In Which Cleveland Visits Tallahassee

Our friend Deanna came down from Cleveland to see us for a weekend! She arrived late on a Thursday evening, and due to some disagreement about times it would take for her plane to arrive from Atlanta and times it took to get to the airport, we weren't there to meet her at baggage claim. 

On Friday morning, Deanna and I hit the beach, which isn't really hilly at all, I just wasn't so good at using the panorama on my phone. 

It had snowed in Cleveland just a few days before... and it was 80 degrees at the beach. Florida's not so bad. 

We drove a few miles further and went to Apalachicola because Deanna wanted seafood and it seemed to make more sense to go to a place that's actually on the coast. We went to the Seafood Grill where Carson and I have been before because it's just so good. Deanna ordered "tea" and I think the waitress could tell she wasn't from the south because she asked if she wanted sweet or unsweet. Deanna had the "largest fish sandwich ever" and fried oysters and I had the shrimp po'boy. Due to an experience I've had in the past with non-southern people, I asked if she knew how to peel a shrimp. She didn't and our conversation made me laugh. 

We walked all over the tiny little town, and found this funny garden store outside. Isn't it so pretty?

We arrived back in Tallahassee just in time to meet up with Carson on campus. Traffic was rerouted for some unknown reason so getting there was a miserable experience, but we walked that off by exploring a little bit. 

We returned home and I introduced Deanna to boiled peanuts. During our conversation at lunch, I'd informed her that one didn't just order tea in the south... one specified if they didn't want to get super sweet tea. That got us talking about differences in places we grew up and I asked if she'd tried boiled peanuts, so when we saw a place that sold them on the side of the road, we stopped and bought some to try later. She asked a question I hadn't thought of which was "Do you eat the shells too?" (the answer was no... and laughter). The verdict: "They kind of taste like chickpeas"

On Saturday, we had breakfast at Chic-fil-A because Deanna hadn't been there for breakfast before. 

From there, we went thrifting. We found some great stuff and Deanna especially found some pretty great things that made her bags bursting to the brim on the way home. Worth it though. 

That night's dinner was a little cookout. Carson made steaks, kebabs and corn on the grill and our neighbor Matt came down with some of the best macaroni salad I've ever had. We played Wits and Wagers, Balderdash and Scattergories after eating, and then I brought out the ice cream we made in the ice cream maker we got for Christmas - yummy.

We went to our new church on Sunday and then to lunch. We went to Monk's, which Carson and I have been to before and is apparently rated pretty high on TripAdvisor as a place you must go in Tallahassee. Deanna went for the burger that was most highly recommended: one with peanut butter and jelly. I had a bite and it wasn't my favorite, but I think for the right tastebuds, it would probably be terrific. 

Another place we've driven by but never researched is Mission San Luis. Deanna had looked up things to do in Tallahassee and it looked pretty neat so we went for it. It was all but deserted on a Sunday afternoon and it felt like we were transported to an entirely different place. It's a Spanish Mission built in the 1600s. It appears that sometimes there are people around doing demonstrations in the different buildings and shops, but that wasn't happening that Sunday afternoon. It was fun walking around and learning about a piece of local history at our own pace.

Here's the council house

The fort

Inside the fort

Walking from the kitchen to the friary

We went in the church last. As soon as I walked in, I smelled something bad and heard squeaking and little feet in the rafters... mice. Nope. So Carson and Deanna ventured in and I stayed outside.

Another highly rated Tallahassee place? Donut Kingdom. We'd never been so we made that stop after the mission. Carson had an apple fritter, Deanna had a red velvet one with cream cheese, and I had part of a custard one before I realized I don't like custard. 

We went back to the house for Deanna to pack, and then the two of us headed to the airport.