Fun Friday

Carol picked me up at 9 this morning. Jim decided he would like to have a day to do what he wanted, so he did not join us on the day's outing. I think he worked on some projects, and made a trip to Publix while Carol and I spent the morning in Homewood.

Our first stop was for a lattes and a shared muffin at O'Henry's Coffee shop. This is a local store that roasts their own beans. They can be ordered online, and I think some grocery stores in the area carry them. It's great coffee!


We did some window shopping in the Homewood area and I spotted a Penzey's Spice Store. Carol had never been to Penzey's - she really enjoyed the visit to this little store.

I found a few spices that really need to be in my kitchen, and Carol found a few for her own. We spent quite a while browsing the store, taking advantage of the many "smell sample jars" placed throughout the shop. Our favorite today was the Dutch Process "High Fat" Cocoa. I will be making a Weight Watchers Chocolate Cake recipe with that!

We regretfully left Penzey's and went back to O'Henry's to buy coffee beans before lunch. We both got stocked up on coffee.

Lunch was at O'Carrs - another local favorite. Below is Carol in the center of the picture at our table. There are prints all over every wall, as you can see by the picture!

We each had a variation of the restaurant's well-known chicken salad. Carol had the fruit and chicken salad:

And I had the crackers and chicken salad:

After lunch, we made our way to Veterans Park on Valleydale to walk:

There are many parks in this area with beautiful walking trails. We walked over 2 miles in this beautiful location.

It was time to have a rest, so Carol dropped me off at the Castle, with a promise to be back with her husband, Steve, to pick us up for a dinner out.

We went to a small town, Fayetteville, near Sylacauga, to meet another friend, Gail, and her husband, Danny, at a tiny local Barbeque Restaurant there called The Hog. Gail has lived in that area all her life. Her brother owns a business that makes pallet-building machines, and Gail works in the office.

Here are Steve, Carol, Danny, Gail, Me and Jim in front of the official menu board at The Hog:

Well, I can tell you that I really needed that 2-mile walk today after all the meals out! Another 2 miles tomorrow would be a good idea too, now that I think about it!