Destin, Florida

This weekend we took a trip to the white sand beaches of Destin, Florida, which resides on the Gulf Coast.  We were able to find a beach that has not been effected by the oil spill as of yet.  It was a beautiful day-- about 94 degrees with a few clouds in the distance.  The water was so warm!  I am used to alpine lakes where it the water is always cold.  The sand was incredible--so soft!  It felt almost like you were walking on a blanket.  Unfortunately, because the sand was so soft, there were also no shells to be found--other than a few really tiny ones.

We had a lot of fun, and got really sunburned.  Oddly enough, I was the one who got the worst sunburn and I was also the one who applied the most sunscreen.  Go figure.  Zuri was lucky and didn't burn at all.  Zuri enjoyed the beach--she was a water bum!  As long as we had an arm securely around her, she wasn't afraid of the water at all.  She also loved playing in the soft sand.

Our hangout--we were able to "rent" this umbrella and chairs for the day!

See how fine the sand is!  No big rocks or anything to mar the softness.

We attempted to build a sandcastle, but Zuri had fun demolishing it every time we would try.

Playing with Daddy's bellybutton!

Testing the waters!  She wouldn't go in unless I held both her hands, which was kind of awkward, but she loved the waves splashing up on her.

Riding a wave into shore

I went out swimming and when I came back, this is what I found!  Poor Zuri was so worn out, and evidently J was too!  Fun fact:  I found a five dollar bill riding the waves to shore!

A Piece of History...

This week's excursion was to Roswell, Georgia, to visit some of the historical homes and plantations.  We visited four different homes/plantations.  The first three we went to are called A Southern Trilogy because they were all built by Roswell's founders.  The Archibald Smith plantation home, Bulloch Hall, and Barrington Hall.  Photography was not allowed inside but we were able to get many beautiful shots of the outside to give a taste of the old southern plantation life. 

The Archibald Smith Plantation home
The 1845 Smith Plantation Home stands as majestically as it did over 150 years ago, with original furnishings inside and outbuildings including slave quarters, barn, corn crib, kitchen, carriage house and old well. Attached to, but with no entrance to the home, is a parson’s room. The home was built a mile north of what was then the blossoming town square of a little mill town known as Roswell, Georgia. Archibald Smith came here to escape the summer heat and insects of coastal Georgia, bringing his wife, children, and 30 slaves to help them run a 300-acre plus plantation. You will marvel at the home itself, which contains a treasury of fine antiques, including the 1833 piano in the parlor that the Smiths had crated up and moved to Valdosta, Georgia when they fled the Occupation of Roswell during the Civil War. Over the mantle, since that war, has hung the engraving titled "The Burial of Latane", depicting the burial of a confederate soldier on a southern plantation, a remembrance of the oldest son the Smiths lost in the war. The upstairs hall parlor and four bedrooms are on view. They contain numerous walnut and mahogany marble-topped chests and washstands, magnificent armoires and a spool, canopy bed that is original to the home. In the dining area, view the banquet-sized walnut dining table, original to the house, and an Empire, crotch mahogany sideboard dating about 1860. The house had neither electricity nor gas until the 1940's. In the downstairs library, you'll see Archibald Smith's walnut plantation desk dating back to 1840, in a setting of floor-to-ceiling books from that era. In the hallway is a blue, balloon-back settee, circa 1870-75 believed to have its original upholstery. 

 The front of the plantation

 Separate building for the slaves

 This is the building where food was prepared...technically the kitchen.  Food was brought from this building into the main house where it was served.  One of my favorite things was the "fly flapper."  It was a big wind up device that "flapped" as it wound down to keep the air circulating and keep the flies from the food.   In the background you can see the well where they got their water.

This is the Springhouse--where food such at butter and eggs were kept cool.  It is fed by a natural spring which keeps the food chilled.

The white oak tree.  It was between 280-300 years old--the second oldest white oak tree in Georgia.  Josh took this picture.

Isn't that the coolest bench!  I have a mental image of a man and woman courting, just talking to one another on this bench. 

Barrington Hall
In the 1830s, Barrington King and his father, Roswell King co-founded the colony which became Roswell, Georgia. Together, they built a dam to capture the waters of Vickery Creek. Water was redirected to a millwheel to power the looms of the first cotton mill of the Roswell Manufacturing Company, chartered in 1839. Barrington King took over the mill from his father and doubled its size. By 1853, the two mills tripled the revenue of the original Roswell Manufacturing Company.
Barrington Hall is one of the best examples of Greek Revival Temple architecture in the United States, today.  It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has been called one of metro Atlanta's 50 Most Beautiful Homes by Atlanta Magazine.  Fourteen Doric columns line three sides of Barrington Hall, and this house was used as Union headquarters during the Civil War.

