"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." – John 13:34-35
"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other.” – John 15:9-17
“They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” – Acts 2:42-47
“All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need. Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles' feet.” – Acts 4:32-37
Based upon these scriptures, the talents I believe I have received from God, and what I perceive to be the moving of the Holy Spirit within my heart, I lay this dream before God: to purchase a house in Montgomery County that can be used exclusively for his glory. The house will be a “ministry house,” where there will be an open-door policy to any and all in need. I will use the house to meet the needs of my brothers and sisters in Christ, showing them hospitality through letting them come over and relax, cooking meals for them, hosting parties and events, church services and whatever else. People can spend the night as often as they like. The house will also be open to non-Christians. I want to show them love and hospitality, the way Christ showed love to his disciples. I want to open the house so they can be taken care of in the same ways listed above, so that they may see the love of Christ in action. I also want to open the house up to the poor…people who have nowhere to stay. I want the house to have a couple extra bedrooms that can be used to house someone temporarily as they look for employment. I realize that by not being in debt, tremendous amounts of money can be given to those who really need it. Therefore, I would need this house to be paid for completely, as I would dedicate a large percentage of the money I make to serve those who come through the house’s doors. It would be ideal for this house to be near a metro station and near bus lines, so people without cars can have easy access. I would also want the house to be in a highly populated area where there are plenty of people to meet and where I can get involved in the community.
I serve a God that can part a sea to let his people pass, could stop the sun from setting for an entire day, can make the walls of a city come tumbling down with a trumpet blast, can bring food from the heavens and deliver it to the doorsteps of his people, can heal the sick and can raise the dead. I know God can do this and I will petition Him for this until he makes it clear what His will is. I am confident that He will answer my prayer in the best way He sees fit.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Monday, April 6, 2009
The Great Road Trip Day 10 - Jax, FL/Charlotte, NC
The Jacksonville Church of Christ is one of the few Churches of Christ that I've been to that actually owns its own building (I believe I mentioned that a couple posts ago); for me, that makes for an always interesting worship experience, since I'm so used to meeting in schools, hotels, houses, anything BUT your typical church building. Traditional church buildings remind me of my Trinity days, which invokes mixed feelings in me. Fortunately, when I stepped into the Jacksonville Church of Christ building this morning, I was overwhelmed by the love of the fellowship, and any mixed feelings I had about church buildings were quickly swept away.
The building itself was very nice...dark oak wood, colorful decorations and comfortable pews met our eyes as we walked into the sanctuary. The buzz of Christians talking to each other was in the air, and I spoke with various people...some that I knew, some that I didn't know. I introduced myself as "Danielle's boyfriend" and definitely got some warm welcomes. But Danielle was nowhere to be found. Service eventually started and she still wasn't there yet. I hoped nothing had happened to her, but during the singing, I got a text from her saying she was on her way, and I relaxed.
Chuck Lucas and his wife Anne(?) had been in town hosting a married's workshop that weekend, and he also gave the sermon that morning. It was a very basic, but powerful sermon about the necessity of preaching the gospel to all nations. At the end, he sang the song,"To Dream the Impossible Dream," which, he said, he had not sung in many years. Needless to say, the song garnered a standing ovation from the congregation, as he still had a very powerful and melodic voice. Guy Berndt, the lead evangelist in Jacksonville, thanked Chuck and was brought to tears by how much Chuck meant to him in his life. Danielle, who had arrived earlier and was sitting beside me, couldn't help but shed some tears herself. It was a beautiful sight.
After service, I met a lot more of Danielle's friends, some of whom she had told me about during our various phone conversations, and some I was meeting for the first time. They all congratulated us on dating and looked forward to spending time with us as a couple. I'm very grateful that Danielle told many people about us and that they were so willing to get to know us as a couple. The community of the church really is a very powerful thing; relationships are so critical, and I look forward to developing them down in Jacksonville.
After service, we headed out to a pizza place for some lunch. It was a great time, yet a bitter-sweet time, as we had to hit the road right after we finished. We took some final pictures before we left, and then we hit the road. We had a lot of driving to do, as we needed to make it back to Charlotte before the day was done. The rest of the day was spent driving, listening to music and reminiscing over our time in Jacksonville (ok, maybe Nick and Minh wern't thinking so much about Jacksonville, but I was!).
We got back to Charlotte around 8:45p-ish and we dropped off Nick at Caitlin's place so the two love birds could spend a few hours together. Minh and I went on a search for some dinner. Chipotle was a little too far away, so we found a Qdoba on the GPS and headed there. Unfortunately, we got there a little too late, for they were closed. We settled on some food from a sports bar instead, and headed back to Edwin's place. We spent the rest of the evening eating and watching basketball on TV. Our road trip was officially coming to an end; however, we wern't in a huge hurry to get back, so we could afford to sleep in the next morning.
It was a great vacation overall; we saw a lot, did a lot and met a lot of people. I'm extremely happy to be starting this new chapter of my life with Danielle as my girlfriend, and I look forward to what God has in store for us!
