deen's restaurant Lady and Sons. It was pretty good, but it seemed subpar after eating at The Old Pink House the night before. However, I did have her banana pudding for dessert, and Lord have mercy, it was phenomenal! 

Clearly, Ty liked his meal LOL

Back down to River Street for the evening.

Several years ago, my mom started a tradition with Kelly and me. Wherever we travel, we buy a Christmas ornament. It is a way to buy a keepsake to remember all of our trips that we can put out each year at Christmas. We put the ornaments from all of our travels on a "travel tree," and it is so fun looking at each ornament and remembering our experiences in that city. Tyler and I have collected several ornaments since we were first married. He thought to get this ornament at a Christmas store on River Street. How sweet! 

I can't lie to y'all. When I first arrived in Savannah I was let down a little. Charleston, in my mind, is the epitome of a southern city. Savannah is much smaller in size with less hustle and bustle; however, the longer I was there, the more I fell in love. It is so much more relaxed and low key. There is nowhere near as much traffic or tourists. I felt as if we were actually able to enjoy the quintessential  southern slow paced lifestyle while in Savannah. I was able to truly appreciate all that Savannah has to offer after I stopped comparing it to Charleston because they are not the same. You have to appreciate each for what it is. Savannah is definitely added to my list of favorite places now! 

On our way back home, we drove up to Charleston. I couldn't bear the thought of being that close to my favorite place in the world and not visiting it. We also drove to some places we hadn't visited before like Hilton Head, Daniel Island, and Palmetto Bluff. Those towns are breathtaking. Everything is clean and neat looking. All of the establishments are in very nice buildings, and they still incorporate old southern charm staples like the oil burning lamps and the mossy oak trees. I was loving life visiting these places! 

Quick stop at Hilton Head for lunch. I needed my cherry coke fix!

We made one final pit stop on our way home: The Lilly Signature Store on King Street. I couldn't resist LOL I got three of the cutest dresses (on the sale rack), and I have been wearing them almost every week. One of them is the new Sophie dress that has the built in SPF. It is my new favorite! 

It has been over a month since our actual anniversary, and as I type this post I can't help but think back to what all we've been through in a year. We have been together through births, deaths, marriages, a move, and job transitions just to name a few. I couldn't imagine going through this life with anyone but Tyler by my side. He is what I prayed for when I asked God to help me find my soulmate. I never dreamed I would end up with someone as caring, loving, and hard working as my Tyler. I don't know how I made it this far in life without him, but I'm sure glad I don't have to go another day without him by my side. It was so fun celebrating a milestone in our lives in such a beautiful place even if it was only for a couple of days. It is a trip I will never forget and will always cherish! Until next time.. Take care y'all!  

Wedding Series - Jamaican Me Crazy!

Hey y'all! This is the third and final installment of the wedding series that I'm doing. I wanted to share our amazing honeymoon with you! Since I was busy trying to balance school and wedding planning, I gave Ty full control over the honeymoon. He didn't disappoint!

However, the trip did start out a little rocky. We had a fabulous time at the wedding and reception, and we danced our socks off until just after midnight. We climbed into my car for the first time as newlyweds to head to The Marriott, when suddenly, EVERY SINGLE LIGHT STARTS FLASHING ON MY DASHBOARD. Tyler looked over at me with this look on his face like, "Really Courtney?! This couldn't have happened a week ago before you were my responsibility?!" LOL As we drove back to the hotel, the car shook us the entire time. It was obvious something wasn't right.

Fast forward to 3:00AM when I awoke to the sound of my alarm going off. To say I was exhausted would be the understatement of the century. We packed up our things and got into the car to head to Lexington. Tyler's wonderful trip had one tiny yet very annoying hiccup - he booked the flight for us to leave out of Lexington despite the fact we were staying 10 minutes away from the airport in Charleston. I was so tired from all the wedding festivities that I seriously didn't think I was going to make it. Not to mention the shaky car felt like a wooden roller coaster the entire way back to Lexington (almost 3 hours wooden roller coaster ride, mind you). We arrived at the airport, got some breakfast, and prepared ourselves for a long day of traveling.

When we finally arrived, the magnificent resort made me forget all of my traveling woes (for the most part LOL). It was breathtaking! Well, it was breathtaking once we got INSIDE the resort. A big bus took us from the airport to Sandals. When the bus came to a stop, Tyler and I both looked around and were really confused. All we saw was asphalt and chain link fences. WHERE WAS THE WATER?! Tyler said, "I'm going to be so mad if this place isn't like the pictures on the internet!" LOL Well honey the gate to that chain link fence opened, and we finally stepped into paradise!

