Visitors to this Foreign Land

We've had visitors! This past weekend my parents, and my brother Matt, and his girlfriend, Sara stayed with us in our little abode over my brother's fall break from college. It was so nice to see familiar faces, receive family hugs, and spend time laughing like you can only do when your with your family. Unfortunately the weather wasn't what we had hoped it would be for their visit, Florence's usually 80 degree weather dipped down to the 50's for the weekend, making things a bit chilly.
I attempted to do my best to give my visitors a small taste of Florence and southern culture. Thursday morning, after sleeping in after a late arrival the night before, we ventured to Young's Pecan Factory and the Farmer's Market (two places I know my parents would love). They loved perusing the various types of pre-mixed grits, special jams, and pecan syrups and the Pecan Factory. But it was the Farmer's Market that stole my parents hearts. They slowly wandered through the produce, admiring all the freshly picked options, browsed the fresh flowers and enormous pumpkins. Mom even attempted to make a friend with a local grower when she stated "lovely weather isn't it?" and he looked at her cross-eyed and stated, "Your not from here are you?" We southerner's enjoy our warm weather. The rest of Thursday involved a Wii Championship tournament with the gold medal going to Mom for making us laugh the hardest. On Friday we explored more of Florence's shopping district and had a good southern lunch of Chick-Fil-A. Everyone who comes to visit must experience Chick-Fil-A! Before Adam had to go to work we craved pumpkins that we had purchased at the Farmer's market. Friday night I convinced my family to go to the Wilson FB game against Crestwood. We enjoyed the game, and cheered like true Wilson fans. We didn't partake in all the Wilson FB rituals - such as getting fish from from the concession stand. No need to experience that much of the South.
On Saturday we had to go to the beach and thankfully the weather was a lot nicer. The sun actually came out and we enjoyed walking the beach, searching for shells, and had a nice lunch together. At night we took the fam to Red Bone Alley so everyone could experience one of Florence's best restaurants. Matt finally got to eat some southern ribs, and Adam and Dad were purring with their steaks.
It was a great weekend for everyone and it was so nice to share some of our favorite Florence and SC things with our family. We can't wait until we have more visitors!

This week also included my birthday - Thank you so much to everyone who called me and sent cards; I feel very loved. Thank you!! It's tough to celebrate far from home, but you all made it still very special.

love you all!

Leah