Sunday, April 5, 2009
The Great Road Trip Day 9 - Jax, FL
Several weeks ago I had told Danielle about how a few of the singles in MoCo and myself had gone down to the Lincoln Memorial early in the morning for a sunrise prayer. I told her it was one of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen, and that when she came up here, I'd love to show it to her sometime. Well, that must have gotten the wheels in her brain turning, because she suggested that when I came down to Jax, she and I should have a sunrise prayer on the beach! I was all for that...except for the whole early rising thing. I woke up around 5:30am-ish to get ready for her to pick me up around 6. Somehow, waking up at 5:30a while on vacation just didn't sound right...
Dee came to pick me up a little after 6 and we headed down to Neptune Beach, which was several blocks down from where myself, Nick and Minh were staying. We were both a bit blurry-eyed, but happy to be meeting up to pray. I wore my UM hoodie and she was wearing her Arkansas hoodie; good thing we were unified through the blood of Christ. Otherwise, there might have been some fighting. :)
We got to the beach and I was expecting it to be virtually deserted (Dee said it was one of her favorite beaches because it's usually less crowded than the other ones). To my surprise, there was a large group of people huddled up on the beach doing something (praying, maybe? Why else would a group of people be up that early on a Saturday? They didn't sound loud and obnoxious, like they had been up all night getting wasted), but they were too far away for me to tell. There were also various people walking and running along the sand. Guess I'm not the only morning person in the world after all! We looked for a place to sit, and eventually nuzzled into a sand dune.
Dee started the prayer off, and as she did the sun began to rise right in front of us. It was breath-taking. We stopped mid-prayer to take pictures and praise God for this incredible display of beauty. Those who make sacrifices to seek God like that are sometimes rewarded in very obvious and immediate ways, and this was one of those times. After she finished, I prayed. I remember thanking God for new beginnings: a new day, a new life in Christ and a renewed relationship with Danielle. I was truly grateful for all three of those things.
After I finished praying, I knew it was time. I was a bit nervous as my thoughts raced to put into words what I wanted to say. Finally, I spoke. I told Dee how I was grateful for the new beginning between her and I, and I wanted to start another new beginning right here and now, with her as my girlfriend. She was more than happy to accept, with her exact words being, "of course." Woohoo!!!
The next 30-45 minutes were a blur...I don't remember what we talked about...I just remember holding her close and her hand in mine. With all that had gone on over the past several months, and especially over the past month, I was very happy that God had brought me to this place. He truly does work all things out for the good of those who love him, even when what He's doing doesn't seem to make sense at the time. Thank you, God. Thank you!
Eventually, we left the beach and went to a local diner where we had a yummy breakfast. Again, I cannot remember all of what we talked about, but I do remember staring into her eyes (with, I'm sure, a big goofy grin on my face), smiling and laughing. For me, it was memorable in all the right ways.
After breakfast, Dee dropped me back off at the guy's place, where Minh and Nick met me and congratulated me (I had text messaged them that Dee had said "yes!"). We got cleaned up and met up with Dee and Sissy a while later to take a day trip to St. Augustine (the oldest city in America).
St. Augustine is a small, quaint, historically rich town about an hour from Jacksonville. We drove down there and spent the afternoon exploring it for all it was worth. We took a tour of a famous fortress, in whom many battles were fought. Amazingly, none of the occupants of that fort ever lost a battle! The fort was right on the water, giving it a clear tactical advantage over any approaching ships. The tour guides were dressed up as the fortress soldiers of the past would have been dressed: in full military uniform with hats and guns. They even performed a cannon-firing demonstration for the crowd! They shot a blank, of course, but it was as loud as the real thing!
After touring the castle, we explored many of St. Augustine's little shops and businesses. We stopped for smoothies and pretzel-dogs (a hot dog covered in pretzel coating...surprising tasty) along the way, as well as stopping at a hammock store to try out the "merchandise."
After coming back from St. Augustine, we came back to Dee's place where we would all hang out and play some games. Some of Dee's friends came over and we all started watching the NCAA basketball semi-finals instead of breaking out the games. I wanted to enjoy the game and talk to the Jax peeps, but my allergies were starting to act up. Although Dee had vacuumed several days ago, Oreo getting to rome around the condo for two whole days gave him plenty of time to put back the dander that Dee had cleaned up. So I started to go into full wheeze mode, and had a terrible time breathing. I tried popping some Benadryl, but they didn't work; they just made me sleepy. Nick, Minh and I ended up leaving earlier than planned, because I was just dying. Despite that, I'd have to say it was a pretty great day. :)
Dee came to pick me up a little after 6 and we headed down to Neptune Beach, which was several blocks down from where myself, Nick and Minh were staying. We were both a bit blurry-eyed, but happy to be meeting up to pray. I wore my UM hoodie and she was wearing her Arkansas hoodie; good thing we were unified through the blood of Christ. Otherwise, there might have been some fighting. :)
We got to the beach and I was expecting it to be virtually deserted (Dee said it was one of her favorite beaches because it's usually less crowded than the other ones). To my surprise, there was a large group of people huddled up on the beach doing something (praying, maybe? Why else would a group of people be up that early on a Saturday? They didn't sound loud and obnoxious, like they had been up all night getting wasted), but they were too far away for me to tell. There were also various people walking and running along the sand. Guess I'm not the only morning person in the world after all! We looked for a place to sit, and eventually nuzzled into a sand dune.
