The Boll Weevil

For those who don't know, a boll weevil is a bug that feeds on cotton buds and flowers. The building was constructed prior to 1850 as one of several cotton warehouses on the property. In fact most of the riverfront land in Augusta during the 1850’s was used for some aspect of the cotton trade. It was known as "Cotton Row" so several of the restaurants and shops that exist there today have names that are associated with cotton.



I heard about this cafe from one of the locals. I looked at the menu online and thought it would be a good place to try. After we left the Home & Garden show we stopped here for lunch. Pictured below is what generally happens when Jaren and I go to any "sit-down" place (non-fast food).



As soon as he stops for a few minutes, instantaneous exhaustion kicks in. I would make a joke about how he's so old that he can't even walk around a little H&G show without getting all tuckered out but this has been going on since we got married. What a funny guy. :)



The real reason I wanted to come to this place was because I wanted to try a slice of one of their monstrous cakes. This one seemed to be the most popular and we got the last slice. It's called "7th Heaven" and is chocolate cake with a cheesecake and chocolate mousse center. It was delicious with the caramel and whipped cream.



These cakes are just HUGE!



Anyone in the area should give it a try. I do want to go back for dinner sometime. They had a yummy looking entree I would love to try!

A Perfect Day

Jaren took me to the Home & Garden show on Saturday. This was quite a pleasant surprise. He told me about it earlier in the week and said he wanted to go. I know he was doing it for me though. It is definitely my kind of thing. I was so excited! There were so many vendors there and we entered all kinds of drawings.

We sat through a cooking show promoting the Kitchen Craft Cookware. It was so cool that he could cook a full meal in just a couple of pots with no water or liquids! And of course it is ridiculously expensive. I also drooled over the wonderful Cutco knives that I love so much. I have a small set and I wish I had more! There were so many neat things to see but of everything there, those two would be the two big ticket items I would spend money on in a heart beat if I could.

There was one thing that I absolutely had to get though. A Smart Living Steam Mop. I've been wanting a steam mop. I am the kind of person who refuses to buy a mop when I can get down on my hands and knees with a bucket and washcloth to do a better job. The only problem is that the area I need to mop in this house is MUCH more expansive than any other place we have lived. On top of that, we plan on turning it all into hardwood. I knew I needed a new mopping alternative and this is it! It doesn't actually blow steam directly on the floor or anything. It mostly heats up the pad and at such a high temperature it sterilizes when you mop! I'm sure another post will be forthcoming once I actually try it out on my floors.

It was such a beautiful day! It was in the mid 70's and sunny. Lots of trees had blossoms and even leaves. Everything is turning green. I know many of you live in areas that are still freezing right now and are receiving or just got snow. I am extremely glad I'm not in one of those areas and for you who may be suffering in the cold ugliness of winter, I'm mentally sending you some sun. Just think, in a few more months you'll be experiencing this...







As you can tell, we still have a lot more Spring to come from the picture below but I just think this huge pink house on the river with all of the other huge houses is so funny. If you have a big expensive house on a beautiful river front, why would you paint it pink?


(Click on the picture to see the pink house better)

We also had lunch at The Boll Weevil Cafe & Restaurant. I know, that sounds gross but it was a nice little place right next to the river. I'll post more on that next. We enjoyed walking by the river and just being together. It was one of those rare, slow-paced Saturdays with no pressure to be anywhere or do anything. It was a lazy day and I loved it. I even got the tiniest bit of a tan. Did I mention I love the south? Who would have thought. I hope everyone had as wonderful of a weekend as we did!

Savannah River Rapids

We have absolutely nothing new to post so I decided to go back to summertime and post about this beautiful river trail we have along the Savannah river. It's mostly just pictures.





I thought this silhouette picture was pretty cool from all of the dark clouds.



This is a picture of the locks for the canal right next to the river.



I learned what Spanish moss is. It's all over some of the trees here.



This is the visitor's center. I just thought it was a cute building.



It was pretty hot and muggy so Jaren decided to try out the new mister they had just put in.



A downriver view from the locks.



The trail which is gorgeous!



I saw a bunch of turtles lying in the sun. Count them...SEVEN!



And we just thought this looked like a funny smiley face.



Spring is on it's way. I'm already seeing some new greenery poking up. I have even seen trees with buds on them ready to bloom! It may be 40s and 50s here but it needs to warm up a bit more. Soon, very soon!

Gingerbread Contest

When we were at the Grove Park Inn we went around looking at all of the gingerbread houses that had been entered in their Gingerbread contest. They had youth, teen, and adult divisions. Check out the slide show to see some of the cool gingerbread "houses". My favorites were Noah's Ark, the Russian nesting dolls (Grand Prize winner) and the Mineral Spring Spa with Santa and the reindeer relaxing in robes, face masks, and cucumber slices on the eyes. They were all pretty cool though!



As the last part of this post on our trip, I just have to mention the delicious bakery that we visited called "The Sisters McMullen".



They had all kinds of delicious sweets.



Jaren and I split a cream cheese swirl brownie and the cream cheese chocolate ganache cupcake. Both were delicious but the cupcake was my favorite.



We just needed some milk!



It was a fun trip and I would love to go back! Especially if I was taking out-of-town visitors with me! :)