Sweet Home Fourth of July

Random candid of my cousin Amanda. When I get bored, I just shoot.

Wow, what a week! I decided to take a bit of vacay and head down south for the Fourth. I was going to hit up Airtran, but at the last moment my good friend Dawn had her plans canceled and we decided to make it a road trip instead! After pushing my flight to credit we loaded up her SUV and made some headway on Wednesday evening. We scored a sweet hotel room at the Marriott in Chattanooga on Priceline at less than a 1/3 of the advertised price…I shit you not.

The next day we made our way down to Montgomery for a little lunch at Sinclair’s with my best friend Annie. Not only did she treat us to a killer burger, but also gave us a tour of her mother’s gorgeous antebellum house that’s being remodeled (I plan on shooting it when done! Oh hells yes!) and me a bag full of venison! Tough to top that! The last little stop on the way was in Loxley where we grabbed strawberry milkshakes at Burris Farm Market. They are phenomenal! We finally hit up the beach around 6:30PM and made good with the folks before heading down to catch a glimpse of the sand and waves at night on Florida Pointe.

Friday was spent running around all of tarnation. We hit up the store since I was cooking later that evening and eventually made it up to Oysterella’s on the Causeway. We dined in for lunch with my Mom overlooking the U.S.S. Alabama.  The food was average for a similar sort of restaurant, and thus nothing to write home about. From there it was a haul back to the beach, stopping both to pick up Dawn a houndstooth U. of  Alabama hat and to pick up 5lbs of royal reds from Blalock’s Seafood. It was definitely a welcome feast when I steamed those up later that evening. Mmm… Prior to that though, I had to introduce Dawn to Dippin’ Dots (how has anyone not had them!?) and grab a beach dress for her at some local beach shop. All went well, dinner was delicious, and we ended the night by going to see the Orange Beach fireworks. Sadly, they were cut to around half the normal length, but they were nice nonetheless.

Beginning of the finale.

The Fourth came along the next day and we headed for a morning on the beach. It was gorgeous weather and hot as tarnation! Nonetheless, we had a great time walking up and down the beach, wading into the waves, and getting the powder white sand EVERYWHERE. From there we headed home for the huge party my family puts on every year. With over 30 friends and relatives over, we had a huge meal of steaks, ribs, burgers, and all of the essential side-dishes.

Sunday we decided to start the trip back to VA. We headed out early and started the trip with a delicious brunch at Spot of Tea in Mobile with a close friend of mine. The bananas foster french toast was outstanding! Paired with the strawberry sweet tea out on the patio, it all made for a great start to the day. We continued on our trip up the back-roads of Alabama, making our way through 43, 5, 25, and 69 right into God’s Country: Tuscaloosa, AL.

I gave Dawn a nice crash course in the glory that is Alabama’s campus, pointing out the important spots (including the current home of the Mallet Assembly. MUA bitches!). After chillin’ again with my best friend for a bit we all headed over to Dreamland for the best damned ribs anywhere. I treated everyone to a couple racks of ribs and delicious banana pudding. Mmm… Sadly, all good must end and we headed towards B-ham for the night to stay at my bro’s.

Sadly, this was the end of the fun for the most part. Monday was spent driving the final twelve hours to NoVa. Tuesday was spent recovering from the vacation, and Wednesday was a full day of work. Exciting, right? Exactly. So, I’m back up north and back to discovering good food, good fun, and good people. I cannot wait to fire up the grill and throw on some venison and sausage! Looking forward to making y’all jealous soon!

More images on my flickr: Family & Fireworks