I was so excited that Ben had enough miles to fly my cousin Martha Ann up for a visit during this special, special time! We never get to see one another because she lives in New Orleans and she usually only makes it back to our mutual hometown during the holidays. I was so excited that she came up this past April to meet Lilah and hang out with us for a few days, and we talked about her coming for Fall for Greenville then. Unfortunately, her job as a director of the women and children's section of a homeless mission is experiencing a cash flow problem and she has been reduced to working only 4 days a week and therefore has experienced a drop in her salary. We didn't think she was going to be able to come and so it was extra awesome when Ben was able to purchase a flight for her using his air miles. I mean, sure - it would be nice for me to have been able to go somewhere, but honestly, where am I going with a still breastfeeding baby? So it was much more relaxing for us to have her visit us here!
She flew in on Friday and after picking her up at the airport, we took her straight to lunch at our favorite Indian restaurant, Handi, for their excellent buffet. As usual, Lilah was the hit of the lunch. There were only a couple of people in the normally busy restaurant because it is downtown and Main Street was closed for festival set-up, so the waiters paid Lilah a lot of attention, bringing her her own water and even gifting her a special mango/yogurt smoothie drink (of which I did let her have a few sips, and she loved, but I did not let her continue to drink because it was very sweet!) and in general just touching her arm or her head every time they would pass. It's always like that when we go in there, and I should probably be more worried due to Swine Flu Mania, but I just wash her hands after and hope for the best.
It was after lunch that my nose started to run, but that wasn't unusual for post-Handi lunch since the food is decently spicy. Not enough to be uncomfortable to eat, but my nose is far more sensitive to spice than either my tongue or stomach. It wasn't too long before I started to notice a little scratchy raw feeling to my throat, but I just ignored it because it didn't seem serious and I was WAY too excited about Fall for Greenville to let a little scratchy throat - that was surely just due to a little nasal drainage - get me down! So as soon as Ben got home from his business trip, I printed out the vendors menus and we made our plans of attack! Then we scooped up That Baby and headed downtown!
From our previous years, we knew that the best way to hit the festival was to go early, eat fast and leave. Yes, yes, we bypass all he "fun" stuff, like the beer garden, the wine tasting, the contests, and the concerts, but I DO NOT CARE ABOUT THAT SHIT. I want some food! So we swooped in, got our tickets and hit the booths!
Family photo at the festival!
Me and Martha Ann - so excited about food!!
The booth of our FAVORITE coffee shop (cause it's .8 miles from my house!)- Coffee to a Tea! These ladies are so awesome, they know us by name and always are happy to see us come in for a visit. And they make the most AWESOME cakes and confections!!
Lilah REALLY wanted to try one of their Oatmeal Raisin cookies. She's a smart cookie.
As we were getting ready to leave, the crowd - and the food lines - were getting bigger!
For Martha Ann, it was "Cupcake Friday," so she tried a local cupcake shop's Red Velvet cupcake as we were leaving
Sleepy baby at the end of a busy and successful first night.
When we got home, I still felt like my throat tickle was just from some drainage. But by the time I woke up Saturday, I knew it was more than just an issue of scratchy throat. It had moved from being just on my right side to being my whole throat and it felt like I had swallowed a porcupine. But other than wanting to die every time I swallowed, I felt fine, so we made plans to try a new place for breakfast! Normally, we eat breakfast at a restaurant near the downtown market. Because of Fall for Greenville, the market wasn't happening and so we took the opportunity to drive about 35 miles away to a place called Grits and Groceries. Ben had sold us with the promise of praline bacon and the story of the owners who moved here from New Orleans when they were expecting their first baby. Come to find out, their NO Restaurant, "Elizabeth's" is right down the street from where Martha Ann lives! After we experienced it first hand, she was excited to find out that Praline Bacon was a few steps from her doorstep! And what else did we have? In addition to our TWO plates of Praline bacon, we enjoyed baked brie with ginger pear sauce, gingerbread waffles with bourbon baked apples, eggs Elizabeth (a Florentine-type dish) and I got a big giant burger with bacon and homemade pimento cheese along with sweet potato fries. And please do go look at their offered desserts...child! I wasn't sure about the near hour-long drive on the way there, but afterward, I could not have been happier to go that far for breakfast! But possibly the best thing about G&G? The big ole rooster outside, y'all!
Martha Ann and Lilah with the big, nameless rooster!
That afternoon, after I indulged my sore throat and had a nap, we headed back out to FfG! We left just in time to miss the crowd, but I also was feeling really, really crappy. And my sickness just got worse from there. It was the STRANGEST cold I've ever had; my throat KILLED for 3 days, and then I had all this gross phlegm but my nose never got stuffy, just runny runny runny. I had a low fever (100.0) for several days and then for the past 7 days or so I've had this like, really random cough but never really bad, and I cannot clear my throat to save my life. It is just weird. On the worst day, I really wanted to go to a doctor and get a rapid flu test, but I just never did. Nope, instead, I just kept on going, and I probably infected a million people with my cold, but I could never really tell if I was SICK or just sick. So far, Martha Ann, Ben, nor Lilah have gotten sick, so I will just pretend it was a Rachael-specific virus :-D
The best part about the visit was that it was supposed to rain the entire weekend and did not rain on us one.single.time. It was actually so pretty on Sunday that we were able to get some family portraits taken, just like during Martha Ann's last visit!
The best of our family portraits!
Happy Baby!
Mommy/Daughter portrait
In all, we had such a great visit, despite my illness. We can't wait for Martha Ann to visit again!
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