Dee started the prayer off, and as she did the sun began to rise right in front of us. It was breath-taking. We stopped mid-prayer to take pictures and praise God for this incredible display of beauty. Those who make sacrifices to seek God like that are sometimes rewarded in very obvious and immediate ways, and this was one of those times. After she finished, I prayed. I remember thanking God for new beginnings: a new day, a new life in Christ and a renewed relationship with Danielle. I was truly grateful for all three of those things.
After I finished praying, I knew it was time. I was a bit nervous as my thoughts raced to put into words what I wanted to say. Finally, I spoke. I told Dee how I was grateful for the new beginning between her and I, and I wanted to start another new beginning right here and now, with her as my girlfriend. She was more than happy to accept, with her exact words being, "of course." Woohoo!!!
The next 30-45 minutes were a blur...I don't remember what we talked about...I just remember holding her close and her hand in mine. With all that had gone on over the past several months, and especially over the past month, I was very happy that God had brought me to this place. He truly does work all things out for the good of those who love him, even when what He's doing doesn't seem to make sense at the time. Thank you, God. Thank you!
Eventually, we left the beach and went to a local diner where we had a yummy breakfast. Again, I cannot remember all of what we talked about, but I do remember staring into her eyes (with, I'm sure, a big goofy grin on my face), smiling and laughing. For me, it was memorable in all the right ways.
After breakfast, Dee dropped me back off at the guy's place, where Minh and Nick met me and congratulated me (I had text messaged them that Dee had said "yes!"). We got cleaned up and met up with Dee and Sissy a while later to take a day trip to St. Augustine (the oldest city in America).
St. Augustine is a small, quaint, historically rich town about an hour from Jacksonville. We drove down there and spent the afternoon exploring it for all it was worth. We took a tour of a famous fortress, in whom many battles were fought. Amazingly, none of the occupants of that fort ever lost a battle! The fort was right on the water, giving it a clear tactical advantage over any approaching ships. The tour guides were dressed up as the fortress soldiers of the past would have been dressed: in full military uniform with hats and guns. They even performed a cannon-firing demonstration for the crowd! They shot a blank, of course, but it was as loud as the real thing!
After touring the castle, we explored many of St. Augustine's little shops and businesses. We stopped for smoothies and pretzel-dogs (a hot dog covered in pretzel coating...surprising tasty) along the way, as well as stopping at a hammock store to try out the "merchandise."
After coming back from St. Augustine, we came back to Dee's place where we would all hang out and play some games. Some of Dee's friends came over and we all started watching the NCAA basketball semi-finals instead of breaking out the games. I wanted to enjoy the game and talk to the Jax peeps, but my allergies were starting to act up. Although Dee had vacuumed several days ago, Oreo getting to rome around the condo for two whole days gave him plenty of time to put back the dander that Dee had cleaned up. So I started to go into full wheeze mode, and had a terrible time breathing. I tried popping some Benadryl, but they didn't work; they just made me sleepy. Nick, Minh and I ended up leaving earlier than planned, because I was just dying. Despite that, I'd have to say it was a pretty great day. :)
Saturday, April 4, 2009
The Great Road Trip Day 8 - Jax, FL
Danielle's cat must have affected me more than I thought, because I had a pretty tough time sleeping that night. I eventually was able to grab some rest though. Dee was coming to pick me up at 9a so we could go have breakfast with Guy Burnt, the Jacksonville Church of Christ's lead minister, and his wife Loretta at Panera Bread. We got there and Guy and Loretta got there a few minutes after us. We had a very nice time getting to know each other and talking about various things. I had spoken with both of them over the phone prior to coming to Jax, but it was nice to see them in person. They are both very easy-going; I'm looking forward to getting to know both of them better.
After Guy and Loretta left, I accompanied Danielle on a couple errands. It was great just spending time with her, talking with her and seeing her laugh and smile in person. Even though we hadn't seen each other since November of last year, and even though we had been talking regularly on the phone, when we saw each other we were able to pick things up right where we left them in November. That is a VERY good thing!
After the errands were done, Danielle brought me to her job so I could meet her co-workers. They all seemed like really nice people, and I enjoyed talking to them and putting faces to the names Dee had told me about. It was true: their company seemed like a very tight-knit group. It's always great when you enjoy working with the people around you, and I'm really glad Dee has that.
We eventually came back to Bright's place where Minh and Nick had eventually gotten up and were exploring the beach. We met up and headed down to the boardwalk area to find Minh some crazy beach shorts, and so we could get something to eat. We found a place where we could sit outside and enjoy the beautiful weather and eat some good food. Minh ordered some craw fish, which looked really disgusting. However, he said they tasted really good. We all had to take his word on that one. After we were done eating, we were all in such a relaxed mood, that we just sat back in our chairs, not saying anything for awhile. We were literally just chilling.
And it was great. Nick, Minh and I had been doing so much over the past several days, we all needed some time to just sit and do NOTHING. Eventually we left and headed back to Bright's place, where we continued to sit and do nothing. We camped out on the porch and watched the ocean. Eventually Minh and Nick went inside to take naps, and Dee and I just sat in chairs on the balcony, enjoying the view and enjoying the peace and quiet. Eventually we got up and talked for awhile. It was all just what we needed.That evening, we headed out to the Jacksonville Church's building where the singles were having a planning devotional. Minh was still feeling pretty sick, so we encouraged him to stay home and get some rest. He didn't put up a fight. We got to meet more of their singles ministry and that was cool. I think there was some miscommunication about whether the devo was actually happening that night, so not as many people were there that could have been there. But the group still planned out some good events.
