Paul's Birthday Weekend (and Valentines)

What a fun weekend we had! I decided to surprise Paul and plan something for him that didn't involve getting up early, doing a long drive or staying out all day. He likes to chill out on weekends since the workdays are so long, and so I thought the best thing to do is head into Charlotte, the city we are so close to but have hardly ever been to (downtown that is). Actually, Charlotte calls their downtown "Uptown." We left at the leisurely hour of 1:00 when we started to get hungry enough for lunch. To add to the adventure, I drove us to the train station to ride the Lynx to the city center. It was a lot of fun, relaxing, no traffic involved and no parking meters to worry about.

We walked around on the main center of town and then went to Ri-Ra's for lunch, a great little Irish Pub that has the traditional British cuisine and decor. We then headed to the Levine Museum where they had the opening day of an exhibit about how the south has changed over the years, with a focus on Charlotte. This was very cool!

On the way back to the train station on 7th st, we found a grocery store that had a coffee bar and we each got a hot chocolate.

That was it for us on Saturday. We got back and Paul put in "The Incredible Hulk" and I promptly fell asleep on the couch while he watched the movie. I've had a cold this week so I keep falling asleep!

Today we slept in (ahhhh) and then had a full bacon and egg breakfast. I made some chicken salad and a fruit salsa with cinnamon tortilla chips and brought an assortment of cheeses and bread and drinks and we headed down to the Andrew Jackson State Park in SC around 2:30. We were there on Memorial weekend too, and hardly anyone there both times.

Paul loved his surprise picnic and when we were done, he shared a few pieces of bread with the locals.
Some were waiting very stoically, and proud and didn't seem to want to ask for handouts.

And others were a little more impatient, coming right up on the blanket behind us.

This little guy was not shy at all and wasn't afraid to ask for food! I thought he was going to bite, but he just kept putting his bill near our shoulders - couldn't get any closer - until we gave him a piece. When he was done he kept making chewing sounds as if to say, "come on, where's my next slice? I'm tired of eating grass!"