A much needed vacation

The last weekend was... very much needed. I feel refreshed, and like I found myself without realizing I had been lost.

Wednesday - Drove down to Champaign with James, Nikki, and Weseloh. Had dinner at Mandarin Wok with my sister, and went to Jarlings for dessert. Stopped in Metropolis Illinois to take pictures with the giant superman statue. We arrived in Nashville around 1am. Get to the room to find we don't have a suite, but two queens beds. The addition of a rollaway and James' air mattress led to a very cozy room for the next several days.

Thursday - Met up with John at UCP of Middle Tennessee at 8:30 am. Started building the ramp, had lunch at the Farmers Market, finished the ramp in a race against the ran. Went back to the hotel, showered, and decided to head to dinner. Sushi and sake bombs followed a sprint in the rain. Proceeded to the Charlie Daniels Museum and Big River Brewery.

Friday - Met with John again at UCP at 8:15. We had a big day ahead of us - had an entire porch to take down off a trailer home and a new ramp to build. Thursday we were smart enough to have packed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, peanut butter oreos, honey wheat pretzels, fruit roll ups, and bananas. Finished the ramp, went to see the Pantheon, and went to Monells for dinner. If you are ever in Nashville, Monells is a MUST. You sit down at a table with strangers, and the food is served family style. Greatest. Food. Ever. Followed up dinner back at the hotel with some Dr Horrible watching and general chill hangouts.

Saturday - Met John at UCP. Drove 20 minutes, and were challenged to a 2 hour ramp build. Completed the ramp in 2 hours for a really sweet woman. Went to the bicentennial park by the farmers market, walked around the farmers market, had lunch outside, and just relaxed. Went back to the hotel, found a concert to go to at Twelfth and Porter(part of the Tin Pan South Songwriters Festival). Bought a cd which was later listened to probably ten times over the next few days (check out Roots and Wings - a duo consisting of Heather Morgan and Ross Copperman). From there, dinner at Jack's BBQ, followed up by several hours at the Cadillac Ranch. Finished up the night at Paradise Park - a trailer park themed bar, and then grabbed some Tater Tots.

Sunday was originally the day we were going to drive back to Chicago, but had found out none of us had to fly on Monday... plus it was going to snow. So we changed our route and headed to Lexington. Grabbed dinner with my family at Pazzos, icecream at Graeters with a large crowd of my friends, and wrapped up the night with TWO Lindsay Lohan movies simultaneously on TV on different channels (Mean Girls and the Parent Trap...).

Monday we walked around Keeneland, went to Joseph Beth Booksellers, walked around Ashland, had lunch at Bourbon and Toulouse, and hit the road towards Louisville. One stop at the Buffalo Trace Distillery, followed by dinner at the Ram in Indianapolis, and we successfully managed to avoid the snow in Chicago.

We did a lot, and it was awesome, and very much needed :) Yay!