After it was over, we headed over to Carlos' house to watch a movie. On the way, Danielle told us there was a Chipotle on the way, and both Nick and I jumped at the chance to get our favorite burritos! Oh, it was a beautiful sight to see...that familiar brown and silver building...those wonderful people wrapping that delicious food in yummy tortillas...I almost shed a tear, it was so beautiful...We got to Carlos' place and we ended up watching Slumdog Millionaire. That movie definitely deserved all the Oscars it won; a very powerful story indeed. Dee dropped us off when it was over, and I tried to get some sleep right away, because she was picking me up early tomorrow morning for a sunrise prayer. And I had something else in mind for that morning too... ;)
Friday, April 3, 2009
The Great Road Trip Day 7 - Jacksonville, FL
When I woke up this morning, I felt the need to work out again. Apparently, I was the only one who felt that need. I tried to get Nick up for the work out, but he declined. Minh was still feeling kind of sick, so I didn't even bother asking him. So I went at it alone. I incorporated some running, push-ups, squats, tuck jumps and mountain climbers into this morning's workout. Again, nothing too crazy, but it got me breathing hard. I'm sure I must have elicited a few strange looks from the people checking out of their rooms, but I didn't care. I should have invited them to join me!
I came back up and the guys were still knocked out. So I went ahead and showered up and started packing up. Eventually the guys gained consciousness and they got cleaned up as well. The bathtub in our hotel room had whirlpool capabilities, but we didn't take advantage of it. Maybe next time I'll try that out.
After checking out, we hit up a local Waffle House for breakfast. I'm a fan of Waffle House, because their food is pretty good and pretty cheap. Minh got some grits with his meal, and he complained about how they were pretty bland. For me, that was typical of most restaurant grits, but I'm spoiled because my mom and grandma make the best tasting grits EVER, so I can't enjoy anyone else's grits except theirs. I told Minh how you have to doctor most grits up with butter, eggs if you ordered them, and whatever else you've got that will add taste. Minh added butter and bacon to his grits and, according to him, improved a bit. There ya go!
After breakfast, we hit the road for Jacksonville! We were only a little over an hour away from there, so we had lots of time to spare before seeing Danielle. However, my little scheming brain hatched a plan...I wanted to buy her a bouquet of flowers and surprise her at her job, and I wanted to print out a picture of my glamor shot from the movie date a bunch of us did awhile ago(I had promised her I'd give her one, but at our movie premiere, everybody took all the ones of me). So we used our trusty GPS to find a FedEx Kinkos and I got the picture. We then tried to use the GPS to find a florist. We found out quickly that the florist industry in Jacksonville is not a booming business...we must have gone to four or five different florists listed by the GPS and all of them were shut down! We called the phone numbers of a few more, but they were shut down too. I was definitely getting frustrated at this, but figured there had to be at least one florist SOMEWHERE in this city. Finally, we found one in what looked to be in a pretty rough side of town. Despite the neighborhood, the florist hooked me up with a really nice bouquet of red carnations. We then proceeded to Danielle's job to complete the surprise.
Apparently, Danielle had told the receptionist plenty about me, because when she saw me walk in, she smiled at me, waved and called Danielle to inform her that she had a visitor, in this very giggly voice. That must have tipped Danielle off slightly, but nonetheless, she was still very happy to see me. She gave me a huge hug and I told her I had something for her. I showed her the flowers and the smile on her face got a little bigger. :)
She came outside with me to say hi to the guys, and we spoke briefly. We agreed that we would all come over to her place when she got off work and she would cook for us. She then went back inside and we headed off to find some thrift stores. Nick was still determined to find more board games, so we accommodated him. We must have hit up about three or four stores, but in one of those stores we hit the jackpot...Nick found about three or four games, one of which was worth about $40-$50 brand new. It was listed for only a few dollars though, so he was ecstatic. I also found some treasures of my own: I have been in desperate need of more ties for a while, and this store had several that were pretty nice...and they only cost $1-$2 per tie! I picked up six of them. When we headed to the check-out counter, we got the best surprise of all...the store was having a "Buy one, get one free" sale on pretty much everything, so both Nick and I payed only half of what we were expecting to pay! Woohoo!!!
We hit up one more thrift store after that, and I think Nick got a couple more games, but nothing compared to that one store we found. As we were leaving this final store, we saw an old man in the parking lot, trying to maneuver this large pickup truck around certain objects. He was doing a terrible job, even with the help of someone directing him where to go; he knocked over a large statue of a knight in full armor, and even backed up into someone else's car! The owner of the car saw this and was not too happy. We figured that this was the best time to get out of there...
We camped out at a Panera for the last few hours before Danielle got off of work. We ate a little something, read out Bibles and played on our computers until it was time to go. Danielle's apartment/condo complex was very new, so GPS couldn't find it. So we pulled up directions via mapquest. Mapquest, however, was apparently not updated with the info either, because it's directions were not that accurate. After getting lost for a bit, we eventually found her place. I had seen pictures of her condo before, but they did not do her place justice; it was gorgeous!
