A traveling weekend

Beau and I got back from a weekend full of traveling.  We left early Friday morning to catch our flight to Jackson, Mississippi.  Not only was this our first time to Jackson, it was our first time to Mississippi.  There is a reason why people say "the lazy south" and by this I mean, we take where we live currently for granted.  With our crazy, hetic lives in the DC area, it was nice to be back down in the south again and have some lazy moments.  As many of you know, we are former southerners and wouldn't change it for the world.  It was definitely different being down in good old Mississippi.  We heard some of the deepest southern accent we have ever heard.  And on Saturday morning trying to find a place for breakfast, the town was dead.  There was hardly anyone walking around, granted it was 70 something degrees and I'm pretty sure 100% humidity. However, when we did see some southern folk, they were very, very friendly.  And I couldn't express to you how much cheaper going out for food was.  It definitely opend our eyes even more how completely different two cities can be. 

So we arrived in Jackson Friday afternoon.  Beau was part of the wedding party, so we had a semi-schedule to attend to.  We took the time we had to rest from our eventful morning.  Our flight was leaving out of BWI,  (one of three airports in the DC area.  This one is closer to Balitmore, MD and the farthest away from where we live) so in order to catch our 10am flight, we were at the bus stop to catch the 6:30am bus to the metro.  It was a 30 minute metro ride to the end of one of the metro lines, then waited another 10 or so minutes to catch the airport bus, which was another 30 minute ride. By the time we got to the airport, we were already exhausted and the hard part was about to begin.  Traveling with a toddler is definitely a challenge, to say the least, especially on an airplane.  I don't want to brag too much, but we believe we have the best traveler toddler.  Our first flight to Atlanta, Benton took his usual morning nap.  We had about an hour layover in Atlanta and by the time we got off our plane, walk to the terminal tram, and got to the gate, we had about 15 minutes to rest.  Benton did good on the second flight; the flight was about 45 minutes long.   So, to say the least, all three of us were tired by the time we got to our hotel room.  And not to take into account the hour difference, it was a long day and was about to get longer. The rehersal and rehersal dinner both went well.  Benton made himself known at both events.  He also chowed down at dinner, which is no surprise.  That boy does not deny food.  Benton held on strong through the night given how much travel we did that morning.  We got back to our room around 10:30pm and all three of us crashed!

Saturday morning Benton got up around his normal time and wanted some breakfast, no surprise there! We ventured down to the only restaurant that was open, Millers Grill, at 8am.  It was one of the best diners we have ever been to and we couldn't have asked for better southern hospitality.  Benton enjoyed watching the chef make his breakfast.  We hung out mostly in our room Saturday afternoon. We laid around, ate lunch while watching the rain come down, and laid around some more until it was time for Beau to get suited up and head to the church. Benton and I took our time getting ready and headed to the church about an hour before the wedding started.  We made our way to the back of the church before the ceremony and hung out with all the groomsmen before they made their way down to the altar.  It was a beautiful ceremony, as I wouldn't have guessed otherwise.  I watched the ceremony through one of the back door windows and tried taking pictures with Benton on my hip.  It was short and sweet and reminded me of when Beau and I said our 'I do's' almost 4 years ago.  It's a very special moment and day for the newlyweds, Kyle and Ashlea, to have and to hold.

We finally made our way back home.  It was a long day of traveling and another early morning.  Our flight left Jackson at 7:30 Sunday morning and we walked in our house around 4pm.  Benton did well on the flights excpet for the last 5 minutes of the last flight.  He was getting very restless and starting to get beyond hungry and started to throw a fit the same time we started descending.  It was a good 5 minutes of nonstop screaming and I felt so bad that I couldn't do anything to comfort him to make him stop.  As soon as we landed, he was fine, so we believe that his ears were popping due to the aircraft getting ready to land.  Our flight landed at BWI around 12:30pm, we got some grub, and made our way back home.  We were so happy to be back home!