What We Did This Weekend:
Thanksgiving in Indiana
As far as we're concerned, this last weekend started Tuesday after work. Brookie came home a little early and we packed up the xB and headed East on I-70 to spend Thanksgiving in North Manchester, Indiana with her family. The whole trip is a little more than nine hours, so we stopped and spent the night in St. Louis.
Tuesday night we ate at Ozzie's Sports Bar and Grill after we checked into our hotel. Ozzie is Ozzie Smith, former All-Star shortstop for the St. Louis Cardinals. The food was really good, and it was fun to see his 13 Gold Gloves in one of the showcases.
We love Hotwire.com, and booked our St. Louis lodgings there about a week before our trip. We found a 3-star hotel at a great rate and, after booking it, learned we would be staying at the Holiday Inn near the airport. We went up to our room and were impressed. But then we noticed the ceiling was dripping in the bathroom. To correct the situation, the front desk manager moved us to a room that was on the "V.I.P" level with a king size bed. Then we were really impressed.
Wednesday morning we didn't leave as early as we would have liked, but after a quick breakfast we were back on the road. There was road construction on I-270 just on the outskirts of town and that slowed us down. We also made a planned pit-stop in Marion, Indiana to see a house built by Frank Lloyd Wright. Brookie has decided two things: first, she now has a bucket list; and second, visiting every existing Frank Lloyd Wright building is on that list. There were two (out of 700+) that we planned on seeing on this trip, and the house in Marion was first. It is currently a private residence, so it felt kind of weird to stop in front of their house and start taking pictures. But we did it anyway.
After Marion we made it to Brookie's parents' house in no time. Her parents and her brothers were all home to greet us with hugs and smiles when we finally arrived. After dinner Wednesday night, we stopped at the Sandwich Cellar for an order of Pizza Fries to go. We can't ever go to North Manchester without some Pizza Fries.
Thanksgiving Day was great, and I hope yours was too. We had all of the usual stuff: candied yams, green bean casserole, carrots, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, rolls, and turkey. We brined our turkey over-night so it tasted really good and it was nice and tender. Too bad it didn't look as pretty as it tasted though. Brooke and I were in charge of the bird and it's possible that we over-cooked it. The meat literally fell off the bones like we'd left in the crock pot for eight hours or something. By the time I'd gotten all of the meat off, there was just a pile of skin and bones left on the counter top.
As usual, we could barely move after eating so much food. We watched a little football and played a rousing game of Life. Later that night, Brookie and I went with her oldest brother (who just turned 15) to see a movie. We decided on The Express. We figured that feel-good sports movies starring Dennis Quaid are usually worth the price of admission, and we were not disappointed.
Friday was Black Friday, of course. There are no big shopping centers in North Manchester, so we (Brookie, her mom, Bryce, and I) drove 45 minutes up to Fort Wayne for our shopping needs. Since we weren't needing to complete with the crazies for any door-busting deals, we left at 7:00am. By the time we got to Wal-Mart there were parking spots everywhere and hardly any line at all to check out. We got everything we wanted, and were on our way to the next store. We finished our shopping by 11:00am and had lunch at the Olive Garden (Soup, Salad, and Breadsticks: it's not everyday that we can go out to eat on a weekday).
While we were in Fort Wayne, we found the other Frank Lloyd Wright home on our checklist for this trip. This particular home is rentable. You can live in the home (up to four people) for $275 a night, but it is usually booked a few months out.
The rest of the day was pretty low-key. Bryce and I threw the football around in their yard and Brennan (the youngest) played a little bit too. I took a nap later while Brookie watched some public television show about science. For dinner we were treated to "The Mexican Restaurant." I'm not sure what the actual name is, but that's what everyone in town calls it I guess. It is apparently the best place to eat in North Manchester, and we were excited to try it out. The food was really good. And for dessert they brought us the biggest $2 fried ice cream you've ever seen.
Saturday morning we left at 6:00am, so none of the boys were awake. We said goodbye to Brooke's parents, and started the trip home. We left early so that we could do the whole trip in one day and get home in the mid-afternoon to have time to unwind the rest of the night. The return trip went by pretty fast. We listened to the New York Times #1 Best-seller "The Christmas Sweater" (but don't take the New York Times' word for it... take ours: It was awesome) on CD for the first five hours, and by then we were in St. Louis, which felt like we were basically home (you know how there's always a point where you know you're home-free? For example, driving home to Provo from Salt Lake, the point of the mountain is where you're pretty much home... Well, apparently St. Louis is that point for us. Sure. It's over three hours away, but it's kind of in our extended neighborhood).
