.Anniversary Weekend as Tourists.

What is the first thing you think of when you hear the word "tourist?"
For me it is: Maps and Brochures, Fanny Packs, and Sunscreen.
Outdated? Yes, but my mind always goes to those three categories.

This weekend Adam and I were guilty two out of the three: holding maps and brochures while wearing sunscreen!!--we were TOURISTS and LOVED EVERY SECOND! Adam treated me to a weekend getaway for our second wedding anniversary to Natural Bridge, VA. Wondering why it is called Natural Bridge? Let me show ya!

Ta-Da..introducing: The Natural Bridge

I do not know how to explain the amount of fun we had together..really, really..it was one of "those weekends" where everything worked out perfectly and attitudes remained consistent, consistently happy that is :) God prepared our hearts to simply escape life and enjoy each other. 

And we did.

We arrived Saturday afternoon and checked into our room in this historic gem:

 Our room:

All I'm saying is we may have moved some furniture around to make one big bed.."may have" ;)

The afternoon was spent doing a lot of: smiling, holding hands, snapping pictures, kissing, hiking, and taking in the beautiful scenery.

We walked under the Natural Bridge..

Visited a Native American Village..

And hiked to a waterfall..

An indoor butterfly exhibit was recently opened so Adam and I spent some time making new friends with these beauties:

Next time we will visit the butterflies first in their 86 degree habitat instead of after hiking a few miles :) Can we say sweaty?

Camera strap left a shadow but I still love how the butterfly is on Adam's heart!

Another part of being a true tourist is participating in ALL of the cheesy attractions and I am proud to say Adam and I did just that! Here are a few quick photos of the Toy Museum and only one shot of the (extremely creepy I think I am going to have nightmares) Wax Factory and Tour:

For my brother Scott: Ninja Turtles

For my brother-in-law Alex: Star Trek

Um, no thank you.

As soon as we made it back to our hotel room Saturday evening, the skies opened up for a terrific Summer storm. After 30 minutes or so, this is what we saw from our window:

Just Beautiful.

In case you were thinking "Where's Katie?"..I am not camera shy I promise! Here I am putting my earrings in along with a little mirror fun with my love. (Note to self: taking self portraits in mirrors is harder than you think!) Enjoy us being "us."

I decided to try out my old high school hair do again--straight, long, and parted in the middle! Not sure how I feel about it yet..

FAIL #1. But please look at Adam's eyes--they get me every time! LOVE my man and LOVE that I get to look into those blue, smirky eyes for the rest of my life!

Scary FAIL #2.

Success for being goofy!

One nice shot for the moms :)

The hotel had a fabulous restaurant that featured a southern style BBQ buffet. YES PLEASE. Half way through my second plate, I told Adam I was finally getting used to living in the South..this Jersey girl is adapting well! Please see my love's plate below:

Ribs: CHECK! Chicken: CHECK! Smoked Pulled Pork: CHECK! Homemade Mac n Cheese: CHECK! German style Potatoes: CHECK! Roll with Butter: CHECK!

So..we kinda went "off" our diets for the weekends..hehe..I must say, IT WAS WORTH IT! We ate and ate well :)

After dinner on Saturday night we had an hour to kill before the light show..so..we..took more pictures of course!

This photo cracks me up. We had the camera set on a self timer and it ended up taking about 15 photos in what felt like 2 seconds! Towards the end Adam's hand began moving down..and down..and well, let's just say the photo after this one shows a certain boy rounding first base and sliding into second ;) Boys will be boys..ALWAYS!

Okay..time out from the post..Are you guys still with me? I know..lots and lots of pictures. There are still more photos to come so take this as your official "warning" and continue with caution :)

Saturday night Adam and I attended the Drama of Creation light show on the Natural Bridge. We sat outside together on a park bench and snuggled waiting for the night sky to arrive. It was so peaceful and precious quality time with Adam. The light show was beautiful as reds, greens, and blues were projected onto the structure. The story of Creation was read straight from the Bible accompanied with beautiful instrumental Hymns.

While sitting wrapped in Adam's arms and listening to the beautiful story of how God created the Heavens and the Earth, I could not help but pray for everyone sitting there with us. Praying for their hearts to feel Jesus tugging on them..praying the seed was planted in their heads and hearts..praying they may know the love of Christ and sit in awe of His handiwork. We walked back to our hotel room that night humming and holding hands.

Sunday morning came fast and we just made it to breakfast! Breakfast ended at 10am and luckily, Adam woke up at 9:20, got me up, and we were both sitting drinking coffee by 9:30am.

Guilty: Yes, we did push the beds together..and yes, this is how I get ready every single day..even the days I shower, I climb back into bed to put on my makeup.

After breakfast we explored some AMAZING caves and caverns. Such a cool experience! I highly recommend it to everyone :)

A perk to being a tourist is getting to do awesome adventures with your loved ones! 

It was 54 degrees inside the caverns and in my thin t-shirt I am glad I had this man to keep me warm :)

Such a cutie!

The weather began acting up as we finished with the caverns so we were not sure if our journey was over or if we should keep going..

We kept going.

And found something unexpectedly: FOAMHENGE!

How hilarious is this?! We LOVE Foamhenge!

Just wait, it gets better..Adam battled Merlin and WON!

Credit is due to the man, Harry Potter, for teaching my baby the moves!

Have I mentioned we LOVE being tourists and LOVE each other?

Our Sunday adventure did not end here, we continued on to the Natural Bridge Zoo and thankfully the sun came out!

Call Adam the Camel Whisperer!

I really love and appreciate how people think..it makes me smile. The zoo named her "Maybelline"..can anyone guess why? :)

We made it back to our home here in Lynchburg late Sunday afternoon to pick up one very excited pup. Hot showers and a few snacks got us through the afternoon and just as I finish typing this, we are getting ready to meet Adam's parents to celebrate Father's Day with a delicious dinner made by my mother-in-law!

So here it is--the END of our anniversary weekend as tourists! Thank you to all of you who made it down this far, I know it was a long post. I hope you enjoyed hearing about our trip and all of the cheesy/mushy gushy love stuff we did :) We cannot believe two years have passed since we said, "I do."

 

June 20th, 2009.