Our Fabled Nest

Being without internet for the last almost week has been nothing short of beautiful! Beautiful in the sense of being unplugged and almost blissfully unaware of what time it is… no nagging notifications is rather peaceful – other than missing my usual hour-long conversation with my mom. Our weekend together was perfect even if everything didn’t go as planned. That’s life!

Family time is valuable. More so now than ever before for my little tribe. For the fourth, we knew we wanted to spend time with momma and a few other favorite family members. I absolutely love pulling into their backyard, setting up our lovely little abode and having a few days of nothing but cherishing every moment. These are the weekends I crave, and this one was no exception. It’s lovely having family that has no desire to be busy but rather focusing on quality time. Arriving at momma’s was definitely a different feeling this time for sure. And even parking to set up feels weird now. It feels hollow and I know that feeling ain’t going anywhere (for any of us). The quietness fills the void where his laughter used to hang along with the “Hey babe!” he warmly yelled across the yard. He was the first person I’d run to and give a huge hug. He’d always ask how the traffic was, and he was so glad we made it…. he would then bring up his baseball cards and couldn’t wait to show us anything new he came across. A routine I gladly accepted and now I wish I had one more day of.

BUT this weekend we are making the best of it! I have a beautiful tribe of strong women and we know how to preserve! I have said in other post, we lost Pop in 2007, Doug in 2019 and now my daddy just recently. We are stronger together. We know that tears don’t make us weak but human. I love that we can laugh through the tears and talk about the good memories. We are hurting and vulnerable but together we will make it. I am quite proud of these lovely ladies that I call my own… I love how tightknit we are, and I don’t mind calling my momma my bestie along with both of my grams. If it weren’t for them or our close relationships, I don’t know how we would make it through.

Our time together was beautiful and perfect. A lot of laughs and much needed quality time. This is the theme here and I wish others could enjoy relationships as ours! We cooked together and made some incredible meals. Healthy nourishment goes out the window with one of my grams… there’s a philosophy of never enough butter. While they don’t eat gluten free, no one minds a few meals while we are in town. Plus, most of the gluten free goodies I create are pretty delicious! My nephew was able to “assist” with making our lemonade pie and pancakes… his excitement is contagious! This kiddo loves to climb on nannie’s counter to assist with the mixing of the batter… Hubs then fires up the Blackstone and we cook the pancakes outside! As the Lemonade Pie made its debut and I swear I know where I get my happy dancing skills from! Hubs brought the smoker (you should have seen us putting the smoker in the RV for travels -sheesh!). He surprised everyone with some seriously delicious sticky sweet ribs. We did take a short cut and used Stubbs BBQ Sauce – definitely a fan since it reminded me of our homemade molasses bbq sauce. We tossed together a large batch of broccoli salad (next time we need more!) and added some sweet potatoes to the smoker. Delicious!

My brother and I are trying to spend more time together- it’s something we should have been doing a long time ago. We have very different lives and I think that is something we have always used as an excuse. Even to the point of making excuses as we are five years apart and never prioritized it. Well, we both promised our daddy that we were going to make it a priority. Now, we have a group chat between hubs and I plus him and his wifey. We try for weekly check ins and are learning more about one another… it’s been a blessing. I’m grateful to them for living minutes over the road from momma and they are able to help out if needed on a whim. Planning dates with all of us has become a priority as well – little things!

This weekend, as I mentioned above, didn’t go as planned BUT we made the most of it! Originally, we chose Linville Caverns as our little excursion. It’s a short tour of the caverns that’s ADA friendly, and cooler since it’s underground… we knew it would be interesting enough for a five-year-old, safe enough for the grams and fun enough for all of us to have that quality time…. seemed simple enough. After getting a late start, we arrived to parking being out to the road and on the side of the road…. “well shit” as my daddy would have said. No way are we waiting hours in the scorching summer heat to tour a cave. Okay, plan b – let’s grab lunch! Kaye’s Kitchen, a little north of the caverns, was just the spot we needed! A quaint old fashion cafe along the river. Being too warm out, we opted for indoor seating. AC was barely functioning, but it was better than nothing! Since it was closer to 2pm by the time we arrived, we basically had the restaurant to ourselves. Rather charming and unassuming, I love little places like this!

Check out the restaurant here!

Breakfast is available until 2pm; my nephew ordered his beloved gravy and biscuits… if allowed, I am certain this kid would eat gravy 24/7! Gram, too, went the breakfast route with blueberry pancakes- she said they were cooked perfectly fluffy. For the lunch menu, they don’t offer appetizers. Which, we were all starving and more than happy to order our meals! I love they have the option of build your own sandwiches – my niece loves a good club sub and I think they delivered a lovely sandwich for her. Hubs went the same route but went with a grilled turkey and cheese plus his coveted tots- yummm. My Sister-in-law is a chicken tender lover – more often than not that’s her go to. Hubs is the same way unless we are sharing meals. They specifically made her a tender basket with fries. Another neat aspect of their menu is they have daily specials. My brother got the Friday special which was a fish sandwich and tater tots… that sandwich was so pretty! Both momma and Dianne ordered wraps. Kaye’s does wraps right – they were “stuffed to the gills” as us Southerns say with all sorts of delicious veggies and grilled chicken. I chose a gluten free Patriot sandwich… yes, even out in the middle of nowhere I had several options! I was holding my breath because most of these little places, albeit ridiculously delicious, don’t offer a lot of gluten free items. This sandwich was delicious – cranberry mayo, oven roasted turkey and muenster all piled safely between 2 slices of gluten free bread. Be cautious with fried items like the fries and tater tots – even though the item is gluten free the fryer is shared with all items on the menu…. cross contamination is a bear. I went the safe route as fruit for a side. Service was impeccable even though we were the only ones inside and were a rather large group. Our waitress was lovely, and the manager even came to check on us. My meal was brought out separately and I one hundred percent felt safe enjoying my sandwich! The best part was how affordable our meals were… roughly ten dollars, gram was able to enjoy two relatively large pancakes and a sweet tea. Ours was only $23 for both of our meals then we tipped on top of that. Seriously, the best experience eating out and being able to share a lovely meal with my little family!

Weekends like this are where it’s at. This is what life is supposed to be about. Whether we are just “wasting” time rocking on the porch, sitting together watching television, or out and about, it’s not about the “thing” we are doing. My daddy’s life was impactful on a multitude of levels. We saw him fight through obstacles, all the while never giving up and taking it in strides. We watched him be a light through all the darkness. Even when the tough got going, he kept going. His humor was infectious, and he loved all of us – differently, yes, but I love that we all enjoyed a different side. His quirks and antics were brought up more than once and we talked about him numerous times. A walk down memory lane, if you will. I know for a fact we all quoted his lovely “well shit” a handful of times and saw the positives in each day we were together. Even if the plans didn’t go to plan, we did what he would have done on any given day and made the best of it.

Cheers to our next adventure!