Tour de Morganton

While Boomer had a conference in Asheville earlier this week, Emmy and I had the opportunity to spend a couple of days in Morganton. We had the best time! The original plan was for me to go with Boomer to the conference and tag along to the fancy dinners and hang out by the pool during his sessions while Emmy stayed with Aunt CoCo only an hour away in Morganton. But I'm so glad for the change of plans. I had not been in Morganton since September, and even then, it was only a few short hours for a baby shower. As for spending the night in Morganton, I don't even know the last time I did that. We packed a lot into the short 48 hours. We hit the road after church on Sunday, and Emmy napped during the drive:

After a quick shopping trip to the new TJ Maxx and to the Ingles, we had dinner at Toyko Diner. When I was growing up, it was always a treat when we would get take-out from Toyko's for dinner. Emmy devoured both my and Coley's helpings of sweet carrots, and she had her first fortune cookie. It said: "Very little is needed to make a happy life."

We had a little bit of room left for dessert so we met Shawna for ice cream at Scooper's, a new ice cream place on Enola Road. Emmy loved having a few bites of my salted caramel ice cream.

On Monday morning, Coley made waffles for breakfast. Emmy had a whole waffle all by herself!

Then we went to the Greenway and got some exercise. It was a nice overcast morning and very comfortable for walking. Emmy loved pointing at all the squirrels we saw.

We stopped by to see one of my favorite teachers and now Coley's coworker, Mrs. Baker. Mrs. Baker was my AP Calculus teacher, and she is one of the big reasons I went in to education. She still has just the same enthusiasm and spunk that I remembered from 14 years ago! We hung out by her pool for a little bit, but because there was a threat of a storm, we did not swim. Emmy enjoyed munching on some Veggie Straws while we chatted.

After afternoon naps for everyone, we got cleaned up for dinner at Moondog's Pizza, a restaurant I had never been to before. It is one of the many new restaurants that have come to Morganton since I have lived there. The storm came in while we were eating and knocked out the power! We ate the last 30 minutes of our meal in darkness, but it was yummy. I loved the garlic knots [not pictured].  

We topped off the night with Pelican's Sno Balls. Like Moondog's, I had never been there before, but it is a popular summer spot in Morganton. I got the Burkemont Blueberry Blast and Coley got cherry 'stuffed' with chocolate ice cream.

While we were in Morganton, Emmy got a kick out of Coley's cat, Otis. Emmy hasn't really been around a cat and kept calling him 'puppy.' She liked pointing at him and shrieking at him. He was a good sport to put up with her noise.

 

On Tuesday morning, we were able to visit my alma mater. Since Coley is working at Freedom now, she was able to show us around. I had been to a football game a few years ago, but I hadn't been inside the building in years. My sister's and my 'Patriot of the Year' photos were still hanging up in the lobby so of course we posed for a photo there. My favorite picture of the whole trip is Emmy crouching in front of the Freedom Patriots mural.  



We fit in one last staple during the Tour de Morganton: lunch at Pat's.



After saying our goodbyes to Aunt CoCo, I drove by Bel Aire Drive before hitting the interstate. Of course there are new owners now, but a lot looked the same.

3996 Bel Aire Drive

3998 Bel Aire Drive - my grandparents' house

A special 'thank you' to Coley for hosting the Kennedy girls. We had so much fun! Morganton will always be my hometown, but mostly I'm thankful for friends who are a piece of home wherever I am. We didn't quite fit in everything, so we are already planning a 2nd Annual Tour de Morganton next summer!