Life before 2008 12 Aug 2005 06:08 pm
FANTASTIC field trip!
Since I’m a St. Augustine touring veteran, the grounds weren’t terribly impressive. Pretty, yes. Well preserved, definately. But what really made this trip stand out was the tour guide. He is an 8th generation descendant of the White family and most certainly passionate about his job! He made the tour completely interactive with the kids, getting down on thier level, even sitting on the floor with them!
We went with our new friends, the Pierce family, who moved here last year from Seattle in a similar set of circumstances as our own. Thier kids are matched in age well with ours and we anticipate many more fun trips with them! (they are the ones we went berry picking with two weeks ago). This guide singled out each child and told them at length what thier lives would have been like had they lived back then. They sampled lye soap, sat on beds, played with iron in the blacksmith shop, and handled all the kitchen tools. It was no stripped down or glassed of exhibit!
Together with a picnic lunch under oaks, maples, and paw paw trees (new discovery!) it was a beautiful morning.
Of course no trip to Knoxville would be complete without getting lost! I made one circle, then got horridly lost, then found my way back with the help of David on the phone working with mapquest. I’ll get it one of these days!
Later my new stroller got here. What a fun new toy! And Rowan loves it. It was really easy to assemble and I’m hoping we can put air in the tires and try it out tomorrow.
I took Andrew to a scouting swim party and then headed over to Horn of Plenty, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite places to be! I found a new variety of tomoto: a black tomato. It’s not really black, but very deep red and I suspect sort of purplish inside. And I got more of my crazy-daisy favorite, the Stripey. They are getting more in next week so I can get a bunch for Mom!
Another fantastic food find was the fried pies they had at HOP. I got peach, apple, and strawberry. I’ve been reading about fried pies for a few months now but have never eaten one that tasted remotely close to as good as how the best are described. Well this one must be up there with the best! Not just nasty pie filling inside…real fruit and not overly sweet. The crust wasn’t tough or greasy at all but tender and also not too sweet. A really nice pie. And that was just the peach! I know they don’t have a long shelf life but I”m going to warm the others up in the morning and see how they fare with coffee.
David met me at the mexican place where we had dinner: good, filling, and pretty typical mex. We did the groceries and then he took his tired self home with the cold stuff while I went and picked up Andrew. Our Boy, also tired and happy and chowing down on too many cheetos, had a good time with his new friends. The lot of them are cuddled up on the couch watching the next Horatio Hornblower in the series. All with thumbs and loveys….well, not David! 
I can’t believe this week went as quickly as it did and that we’ve now been here 4 whole weeks! I find I spend alot of time lost, alot of time reflecting, alot of time smiling. David’s had a good one too, signing a new account and making a couple of good sales. He’s encouraged and I’m proud of him.
