Gosh, I am SO late in writing this post- This happened back in MAY! But, better late than never, right?

A few months ago, Rhiannon (@writerrhiannon) and I were talking about meeting up. A weekend opened up and then the debate began as to where this needs to happen. Atlanta was discussed as it’s close to her (she lives in the Atlanta area) and I’m around a 6-7 hour drive. Then I just casually threw out Birmingham because it was a good halfway point. A little research into Birmingham confirmed that this would be a good place for a meet-up.

As the weeks went by, we did some planning- mainly finding a place to stay (Cobb Lane B&B) and then just kind of said we’d play it all by ear. With us only going to be in town for Friday night and heading back to our respective homes Saturday afternoon- we just wanted to have an open schedule- not be rush, rush, rush to do SO many things.

Finally, the day of the trip. I was up early that morning- hitting the road. CRV was gassed up, the weather was gorgeous, the sun-roof was down. In short, life was good.

After a few minor issues with my Tom-Tom ( yes, I’m still a little peeved at it), I arrived at the Chick-Fil-A we had agreed to meet at since our room was not supposed to be ready till later. We took a walk around, looking for somewhere else to eat, but decided to stick at Chick Fil A because everything else was closed till later.

As luck would have it- we were able to check into the B&B earlier than anticipated. We drove down there and waited on the lady to arrive to check us in. As we walked up the front steps, we saw wicker furniture and little stuffed animals in various places. Seeing a bird laying on it’s side (and assuming that it was stuffed) I stopped to adjust it- and then screamed when I realized that it was a dead bird- and immediately ran to the car to get my hand sanitizer. Rhiannon dubbed the bird Stanley and while we laughed about it- I don’t know if the owner of the B&B quite got our sense of humor.

After a tour of the place and unpacking (YES, I was only staying for 1 night and YES, I had brought a pile of stuff- I am NOT an efficient packer) we set out for a walk around town. After a walk around, we found this place called Galley and Garden– home of the Hemingway Drink (ironically, it’s the most girly sounding drink on the menu.) The breeze was blowing, we were on the front porch and we sat outside, drinking and talking- from books to family stuff to how great the location was. It was decided that if we ever went back to Birmingham, this would be a stop on the “To-Do” list!

A walk back to the B&B, and then a discussion on dinner led us to eat at Mellow Mushroom- where we split a pizza and then grabbed dessert at Insomnia Cookies– as we headed back for a night of watching TV and drinking wine.

Saturday morning, the B&B serves breakfast- so we popped downstairs to grab a bite before we headed to Pepper Place Market. We parked and started walking around- people were milling around, looking at booths, grabbing fresh produce, getting drinks and coffee. The market was divided into 2 sections- one was more the farmer’s market side with the fresh veggies and the other was goodies to buy (flowers, lotions, jewelry, art, etc). We met the artist Ashley McCullars and each bought a picture from her (the colors were so fun and so bright!)

Want to know more about Ashley? Check out her Instagram and prepare to drool! Some more walking around (and a T-shirt purchased for me), I see these necklaces that keep catching my eye. They are initial necklaces and so cute- so I get a coral one with a gold T (I am LOVING coral this year!) Don’t live near Birmingham, but want a necklace? Susan Dennis Gordon has an Etsy shop!

After a thorough checking out of Pepper Place, we begin to walk to find something to eat. We follow the directions of the tea guy and somewhere we get a bit off-track; but then we find Babalu. I was curious to see if it was the same Babalu I knew back in Jackson (and it is!) We had guacamole, small tacos (I had camarones- shrimp tacos- fried for one and grilled for the other 2- both were excellent!)

 

All in all- it was a quick trip- but so lovely to meet Rhiannon! Now, just counting down the days till we can get another meet-up scheduled!

 

Happy Reading and Bookishly Yours,

T @ Traveling With T