Here is the view from our balcony. It was perfect!

This is Tokyo Joe's. It is a wok grill restaurant, and it was the first place we had dinner.

On the first morning, we slept in. I'm sure you could've guessed that. We ordered room service for breakfast, and it was delicious! We ate outside on our balcony at a little table they had set up. The view from our balcony was breathtaking, and the food was one of my favorite things about Sandals! After breakfast and plenty of sleep, we headed out to the beautiful beach! 

Y'all, I had these slushies nonstop during the trip. They had red ones that were strawberry flavored and pina colada flavored ones too! They were delicious! 

After spending the day in the sun, Ty Ty needed to rest.

I, on the other hand, relaxed and enjoyed yet another slushy LOL

Our first full day had been a relaxing one, and Ty had a special surprise waiting for me at dinner. He booked a private oceanfront dinner for the two of us! It was so romantic and thoughtful that he arranged all of that on his own for me! 

Y'all know I couldn't go to Jamaica without finding a kitty cat! I loved this little guy!

The next few days were full of lazy lounging and stuffing our faces with delicious food. We definitely made the most of our all inclusive vacation! 

We definitely did not go hungry on this trip LOL

A yummy Italian restaurant where we had dinner one night.

Okay, I know a lot of you will look at this next picture and say, "No way did Courtney do that." For those of you that don't know, several years ago I had a TERRIBLE banana boat experience at good ole Myrtle Beach. My mom and sister strongly encouraged me to get on a banana boat. They promised it would be fun and that I would end up liking it. Well, it wasn't fun, and I did not end up liking it. LOL The banana boat was pulled by a jet ski, and the driver of that jet ski was a young man. He thought it would be funny to throw us all over the place! By the end of the ride, I was praying to God to just help me float back to the shore. That was the day a 21 year old girl threw a temper tantrum on the beach. I'm talking full on stomping and crying. I can't show my face at Garden City Beach to this day LOL 

With that being said, I gave canoeing a try because I wanted to be "adventurous." This experience was somewhat better than the banana boat, but I was still a little scared. I was paddling as fast as I could, and the whole time I was yelling at Tyler to stop rowing us away from the shore. When we were headed toward a docked boat, I turned around and saw Tyler just sitting in the back of the canoe. He informed me that he had been steering us the entire time, and he wanted to see how long it took me to realize my "paddling" wasn't doing anything more than grazing the top of the water LOL I pleaded with him to take me back to shore, and he obliged. I had my fill of being adventurous after about 5 minutes out on the ocean. I returned to my beach chair and enjoyed another slushy LOL

Another slushy! 

Each night, performers put on a show for all the guests. They had singing, dancing, and even fire breathers! We only watched shows a couple of the nights we were there because they started so late. It is no secret that I am an old soul. My friends refer to me as "maw maw." Shows that start at 10:30 at night are NOT going to work for me LOL

This is Kelan. He met my parents when they visited this Sandals for my dad's birthday one year. They developed a friendship during their stay, and when I told him who my parents were, he remembered them! He suggested we get this picture to show them we met.. so sweet! 

I did not want to say goodbye to this view! 

And that's a wrap! We loved our honeymoon in Jamaica. It was relaxing, fun, and romantic - everything you would hope a honeymoon would be. We loved all the different types of food they offered, and the beaches were phenomenal. We later found out that Sandals had a couple of their buildings blocked off for construction, so not many people were staying at the resort while we were there. It was almost like being on a private beach. There were no lines for anything, and we always had a large selection of chairs to lay on at the beach or at the pool. We picked the perfect time to go. The weather was amazing the entire time - hot with a constant cool breeze. I wouldn't change a thing about this trip (except maybe the long drive AND plane ride it took to get there) LOL I can't let it go y'all! 

When our flight landed in Lexington, I was "home." All the wedding planning and stress was over. All of my furniture and clothes had been moved into the house in Lexington the week before the wedding. I was married and living on my own with my husband. It really hit me at the end of this trip that I was a full blown adult. I called my parents and grandparents to let them know we had arrived back from our trip safely. Every one of them asked me when I would be back home (home to them being my hometown in WV). That made me giggle. I had to tell them I was technically home in Lexington now that I was a married woman. Well, I was at my house in Lexington LOL I can't quite call it "home" just yet! Married life has been great so far. I am loving spending every day with my best friend! I do miss my hometown and my family an awful lot though! 

I hope you enjoyed reading The Wedding Series as much as I enjoyed writing it. I'll get back to blogging about every day life soon!