After building out Betty it was time to hit the road and head south for the winter. The first stop was my mom’s house in Georgia. We needed to do a quick unload, board the cats, and rally the troops for a caravan to Virginia Beach for my favorite holiday…Thanksgiving!
Chrysa had rented a great house right in Virginia Beach for Thanksgiving Week. You will be unsurprised to find out the plan was to eat, drink, explore, and try to stay at least a little fit while doing it. Spoiler alert…mission accomplished on all fronts. The meal I cooked kicked ass (humble brag), we had some real fancy cocktails, the weather was great, and we even explored The Cavelier and the craft fair. We of course did it all in style. The trip to Virginia Beach was a great way to relax and decompress after our assignment in NY. It was also a great way to set the tone for the next holiday on the list…Christmas!
It seems like we have developed a pattern where we do a full Christmas gathering with my family every five years or so in Georgia. This was year five and it was time to do the full festivities. We left Virginia Beach and had a wonderful few weeks relaxing at my moms before it was time to celebrate Santa season.
Christmas at the lake was everything you would want it to be. We had nice weather, great food, new additions to the crew, and hot sauce. In what is sure to be a new tradition for everyone, Chrysa and I brought the Hot Ones lineup, you know…just for fun. We all grabbed some chips and tried our best to make it through all ten. We all did good! Some people felt the burn the next morning (if you catch my meaning) but everyone survived and had a fun time. Besides the traditional hot sauce gauntlet, we opened presents, drank wine, chatted, and generally got to catch up with each other. Chrysa and I even got to show off Betty!
It wasn’t all lake time and family bonding, we also did some cultural excursions while we were in Georgia. The Van Gogh experience and the Downton Abbey Exhibition were going on in Atlanta while we were staying at my mom’s house. We took a couple trips and they were both well worth the time and the drive. Chrysa was particularly taken with Van Gogh. I think we were both surprised by how prolific he was and how versed he was in multiple styles.
After a while Chrysa nailed down her next assignment. She’s going to talk about it in the next post but – there’s a beach involved. But, with the start of an assignment comes the end of time off and a resumption of responsibility. A special thank you to my mom who was willing to put us up for an extended time. It was wonderful to spend time with her and to see my family. Hopefully it takes less than five years before we do it again.
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