What I Did on my Spring Break Vacation

Warning: Photo-heavy post. No food. Much water.

I have food for you, a St. Patrick's Day dish that is actually two recipes in one. Making it took up most of the day on Sunday, and I'd hoped to get it posted in time for the holiday itself. What I forgot to take into consideration is that D and I were leaving early the next morning to drive up to Johnson City, Tennessee, to pick up E, who had been visiting friends there.

I'll get the recipes posted soon (at least in time for the next St. Paddy's Day!) In the meantime, here's a look at DeSoto State Park near Fort Payne, Alabama. It's near the halfway point between here and our friends in Tennessee, so on our way home, we stayed in one of their rustic CCC cabins, perched on a cliff just above a rushing river...



...which we could hear from our cabin's porch. It afforded lots of opportunities for dueling photography:



(Somehow all of the photos of me disappeared from D's camera. Hmm. Wonder how that happened.)

We arrived late in the day, threw our stuff into the cabin, and set out on a hike along the river.



Though she was tempted to take a little swim, E managed to stay safely on the rocks the whole hike. Along the way, we walked under waterfalls...



...stood alongside waterfalls...



...and even passed over a waterfall or two.



In a few weeks, this whole area will be ablaze with rhododendrons, but the only flash of color we were treated to was this butterfly:



After our hike, we returned to our cabin to sit on the porch and enjoy a a glass of wine (Naked Juice for E) before dining on spaghetti, sourdough garlic bread, and steamed broccoli. Somehow simple food tastes like a gourmet dinner when you're worn out and surrounded by nature.

When we awoke the next morning, the rain was pouring down, so we skipped the hiking we had planned and went up to the park's lodge for a breakfast of grits, English muffins, and hash browns (I call it the Vegan High-Carb Special). E stepped out onto the deck for a last view of the hills before we headed back through the rain to Mississippi.



There were too many sights that we didn't get to see, including DeSoto Falls and Little River Canyon. The next time we pass through, we definitely plan to spend more time in the lovely northeastern corner of Alabama.

P.S. If you've emailed me, I haven't forgotten about you! As soon as I sort through the mountain of email that accumulates after being off-line for 3 days, I'll get back to you.