We got home at 3:00pm. It was a great weekend. Glad to be home and glad to have been safe. And that's what we did this weekend.
Tuesday night we ate at Ozzie's Sports Bar and Grill after we checked into our hotel. Ozzie is Ozzie Smith, former All-Star shortstop for the St. Louis Cardinals. The food was really good, and it was fun to see his 13 Gold Gloves in one of the showcases.
We love Hotwire.com, and booked our St. Louis lodgings there about a week before our trip. We found a 3-star hotel at a great rate and, after booking it, learned we would be staying at the Holiday Inn near the airport. We went up to our room and were impressed. But then we noticed the ceiling was dripping in the bathroom. To correct the situation, the front desk manager moved us to a room that was on the "V.I.P" level with a king size bed. Then we were really impressed.
Wednesday morning we didn't leave as early as we would have liked, but after a quick breakfast we were back on the road. There was road construction on I-270 just on the outskirts of town and that slowed us down. We also made a planned pit-stop in Marion, Indiana to see a house built by Frank Lloyd Wright. Brookie has decided two things: first, she now has a bucket list; and second, visiting every existing Frank Lloyd Wright building is on that list. There were two (out of 700+) that we planned on seeing on this trip, and the house in Marion was first. It is currently a private residence, so it felt kind of weird to stop in front of their house and start taking pictures. But we did it anyway.
After Marion we made it to Brookie's parents' house in no time. Her parents and her brothers were all home to greet us with hugs and smiles when we finally arrived. After dinner Wednesday night, we stopped at the Sandwich Cellar for an order of Pizza Fries to go. We can't ever go to North Manchester without some Pizza Fries.
Thanksgiving Day was great, and I hope yours was too. We had all of the usual stuff: candied yams, green bean casserole, carrots, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, rolls, and turkey. We brined our turkey over-night so it tasted really good and it was nice and tender. Too bad it didn't look as pretty as it tasted though. Brooke and I were in charge of the bird and it's possible that we over-cooked it. The meat literally fell off the bones like we'd left in the crock pot for eight hours or something. By the time I'd gotten all of the meat off, there was just a pile of skin and bones left on the counter top.
As usual, we could barely move after eating so much food. We watched a little football and played a rousing game of Life. Later that night, Brookie and I went with her oldest brother (who just turned 15) to see a movie. We decided on The Express. We figured that feel-good sports movies starring Dennis Quaid are usually worth the price of admission, and we were not disappointed.
Friday was Black Friday, of course. There are no big shopping centers in North Manchester, so we (Brookie, her mom, Bryce, and I) drove 45 minutes up to Fort Wayne for our shopping needs. Since we weren't needing to complete with the crazies for any door-busting deals, we left at 7:00am. By the time we got to Wal-Mart there were parking spots everywhere and hardly any line at all to check out. We got everything we wanted, and were on our way to the next store. We finished our shopping by 11:00am and had lunch at the Olive Garden (Soup, Salad, and Breadsticks: it's not everyday that we can go out to eat on a weekday).
While we were in Fort Wayne, we found the other Frank Lloyd Wright home on our checklist for this trip. This particular home is rentable. You can live in the home (up to four people) for $275 a night, but it is usually booked a few months out.
The rest of the day was pretty low-key. Bryce and I threw the football around in their yard and Brennan (the youngest) played a little bit too. I took a nap later while Brookie watched some public television show about science. For dinner we were treated to "The Mexican Restaurant." I'm not sure what the actual name is, but that's what everyone in town calls it I guess. It is apparently the best place to eat in North Manchester, and we were excited to try it out. The food was really good. And for dessert they brought us the biggest $2 fried ice cream you've ever seen.
Saturday morning we left at 6:00am, so none of the boys were awake. We said goodbye to Brooke's parents, and started the trip home. We left early so that we could do the whole trip in one day and get home in the mid-afternoon to have time to unwind the rest of the night. The return trip went by pretty fast. We listened to the New York Times #1 Best-seller "The Christmas Sweater" (but don't take the New York Times' word for it... take ours: It was awesome) on CD for the first five hours, and by then we were in St. Louis, which felt like we were basically home (you know how there's always a point where you know you're home-free? For example, driving home to Provo from Salt Lake, the point of the mountain is where you're pretty much home... Well, apparently St. Louis is that point for us. Sure. It's over three hours away, but it's kind of in our extended neighborhood).
We got home at 3:00pm. It was a great weekend. Glad to be home and glad to have been safe. And that's what we did this weekend.
How fun! It sounds like you guys had a great time. Utah for Christmas, right? Enjoy.
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