The drive started out okay. I knew it was going to be a long day, but the thought of a road trip seemed kind of fun too. I was especially excited to add three states to be my "been to" list: Alabama, Georgia (just the NW corner, but still saw some beautiful countryside), and of course Tennessee. Any Texan knows that one of the longest (if not the longest) part of an out of state road trip is just getting out of Texas. So we stopped for lunch while we were still in Texas. We stopped at a place along the interstate in Lindale, TX (which just so happens to be Miranda Lambert's hometown) called Collins Street Bakery. They had a good selection of sandwiches (I had the deluxe chicken salad), soups, salads, fruit, etc plus a large delicious bakery selection. My Pecan Fancy was to die for.
Back in April, I set out on a 900+ mile road trip with my mom and sister to visit a university my sister was considering transferring to in the fall in Cleveland, Tennessee. You may ask, why on earth would we choose to drive that far? The reason we were going in the first place is because the college is Lee University, which is affiliated with the Church of God, which is the church my sister and I grew up in. As for why we drove, we actually bought plane tickets...the day before we were supposed to go. By that point the prices were over 500 dollars a person. So we decided that was ridiculous, and luckily we had purchased cancellation insurance from Delta, so we got a refund and hit the road. The drive started out okay. I knew it was going to be a long day, but the thought of a road trip seemed kind of fun too. I was especially excited to add three states to be my "been to" list: Alabama, Georgia (just the NW corner, but still saw some beautiful countryside), and of course Tennessee. Any Texan knows that one of the longest (if not the longest) part of an out of state road trip is just getting out of Texas. So we stopped for lunch while we were still in Texas. We stopped at a place along the interstate in Lindale, TX (which just so happens to be Miranda Lambert's hometown) called Collins Street Bakery. They had a good selection of sandwiches (I had the deluxe chicken salad), soups, salads, fruit, etc plus a large delicious bakery selection. My Pecan Fancy was to die for. We finally got out of Texas, drove through Louisiana, and got through Mississippi with a little bit of slow traffic due to road construction. By the time we got to the Alabama state line, it was almost dark, I was tired and ready to be there, and I had given the driver's seat to my sister. We did stop to take a picture by the Alabama sign at the Welcome Center though. (I had originally planned to take one at every state line since we were going through 6 states in a day, but that plan quickly faded when I realized how much time our stops were eating up. Plus, by the time we got to Georgia and Tennessee I was dozing in the passenger seat.) We finally got to Cleveland around 2 am local time and checked into a hotel completely exhausted. The next two days we spent exploring and learning about the Lee University campus. It is beautiful, large, and focused on Christ centered excellence. I understand why my sister would want to go there, though I'm not so sure it's worth being so far away from everyone she loves. The campus is filled with red brick buildings. Everything was clean, classy, and state of the art, which has always been my experience growing up in the Church of God, striving for excellence. Not everyone there is Church of God though, but it is very much a Christian campus. In addition to classes for their major, students are required to take religious classes, perform service hours, and study abroad (though there are domestic options too, but they recognize that students need to expand their borders). It's an amazing school that keeps the students very busy. Music is also a large part of the school. There are an insane amount of music groups for singers and musicians, all of which rise to Christ centered excellence. Every professor and student we ran into were very friendly. It seemed like most students lived on campus, and after touring the upperclassmen apartments I can see why. They're nicer than my apartment post-college! Here are a few photos from our days there, known as Lee Days (and full of fun activities!).
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AuthorI love to travel as often as possible. I like taking day trips around North Texas, weekend road trips, flying cross county for a week or two, or jumping on a cruise ship for a foreign country. This year I've driven across most of the Southern United States. I have a slight obsession with New York City (and am due for another trip soon!). Archives
July 2015
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