Danielle has a cat and she knows I'm allergic to cats, so she spent a good amount of time vacuuming and dusting so I wouldn't be choking to death while hanging out. She did a good job, because I was able to hang out over there with minimal side effects. We spent the evening relaxing, listening to music and eating. Sissy, Whitney and Bright all eventually came over, and we had a great time talking and just hanging out in general.
Eventually we all had to leave. We were spending the night at Bright's place, so I rode with him and the guys followed us. I had actually met Bright in 2003 when myself, Pat and Dave took our first road trip and we stopped in Jacksonville. We had actually stayed at his place then too! Bright was living in a new place now...an apartment right on the beach. The view from their balcony was INCREDIBLE...an amazing scenic view of the ocean, and the sound of the ocean was so peaceful. Even though it was night time, the scenery was still beautiful.
I came back up and the guys were still knocked out. So I went ahead and showered up and started packing up. Eventually the guys gained consciousness and they got cleaned up as well. The bathtub in our hotel room had whirlpool capabilities, but we didn't take advantage of it. Maybe next time I'll try that out.
After checking out, we hit up a local Waffle House for breakfast. I'm a fan of Waffle House, because their food is pretty good and pretty cheap. Minh got some grits with his meal, and he complained about how they were pretty bland. For me, that was typical of most restaurant grits, but I'm spoiled because my mom and grandma make the best tasting grits EVER, so I can't enjoy anyone else's grits except theirs. I told Minh how you have to doctor most grits up with butter, eggs if you ordered them, and whatever else you've got that will add taste. Minh added butter and bacon to his grits and, according to him, improved a bit. There ya go!
After breakfast, we hit the road for Jacksonville! We were only a little over an hour away from there, so we had lots of time to spare before seeing Danielle. However, my little scheming brain hatched a plan...I wanted to buy her a bouquet of flowers and surprise her at her job, and I wanted to print out a picture of my glamor shot from the movie date a bunch of us did awhile ago(I had promised her I'd give her one, but at our movie premiere, everybody took all the ones of me). So we used our trusty GPS to find a FedEx Kinkos and I got the picture. We then tried to use the GPS to find a florist. We found out quickly that the florist industry in Jacksonville is not a booming business...we must have gone to four or five different florists listed by the GPS and all of them were shut down! We called the phone numbers of a few more, but they were shut down too. I was definitely getting frustrated at this, but figured there had to be at least one florist SOMEWHERE in this city. Finally, we found one in what looked to be in a pretty rough side of town. Despite the neighborhood, the florist hooked me up with a really nice bouquet of red carnations. We then proceeded to Danielle's job to complete the surprise.
Apparently, Danielle had told the receptionist plenty about me, because when she saw me walk in, she smiled at me, waved and called Danielle to inform her that she had a visitor, in this very giggly voice. That must have tipped Danielle off slightly, but nonetheless, she was still very happy to see me. She gave me a huge hug and I told her I had something for her. I showed her the flowers and the smile on her face got a little bigger. :)
She came outside with me to say hi to the guys, and we spoke briefly. We agreed that we would all come over to her place when she got off work and she would cook for us. She then went back inside and we headed off to find some thrift stores. Nick was still determined to find more board games, so we accommodated him. We must have hit up about three or four stores, but in one of those stores we hit the jackpot...Nick found about three or four games, one of which was worth about $40-$50 brand new. It was listed for only a few dollars though, so he was ecstatic. I also found some treasures of my own: I have been in desperate need of more ties for a while, and this store had several that were pretty nice...and they only cost $1-$2 per tie! I picked up six of them. When we headed to the check-out counter, we got the best surprise of all...the store was having a "Buy one, get one free" sale on pretty much everything, so both Nick and I payed only half of what we were expecting to pay! Woohoo!!!
We hit up one more thrift store after that, and I think Nick got a couple more games, but nothing compared to that one store we found. As we were leaving this final store, we saw an old man in the parking lot, trying to maneuver this large pickup truck around certain objects. He was doing a terrible job, even with the help of someone directing him where to go; he knocked over a large statue of a knight in full armor, and even backed up into someone else's car! The owner of the car saw this and was not too happy. We figured that this was the best time to get out of there...
We camped out at a Panera for the last few hours before Danielle got off of work. We ate a little something, read out Bibles and played on our computers until it was time to go. Danielle's apartment/condo complex was very new, so GPS couldn't find it. So we pulled up directions via mapquest. Mapquest, however, was apparently not updated with the info either, because it's directions were not that accurate. After getting lost for a bit, we eventually found her place. I had seen pictures of her condo before, but they did not do her place justice; it was gorgeous!
Danielle has a cat and she knows I'm allergic to cats, so she spent a good amount of time vacuuming and dusting so I wouldn't be choking to death while hanging out. She did a good job, because I was able to hang out over there with minimal side effects. We spent the evening relaxing, listening to music and eating. Sissy, Whitney and Bright all eventually came over, and we had a great time talking and just hanging out in general.
