The last part of our trip was a walk down memory lane. We tried to hit up as many places as we could think of that we loved during our time living in SC.
First stop, which we actually never did, but had heard things about was....Sliding Rock!
But, first a picnic lunch out of the back of the car, with our old timey sodas from Cracker Barrell. Good thing Kyler had his bottle opener :)
Then off to Sliding Rock....where the water was 55 degrees! The line was long, but it moved fast and what a cool experience, literally, LOL! They loved it and we loved watching them. Nature is so cool!
Once the kiddos were done freezing, they changed clothes and we drove a few minutes down the road and came across Looking Glass Rock waterfall. We remember seeing this one with Mimi and Pops years ago, before our kiddos were in the picture. I wish we had known we were going here next or I would have let the kids keep their swimsuits on and take a swim under the waterfall. That would have been super fun too, but the water was freezing cold.
It was nice to just look at too!
These were just quick stops along our way to Greenville for the night. Along the drive, we were determined to find some boiled peanuts for the kids to try too. We didn't see any men selling them out of their trucks, like we expected, but Lex stopped into a little old man's workshop that had a sign that said boiled peanuts. They were hot and ready for us and the kids loved them!
Once we arrived, we checked into our hotel and headed to Milano's for dinner! The big kids don't remember eating here, but we've been raving about it to them for year's. We were excited for our Greek Salad and Pizza. It was everything we remembered, so delicious! And we splurged on some baklava after dinner too!
After dinner, we happen to get last minute tickets to the Greenville Drive game. We have lots of great memories here! It looked exactly the same!
The next morning we headed to Simpsonville to check out our old house. They have signs around the neighborhood now that say the path behind our old house is for residents only, but we just ignored those and walked down there anyway!! What are they going to say, really?? The house looks exactly the same and the little trail behind the house was more overgrown, but the bridge and the stairs were still there, which Katelyn does remember!
We drove around Simpsonville for quite awhile and reminisced. We ended up at Heritage Park, which was one of our favorite parks! We had Levi's 2nd Birthday Party there, just a few weeks before we moved. See the before and after's below....so much has changed in the past 9 years! Wow!
And of course, Kyler wasn't around yet, so we just captured new memories with him. Every time I said something about...."Y'all used to do this....." He would correct and remind me, that doesn't include him. LOL!
The train is still there too! We rode this train many times, including as a part of Levi's 2nd bday party!
For lunch we headed up to our favorite BBQ joint, Bucky's. You really can't get any better than this, especially their sweet potatoes and their mustard BBQ sauce!! The kids LOVED it too!
For the afternoon, we headed to downtown Greenville to walk around, shop and see what all had changed. For the most part, the stores and restaurants we remembered were still there. But there were a whole lot more too! LOL! It's grown so much!
We had to stop at the Mast General Store for candy!
And the Falls at Reedy River!
We also made sure to hit up the Saturday Market on Main St. and got some fresh blackberries! We used to have wild blackberry bushes behind our house in Simpsonville.
For dinner that night, we really wanted some shrimp and grits, but most of the places we got them in the past were too fancy for a family meal. So Lex found this us this place, The Lost Cajun, and the food was delish! It definitely hit the spot and checked the shrimp and grits box!
And that's a wrap for our Summer Vacation!! The next morning we were able to get an earlier flight, our original flight would have gotten us home at 1 am or so, but we were able to get an earlier flight and got home around 5. What a fun, educational, memorable, and adventurous vacay!
Check out this before and after...10 years apart! Aren't they cuties!
And Levi loved seeing this military helicopter at the GSP airport! So cool! (Zoom In)
Because we changed our flight last minute, our seats weren't together on the second leg to SAT. The kids were on the back row all by themselves. The flight attendant was so sweet though and gave them a big compliment at the end of the flight and even gave them some snacks when no one else got any!
