Check out the picture of me with the southern belles :)
After leaving registration we finally made the trip to a Walmart. Ms. Edwards picked up a few items as well as the other members of the group. It started to pour while we were in the store. It also started to lightening and thunder....I think this was my first experience with a thunder shower....good thing Ms. Edwards had her backpack that I could hide in during it. The lightening was incredible. It appeared to come out of no where.
After the Walmart trip the group had lunch at a Cracker Barrel restaurant. They are everywhere down here....I hear that the lunches were delicious. A lot of fried food was ordered. One of the participates actually ordered three sides of mac and cheese.....no that is my kind of an order. There was a lot of sharing going on and everyone seemed to have a good time with the lunch. One of the students had never heard of a Cracker Barrel and when she first saw the sign she thought it said "Crocker Banquet." Let me tell you....the group hasn't let her live that one down yet.
From "Crocker Banquet" oh I mean Cracker Barrel the group split up. Four members went back to the hotel with Mr. Conant for a little rest and relaxation as well as speech practice. The other five decided to go to a nearby mall for a little exercise and shopping. Ms. Edwards promised me a new t-shirt at the Build-a-Bear store. She also promised Kennedy one. The mall that we went to was called Riverchase Galleria. The mall had over 200 stores and the roof was actually a nine-story glass atrium featuring the world's largest skylight. The best part of all...they had a Build-a-Bear.
Build-a-Bear was the first stop the group made of course. Ms. Edwards picked me up not one but three new shirts....I plan to wear all three this week....see if you can spot them....She also picked up a shirt for Kennedy that has Alabama and an elephant on it. The shirt is supposed to represent the Alabama Crimson Tide. I guess the elephant is their mascot. At Build-a-Bear two new friends were made as well. The girls decided to make new bears for two of the girls on the trip. The bears were named Chelsea and Abby. I hear the girls were extremely happy when they received their surprises....look out for pictures of my new friends...I am sure that they will be coming soon.
The group walked around the mall a little longer and Ms. Edwards finally purchased a pair of black shoes to replace the ones she was wearing all year at school....Hear that Ms. Wood....the old black shoes have been replaced.
The group returned to the hotel where they relaxed for awhile and then got ready for their dinner at a restaurant called Fire+Ice. I guess everyone competing from Maine decided to get together for a meal at this one restaurant. Ms. Edwards didn't recognize any one of course but everyone else seemed to know at least one of the other couches or students. One of the couches had just returned from a trip to Tibet. She was sharing a few stories of her experiences. I hear the meal there was interesting.....the group had go through a salad bar like set up. They choice what they wanted their meals to consist of (pasta, meat, veggies, seasoning, fish) Etc and took it to a group of chefs who was surrounded in a circle by an extremely large grill. They would then take your bowl of food and pour it on the grill and cook it in front of your eyes. It appeared to be a big hit among the students. There are a total of seven of these restaurants in the country. (Lake Tahoe, CA, Anaheim, CA, West Nyack, NY, Boston, MA, Cambridge, MA, Birmingham, AL, and Providence, RI)
After dinner the group headed back to the hotel. The students really want to use the pool....unfortunately it is broken....I would like to use the pool too....Ms. Edwards said she didn't pack my bathing suit. I thought I could go bare....but she didn't think that was a good idea....good thing the pool is closed...I might have sneaked in with the kids.
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