Eventually we all had to leave. We were spending the night at Bright's place, so I rode with him and the guys followed us. I had actually met Bright in 2003 when myself, Pat and Dave took our first road trip and we stopped in Jacksonville. We had actually stayed at his place then too! Bright was living in a new place now...an apartment right on the beach. The view from their balcony was INCREDIBLE...an amazing scenic view of the ocean, and the sound of the ocean was so peaceful. Even though it was night time, the scenery was still beautiful.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
The Great Road Trip Day 6 - Savannah, GA
This morning started out different from all the other mornings of this trip: 1) we woke up in a hotel room, and 2) we made a conscious decision to exercise! It was a bit rainy outside, so we didn't do anything crazy. We ran around the hotel building once, did 25 push ups, ran around the building again, did 25 squats, ran again, did 25 jumping jacks, ran one more time and did 25 mountain-climbers. We weren't very tired after doing all that, so we ran around the building five more times. Like I said...not anything crazy, but it was more than we had done during the past few days, which was nothing.
After cleaning up and checking out, we went right next door to Shoney's for breakfast. I remember when Shoney's used to be in Maryland, but they've long since pulled out of there. We all made decisions to cut back on the amount of food we'd been eating, so we all didn't have that much for breakfast (let me add..."that much" was relative to each of us. Watch it...I know some of you want to make a joke about how much I eat. Well keep it to yourself! :) ). After we ate, we sat around for a bit reading our bibles. We witnessed something really cute: a group of elderly ladies threw a surprise birthday party for one of their friends, another elderly lady. They had balloons and even sang "happy birthday!" I promised Nick I'd throw him a birthday party like that when he turned 70. We'd even come back to the exact same Shoney's and re-create the entire experience we were having now. ;)
After finishing reading, we hit the road for Savannah. We didn't know anyone down there, so we weren't meeting anyone and weren't staying at anybody's house. Just a straight-up sight-seeing stop. We were told by the front desk man at the hotel we just left that we should check out River Street in Savannah; that was where all the bars, pups and shops were, he said. Aside from that, we didn't really plan to see anything else in Savannah, so River Street was our main destination. We got there, parked, and walked around. The buildings in downtown Savannah were very old-timey; the city did a really good job of preserving the historic architecture of the area. River Street was aptly named because it runs parallel to a river whose name escapes me. Tour boats were lined all up and down the river, ready to take tourists out to see the sights. Trolley cars were also moving slowly up River Street, showing their passengers what there was to see. What our hotel desk man failed to mention was that River Street was also a major tourist trap. Every store eventually started to look the same, and there really wasn't that much to do down there.
We saw a stature dedicated to Florence Margaret Martus. According to history, "Martus was famous in the early 1900s for waving to all shipping traffic sailing into and out of Savannah. Waving for nearly 40 years at passing ships, the legend contends she was trying to locate the love of her life -- who was a sailor." We saw Ms. Martus, took some pictures and video, then moved on.
After some debate as to what we should do next, we ultimately decided to head out of Savannah and start heading towards Jacksonville. But before we left, I had to get something of critical importance: a haircut! I couldn't go down to Jax looking all jacked up, could I? After asking around, I heard about a place called the "Boys to Men Barber Shop." I instantly knew that would be the place to be. Let's face it...I needed to go to a black barbershop, and say what you want about race, but you KNOW that a shop called "Boys to Men" is a black-owned barber shop!
We found the shop, and after a few minutes of magic, I left with a fresh cut. The guy who did my hair even offered to give Nick and Minh hair cuts! They politely declined...now THAT would have been priceless to see!
After heading south of Savannah for about an hour, we stopped in Brunswick, GA to find a hotel. We did some hotel comparisons and finally decided on a place called Guest Cottage Rooms and Suites. They offered us a suite with a king-sized bed, a fold-out couch and separate kitchen for only $10 more than what we paid for the hotel in South Carolina! We were definitely happy with that deal.
After chilling for a bit, we headed out for some food. We had a cheap but tasty dinner at Chick-Fil-A, stopped by a book store to browse for a bit, then ended the night with some bowling. As we walked into the bowling alley, the place was totally packed with some kind of kid's bowling league or church league or something. Whoever they were, they took virtually every lane. We managed to snag the final open lane. We played three games, with yours truly winning two of the three games!
Nick totally dominated the third game and Minh and I battled for second place. In the final frame, all Minh had to do was knock over one pin on his last roll to secure second place for himself, but he threw a gutter ball! Woohoo!!! A tie is not last!
After the games, we headed home and wound down for the evening. I talked to Dee for a while and the guys watched more "Battlestar Galactica." Tomorrow...Florida!!!
After cleaning up and checking out, we went right next door to Shoney's for breakfast. I remember when Shoney's used to be in Maryland, but they've long since pulled out of there. We all made decisions to cut back on the amount of food we'd been eating, so we all didn't have that much for breakfast (let me add..."that much" was relative to each of us. Watch it...I know some of you want to make a joke about how much I eat. Well keep it to yourself! :) ). After we ate, we sat around for a bit reading our bibles. We witnessed something really cute: a group of elderly ladies threw a surprise birthday party for one of their friends, another elderly lady. They had balloons and even sang "happy birthday!" I promised Nick I'd throw him a birthday party like that when he turned 70. We'd even come back to the exact same Shoney's and re-create the entire experience we were having now. ;)
After finishing reading, we hit the road for Savannah. We didn't know anyone down there, so we weren't meeting anyone and weren't staying at anybody's house. Just a straight-up sight-seeing stop. We were told by the front desk man at the hotel we just left that we should check out River Street in Savannah; that was where all the bars, pups and shops were, he said. Aside from that, we didn't really plan to see anything else in Savannah, so River Street was our main destination. We got there, parked, and walked around. The buildings in downtown Savannah were very old-timey; the city did a really good job of preserving the historic architecture of the area. River Street was aptly named because it runs parallel to a river whose name escapes me. Tour boats were lined all up and down the river, ready to take tourists out to see the sights. Trolley cars were also moving slowly up River Street, showing their passengers what there was to see. What our hotel desk man failed to mention was that River Street was also a major tourist trap. Every store eventually started to look the same, and there really wasn't that much to do down there.
