Sabbatical Reflections

I am two weeks into my 2-month sabbatical.  For background, here's a post that Meredith Pace, one of our Leadership Team members, wrote a couple of months ago, and here's a post I wrote sharing with our church my heart and plans for this sabbatical.

So far the sabbatical has been marked by travel.  We started out with our second annual micro church trip to the water park, with a stop at Heifer Village on the way.  Two days later the four of us headed east.  We stopped overnight in Atlanta, staying with my Uncle Jack and Aunt Marlene.  Then we drove to Uncle Bruce and Aunt Ginger's Marsh House just a little outside Savannah.  We spent one night there, then two nights at their home in Savannah.

Then we headed to Tybee Island.  It's been a very restful trip so far, and we have two full days left.  Our condo is not completely ocean-front, but it will do.  Here's the view from our balcony.

We've spent most of our time at the pool or on the beach.  The first few days were cooler and windy, which made the waves a bit rough for the boys, but which also made the evenings on the balcony amazing.  We've also eaten a lot of seafood, which is always a good thing.  I introduced the boys to crab legs the other night.  They both loved it.

Yesterday we spent the day on Bruce and Ginger's sailboat.  The boys went fishing and Micah caught two sharks.

On Saturday we begin our drive back home.  We'll be spending the night in Atlanta, and arriving in Memphis on Sunday afternoon.

  

Two Days Until This...

On Wednesday morning Mandy and I are flying to Cancun. We're staying at the NH Riviera in Puerto Morales, which is just south of Cancun. I booked this right before Christmas, so we've had a long time to anticipate. The plan is to drive to Paducah tomorrow afternoon, drop the kids off with the grandparents, and drive to St. Louis. We'll spend the night there, and fly out at 6 am. Seven days later we fly back. That's right - 7 Days!!!

Needless to say, this will be my final blog post for 2 weeks, so, until then...

The Mississippi Delta

I had a great trip down south last week. I left Memphis around 10:00 on Thursday morning. I headed south on third street, which becomes Hwy 61. It was a good day for a drive: overcast, cool, and an occasional drop of rain. When I got to Greenville, my first thought was how quiet it was.

Here's a view from my hotel.

And here's the other side of the hill.

I had heard about a restaurant there in Greenville called Doe's Eat Place. Men's Journal said the following about Doe's: "the best thing to eat in America." I actually decided to skip lunch, and headed to Doe's at 5:30 when they opened.

The first room you walk in to is filled with people ordering hot tamales to go. I told them I wanted steak, not tamales, so they led me through the kitchen (nice) and into one of two dining rooms. There's no menu, and they pretty much just have steak, shrimp, and hot tamales. Once again, I wanted steak. The waitress told me that the steak comes with fries and bread. If I wanted garlic bread, that would cost me extra. If I wanted a salad, that would cost extra as well. Just steak please.

I have a theory that a good steak helps you do all things better, so the rest of my time reading, writing, planning and praying was very profitable and enjoyable. I plan on visiting the Delta again soon, but this time I will take Mandy.