 The gardens in each home were beautiful, but we loved this arch pathway.

Smokehouse

Tours start on the hour, so they set out some water for you while you wait if you get there early.  I thought that was pretty cool--you don't get that very often anymore!

Bulloch Hall
Bulloch Hall was built in 1839 by Major James Stephens Bulloch, one of Roswell's first settlers and the grandson of Georgia’s Revolutionary Governor, Archibald Bulloch. This impressive Greek Revival structure has been described as one of the most significant houses in Georgia, and one of the South's few examples of true temple-form architecture with full pedimented portico. Bulloch Hall has been the setting for many social occasions, chief among them is the wedding of Major Bulloch's daughter, Mittie, on December 22, 1853, to Theodore Roosevelt of New York. Little did those in attendance realize they were witnessing a union that would produce a United States president (Teddy Roosevelt). In 1905, President Roosevelt came to see his mother's childhood home and spoke to a crowd from the bandstand in Town Square. Mittie's other son, Elliott, was the father of Eleanor Roosevelt who married Franklin D. Roosevelt and served as our nation's First Lady. Eleanor would sometimes drive to Roswell from Warm Springs to visit. Even Margaret Mitchell, author of Gone With The Wind, was fascinated by Bulloch Hall. In 1923 she interviewed the last living bridesmaid of the Bulloch/Roosevelt wedding and wrote an article for The Atlanta Constitution. Major Bulloch took great care with the grounds. Along with an arbor, 37 shade and fruit trees were planted. Because of their ability to discourage flies and rodents, Osage Orange trees were placed near the house. Today, the grounds of Bulloch Hall boast 142 trees on the Historic Tree Register, reconstructed Slave Quarters, a demonstration garden and nature trail.

An interesting thing that I found about Bulloch Hall is that the slave quarters were separated from the main house by a fence, and there was only a small opening for them to come through.  The smaller structure is the outhouse.

Magnolia trees are all over the place in Georgia.  They are huge, gorgeous trees with giant flowers.  Here is an idea of the size of the flowers!


The Mansell House
The last place we went to was the Mansell House.  It wasn't on our tour list, but we saw signs and I was curious because Mansell is a surname on my mother's side of the family--and they come from the South (most notably Texas).  The Mansell house was built in the Queen Anne style in the early 1900's.  The grounds are gorgeous, and unlike the other homes we visited, the Mansell house is often rented out for weddings, receptions, parties, etc.

The Mansell house had many beautiful statues.  Here are a few of my favorite...

Cleveland & Helen

This weekend we took a trip up to Cleveland and Helen, Georgia.  They are both very unique towns.  Cleveland is home of the Cabbage Patch kids--Babyland General, and do they take their dolls seriously!  Babyland General is designed to look and feel like a real hospital!  They even have "deliveries," where a "nurse" will make a big production about a new baby being born. 

I had thought that it would be more like a Build-A-Bear type deal, where you can customize your doll and pick different outfits.  Babyland General was a big store, true, but it was way beyond my expectations.  Zuri had a blast, though.  Oddly enough, she really wasn't interested in the dolls, and went straight for all the stuffed animals.  Go figure.  She found a stroller and fell in love--she raced across the store with the stroller and was so cute. 

There is a reception area and a nursery!

Here is an incubator.  You can't tell from the picture but it has humidity controls and everything.

They had several rooms set up just for the dolls.  They had rooms where you could "nurse" and change the dolls.  

Zuri saw the cabbage patch doll in the swing and ran over to help push the doll!  It was so cute--she just had to rock the doll!

She found the stuffed animals and didn't want to let them go.

She finally found a doll she liked and was pushing it around in the stroller.  One of the "nurses" saw it and was commenting how adorable Zuri is, and Zuri stopped, handed her the doll and then pointed back to the stroller.  The nurse laughed and put the doll back in the stroller for Zuri.  It was so funny.

 This doll is one of several in display cases in the "waiting room."  She is worth $15,000.00.  Crazy.

In Cleveland we also saw many things which are characterized with the "south."  I saw my first Piggly Wiggly (one of my favorite movies is Sweet Home Alabama).

Another big thing down here is boiled peanuts (or as many signs say--"boiled p-nuts").  J brought some home one time and I didn't particularly care for them, but then, I am not a fan of nuts.

We saw this sign at a Burger King and laughed.  Got Ribs?

The second place we visited was the town of Helen, which has been made to feel like an old German town.  Many of the signs are in German, and the architecture of the entire town is the old-time German look.

There is more to do there than just shop, though.  The Chattahoochee river flows through town and you can rent tubes and float down the river.  Unfortunately, we weren't able to go tubing at the time, but we are going to keep it in mind for another weekend!

On our way out of town we saw this random gazebo type thing in the middle of a cow field.  It is some sort of Indian mound.