We saw a stature dedicated to Florence Margaret Martus. According to history, "Martus was famous in the early 1900s for waving to all shipping traffic sailing into and out of Savannah. Waving for nearly 40 years at passing ships, the legend contends she was trying to locate the love of her life -- who was a sailor." We saw Ms. Martus, took some pictures and video, then moved on.After some debate as to what we should do next, we ultimately decided to head out of Savannah and start heading towards Jacksonville. But before we left, I had to get something of critical importance: a haircut! I couldn't go down to Jax looking all jacked up, could I? After asking around, I heard about a place called the "Boys to Men Barber Shop." I instantly knew that would be the place to be. Let's face it...I needed to go to a black barbershop, and say what you want about race, but you KNOW that a shop called "Boys to Men" is a black-owned barber shop!
We found the shop, and after a few minutes of magic, I left with a fresh cut. The guy who did my hair even offered to give Nick and Minh hair cuts! They politely declined...now THAT would have been priceless to see!
After heading south of Savannah for about an hour, we stopped in Brunswick, GA to find a hotel. We did some hotel comparisons and finally decided on a place called Guest Cottage Rooms and Suites. They offered us a suite with a king-sized bed, a fold-out couch and separate kitchen for only $10 more than what we paid for the hotel in South Carolina! We were definitely happy with that deal.
After chilling for a bit, we headed out for some food. We had a cheap but tasty dinner at Chick-Fil-A, stopped by a book store to browse for a bit, then ended the night with some bowling. As we walked into the bowling alley, the place was totally packed with some kind of kid's bowling league or church league or something. Whoever they were, they took virtually every lane. We managed to snag the final open lane. We played three games, with yours truly winning two of the three games!
Nick totally dominated the third game and Minh and I battled for second place. In the final frame, all Minh had to do was knock over one pin on his last roll to secure second place for himself, but he threw a gutter ball! Woohoo!!! A tie is not last!After the games, we headed home and wound down for the evening. I talked to Dee for a while and the guys watched more "Battlestar Galactica." Tomorrow...Florida!!!
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
The Great Road Trip Day 5 - Charleston, SC
We got to sleep in this morning...something we all needed. Our average bedtime during this trip has been midnight (not terribly late, but late enough when all your days are action-packed), so we enjoyed the sleep. John was up the earliest because he needed to take his car in to get some routine maintenance done to ensure it would be ready for the trip down to Charleston and back. I woke up before Minh and Nick and did some blog-updating. Finally when the guys got up around 8:30ish, I started making some breakfast. John had hooked us up with eggs, sausage, bagels and jelly, so I started scrambling eggs and baking sausages. John was not a fan of eggs, so I knew we'd have to make all 12 of them, as well as all the sausage. Needless to say, there was a lot of breakfast left over after we were done! It was more than enough to get us started for the day.
After getting cleaned up and packed up, we hit the road for Charleston. Minh and Nick led the way and John and I followed. We had a great time talking and catching up about everything that had been going on in each others lives. We talked about the various drama we each had been in and the drama we currently were involved in, and found it funny that we both seemed to be living in soap operas (and I try to live a relatively drama-free life!).
We finally got to downtown Charleston, parked the cars and started walking to take in the sights. We walked down Meeting Street, which had lots of cool little shops. After a few blocks, we came to something that was of major interest to me...a firehouse! I was reminded of how in 2007, nine firefighters from Charleston died in a huge warehouse fire. It rocked the firefighter community to the core, especially the city of Charleston. Around that particular firehouse, they had a monument erected that honored all of the Charleston firefighters that had ever lost their lives in the line of duty. Fortunately it was not a very long list, but it was very sad to see those nine names listed with the same date by each one. May they rest in peace.
One really cool and unexpected thing I saw while visiting that firehouse was the old fire chief from Montgomery County, Tom Carr! He had retired from Montgomery County and moved down to Charleston to become the fire chief down here. He was born and raised in Charleston and had apparently always had plans to come back here to retire. I struck up a conversation with him and we chatted about the job briefly. Another firefighter who was there with him named Ray gave me a quick tour of the bottom level of the firehouse which housed some old (VERY old) fire trucks. He told me all about them and how one of them was pulled by horses! Very cool stuff indeed.
