Going home: Tuscaloosa edition

I made a last minute trip home to Alabama back in May.  The family that I nanny for was going to be gone for a week, and Mom was missing me (and wouldn't come to Durham)... So, I decided to go home for a few days.  It was a relatively short trip, Saturday-Wednesday, but it was certainly nice to see my family.

I had a pretty long layover in ATL, but it was actually a nice change from having to run to catch my next flight.  I enjoyed being able to get breakfast, and do some people watching.

I coordinated a family get together while I was home.  We met at one of my favorite restaurants, Jim 'n Nick's in Hoover.  To my surprise, everyone was actually able to make it.  Having everyone there certainly made it more fun, although we did all miss Greg.  I got to spend some time with my nephew, Justin.  He actually got to chew on his first rib bone!

Okay, so Jim 'N Nick's is actually Greg's favorite restaurant.  He was extremely jealous that we went to eat there without him.   

Here is me and sweet Justin.  I really enjoyed getting to spend some time with him! 

This is Alicia, Ben, me, Guy, Andrea, and Justin.  It's always great to get a picture of all of us together.

I also got to have dinner with my sweet friend, Mary.  Unfortunately, we didn't get a picture together.  It was one of the highlights of my trip home.  One of the hardest things about living so far away is that you don't get the opportunity to see you good friends on a regular basis.  I am always missing Mary, so it was especially nice to get together with her for dinner.

Mom, Dad and I went out to dinner at my all time favorite restaurant in Tuscaloosa.  I absolutely love Depalmas.  I think the food is really good, and I love it's charm.

It's so cute!  I wish I had some pictures of the inside to show you.

I got one of the specials, and it was so good!  

Like always, it was really good to go home and see my family.  I wish that I could do it more often, and that Greg had been able to join me for this trip.  I was so glad to see my parents, siblings, and Mary!  We will be heading back to AL in a few weeks for a wedding, and maybe we will be able to see a few more people during that visit!

NC State Fair

 
The North Carolina State fair was in town the last week and a half or so.  Greg and I decided that we really wanted to go because neither one of us have ever been to a state fair.  The fair in Alabama isn't in the best part of town, and so our parents never let us go. 

The main reason that we wanted to go was to experience the food!  We did not even ride any rides.  We thought about doing the Ferris Wheel, but it was SO expensive. 

Greg has heard about a Krispy Kreme bacon cheese burger that he was dying to try.  Gross, I know.  We searched all over the fairgrounds looking for this place.  Greg finally texted a friend who had gone the night before, and he told us where it was.  Greg ordered it, and it looked disgusting.  I mean, so gross.  He loved it.  Right next to that places was a hand-dipped corndog stand.  I was pumped about getting one of those!  It was so good!

After we ate those, we decided to walk around and play some games.  We didn't win anything, but it wasn't a huge deal.  Greg kept talking about trying an elephant ear and a fried snickers.  We found a station that was making the "elephant ears".  It's basically a funnel cake, but solid.  We had a brown sugar and cinnamon one.  It was so good!  Then, Greg got his snickers (didn't get a picture of this, but use your imagination). 

We had a good time!  It was nice to get out and do something fun!