Homeward bound, I guess (week 16)

It’s no secret that I’m not in any hurry for this magical, whirlwind adventure to end. The #2021LemonadeTour has been the most epic of journeys. Just … wow. Every night, I go to bed exhausted but breathlessly anticipating the next day’s activities! If it weren’t for the girls and all of our friends and loved ones being back home, Tony and I might continue this journey indefinitely. That being said, there’s no place like home, and we are slowly but surely making our way in a northern-ish direction.

After we left South Carolina, we drove the girls to the Charlotte airport so they could catch a flight to Minneapolis/St. Paul. Was that an emotional experience!! Airport security decided that the girls were old enough to get to their gate by themselves, so we gave them hugs at the security checkpoint and sent them on their way. Even though we’ve spent almost every waking minute with them for the last eight-plus months and they were loooooong overdue for some “grandparent time,” it was still super difficult to wave goodbye and leave the airport without them! Fortunately, they made it back to Wisconsin just fine (thank you again, Grandpa Steve and Grandma Karen!) and are happily home in De Pere (thank you again, Grandma Cookie!) right now. Also, congrats to Bella for making the high school soccer team!

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So without the girls, Tony and I are left without supervision—which could be hazardous to our health! Charlotte was a blast in that we found a couple of breweries and, later, made some super fun new friends at a bar… who took us to another bar… On Sunday morning, we walked to a cute, historic church for Mass and saw just a few of the beautiful parks in downtown Charlotte. We could’ve stayed longer, but Asheville was calling. So we hit the road.

Our hotel near the Biltmore Village was in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains. On the recommendations of friends, we went to dinner Sunday night at Sovereign Remedies—a chic, hipster kind of a place that we would have otherwise passed right by. But ohhhhh my Lord, the food! Easily in the top three from this trip. Or so I thought… until we had an early anniversary dinner Monday at the Sunset Terrace at the Omni Grove Park Inn!! So decadent! (We earned those calories by hiking up to the Catawba Falls waterfalls earlier in the day.) The historic inn has a wide outdoor patio with sweeping views of the mountains that were only topped by the food and the service. Five stars all around.

Yesterday (Tuesday) was our actual anniversary and our day at the Biltmore. I’ve been trying to come up with adjectives to do the place justice. Majestic? Awe-inspiring? Regal? Nope—not enough. We settled on this: It’s the Grand Canyon of human opulence. You just need to see it yourself to understand. After touring the actual Biltmore residence, (250 rooms! 33 bedrooms!) we had our picnic along one of the walking trails to the gardens. Then we continued our stroll because of course Tony had to check out the bass pond. The winery was on the other side of the estate; we purchased some drinks, sat in the shade and played cribbage until our assigned wine tasting time. Of course the wines were all wonderful! With all the restaurant eating we’ve been doing lately, Tony and I both agreed to eat in last night. So we picked up some sides and some steaks to grill at the hotel. Turned out just as good as in a restaurant!

This morning, we drove to Tennessee for our whitewater rafting tour of the Upper Pigeon River. The water was a bit colder than Tony would have liked, and I didn’t love the scary water snake we saw. (EEEEK!) But the rafting itself was absolutely exhilarating. Would love to go again. We dried off and drove into Gatlinburg for a chairlift ride up to the SkyBridge–the longest pedestrian suspension bridge in North America. Proud to say I crossed the glass walkway panels twice without hyperventilating.

Now we are settled in to a riverside cabin in Pigeon Forge where we’ll stay until Friday, at least. After that, our plans are a bit up in the air–which is actually kind of refreshing.

Our love and God’s grace to all of you back home. Thank you again from the bottom of our hearts for your prayers and well-wishes along this journey!