After leaving the firehouse, we came to The Marketplace, a strip of unique and open-air markets that downtown Charleston is famous for. We checked out all of the crazy stores and looked at all of the vendors selling pretty much anything you could think of: flags of almost any country you could think of, baskets weaved right in front of your eyes, ceramic frogs that you could make "croak," virtually anything! It was definitely a tourist trap, but they did have lots of cool things. When we reached the end of the market, we decided to eat at one of the restaurants recommended yesterday by Tiffany and Brian: A.W. Shucks. We were going to eat at Bubba Gump's Shrimphouse, but we favored the unique Charleston restaurant over the chain. And boy, were we glad we made that decision. The food at A.W. Shucks was AMAZING! I will definitely come back there if I'm ever in Charleston again.
After finishing our food, we continued on down Meeting Street. We came to a historic building that housed an old dungeon where pirates were kept a couple hundred years ago. We signed up to take the tour of the dungeon, and it was all pretty cool. While coming down to Charleston, John told me that South Carolina was known for having lots of crime. Maybe if they reopened that dungeon, that reputation might change...
Once the tour was done, we walked a couple more blocks back to Meeting Street and said farewell to John (he had to get back so he could get ready to teach tomorrow). Once we finished saying our goodbyes, we continued down Meeting all the way to the end, where we saw some ridiculous mansions. We're talking mansions that not only were big, but intricately designed to look colonial and historic. There were at least three people who looked like professional photographers taking pictures of these various houses. And I couldn't blame them one bit for doing so.
Meeting Street ended at a boardwalk bordering a body of water. After chilling by the water for a bit, we hopped on a trolley-bus and headed back to our car. We had tried getting in touch with some people from our church's Charleston branch to hook us up with a place to stay, but it was simply too short notice. Once couple was actually able to host us, but they had a cat! Darn cat allergies!! We ended up heading out of town and finding a hotel about an hour outside of Charleston. At the hotel, we settled in, grabbed a pizza for dinner, and finished the day by watching more episodes of "The Office" and "Battlestar Galactica." Tomorrow...Savannah!
After getting cleaned up and packed up, we hit the road for Charleston. Minh and Nick led the way and John and I followed. We had a great time talking and catching up about everything that had been going on in each others lives. We talked about the various drama we each had been in and the drama we currently were involved in, and found it funny that we both seemed to be living in soap operas (and I try to live a relatively drama-free life!).
We finally got to downtown Charleston, parked the cars and started walking to take in the sights. We walked down Meeting Street, which had lots of cool little shops. After a few blocks, we came to something that was of major interest to me...a firehouse! I was reminded of how in 2007, nine firefighters from Charleston died in a huge warehouse fire. It rocked the firefighter community to the core, especially the city of Charleston. Around that particular firehouse, they had a monument erected that honored all of the Charleston firefighters that had ever lost their lives in the line of duty. Fortunately it was not a very long list, but it was very sad to see those nine names listed with the same date by each one. May they rest in peace.
One really cool and unexpected thing I saw while visiting that firehouse was the old fire chief from Montgomery County, Tom Carr! He had retired from Montgomery County and moved down to Charleston to become the fire chief down here. He was born and raised in Charleston and had apparently always had plans to come back here to retire. I struck up a conversation with him and we chatted about the job briefly. Another firefighter who was there with him named Ray gave me a quick tour of the bottom level of the firehouse which housed some old (VERY old) fire trucks. He told me all about them and how one of them was pulled by horses! Very cool stuff indeed.
After leaving the firehouse, we came to The Marketplace, a strip of unique and open-air markets that downtown Charleston is famous for. We checked out all of the crazy stores and looked at all of the vendors selling pretty much anything you could think of: flags of almost any country you could think of, baskets weaved right in front of your eyes, ceramic frogs that you could make "croak," virtually anything! It was definitely a tourist trap, but they did have lots of cool things. When we reached the end of the market, we decided to eat at one of the restaurants recommended yesterday by Tiffany and Brian: A.W. Shucks. We were going to eat at Bubba Gump's Shrimphouse, but we favored the unique Charleston restaurant over the chain. And boy, were we glad we made that decision. The food at A.W. Shucks was AMAZING! I will definitely come back there if I'm ever in Charleston again.
After finishing our food, we continued on down Meeting Street. We came to a historic building that housed an old dungeon where pirates were kept a couple hundred years ago. We signed up to take the tour of the dungeon, and it was all pretty cool. While coming down to Charleston, John told me that South Carolina was known for having lots of crime. Maybe if they reopened that dungeon, that reputation might change...
Once the tour was done, we walked a couple more blocks back to Meeting Street and said farewell to John (he had to get back so he could get ready to teach tomorrow). Once we finished saying our goodbyes, we continued down Meeting all the way to the end, where we saw some ridiculous mansions. We're talking mansions that not only were big, but intricately designed to look colonial and historic. There were at least three people who looked like professional photographers taking pictures of these various houses. And I couldn't blame them one bit for doing so.
Meeting Street ended at a boardwalk bordering a body of water. After chilling by the water for a bit, we hopped on a trolley-bus and headed back to our car. We had tried getting in touch with some people from our church's Charleston branch to hook us up with a place to stay, but it was simply too short notice. Once couple was actually able to host us, but they had a cat! Darn cat allergies!! We ended up heading out of town and finding a hotel about an hour outside of Charleston. At the hotel, we settled in, grabbed a pizza for dinner, and finished the day by watching more episodes of "The Office" and "Battlestar Galactica." Tomorrow...Savannah!
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