how to babymoon

i've decided that there is a rule out there somewhere that something unfortunate must happen on all our trips together. this summer there was that plane ride from hell which has loverboy convinced he can't fly anymore. two years ago there was that completely rained out trip to Charleston. two thanksgivings ago, we went camping in the freezing cold and the screen on my camera cracked. and before that, there was the epic failure of our honeymoon in Mexico, wherein we got sick from the water somehow (even though we tried to avoid it at all costs) and spent the next two weeks at home wrapped around the toilet, all our stuff still in boxes in our new apartment. that was a wonderful way to start married life (honey, pass the toilet paper). yes, i might still be a little bitter about it.

so, in keeping with tradition, we decided to get food poisoning on our last day in the mountains in North Carolina during our babymoon this week. we spent the whole drive home and all that night as sick as dogs and only started feeling back to normal again this morning. you gotta love tradition, don't you?

speaking of traditions, you may not know that we don't celebrate christmas. i didn't celebrate it growing up and now loverboy and i still don't. i've never put up lights or decorated a tree or stayed up waiting for santa...and to be honest, i never really felt like i was missing out on anything. however, i may have fallen completely in love with the bazillions of christmas tree farms we passed on the way there. i never knew christmas trees could be so cute—all lined up and fat and puffy! especially since on the day we arrived there was snow on the ground in the mountains. i totally get the allure now.

see: 

these could be better pictures if they weren't taken from the car window. but after five hours on the road, we are more like aren't-we-there-yet-angry-face than oh-look-lets-stop-for-a-photo-opp. and when i say we i mostly mean me. i wish i were more of the scenic route variety person, but i'm just too impatient.

the trip all began when we thought it would be fun to rent a cabin in the mountains and be all outdoorsy for our babymoon. instead, we ended up staying in a lodge that was "cabiny." as in, there was wood on the walls and a hunting motif:

 

but with extras like a hot tub and dining room. it was a really cute room though and we even got the front desk guy to find us a plug for the bathtub so we could use it. apparently he knew the plug was broken but no one has wanted to use the tub before. most of the trip was nice except that we realized when we got there that it's really a skiing town. and being that close to winter wonderland fun that i've also never done before and couldn't do still, was kind of a downer. to cheer ourselves up we searched for snow-worthy coats as it had snowed five inches just before we got there, visited three different locations of the legendary Mast General Store and stocked up on candy, drank hot chocolate and watched indiana jones in our room when it started to rain.

we did have fun driving on those twisty mountain roads, taking photos of beautiful farmland and looking around antique stores. my favorite part was the snow, playing pool and spending time together. but as we drove home in agony, loverboy decided we were never going back there again. which is probably good because it makes it that much more special.

and now for some pics of the good times:

first hot chocolate at a bagel place while frantically trying to find a bathroom. oh pregnancy!

festive truck in boone, north carolina

Mast General Store, home of candy and other outdoor goodness

loverboy looking studly with his Cheer Wine soda out in the country

once the snow melted and it started raining i didn't feel stupid wearing wellies in the mtns.

on our hiking trip before it got interrupted by a monsters-sized, loose, black dog who wanted to eat us.

just before loverboy demonstrated the consequences of scratching on the eight ball. our last night of fun.

our just-been-poisoned faces before we left to puke our guts out.

and that, folks, is how you babymoon.

xx
so-happy-to-be-home B