Did ya have a good weekend?
Miss me?
Of course you did! ;)
I'm back at it with the challenge;
sorry I've been taking the weekend (and apparently yesterday as well) off to do family stuff, new dog stuff and well... general housework lol.
So today is all about places! Woohoo! Another of my favorite subjects!
And I'm supposed to list six of them!
Hmmm where should I start?
Where I've been? Where I am? Where I would love to go?
Decisions... decisions.
How bout a bit of it all.
As some of you might know, or might not know... I was born in Germany a city called Heilbronn its about 30 minutes North of Stuttgart and located in the Southwestern region of the country in the state of Baden-Württemberg. I lived there till I was 5 and then moved to the states. All of my mom's side of the family still live there. I used to go back to visit just about every summer when I was young and on summer break. It's been a while since the last time I visited though, which was in 2005. I really hope to get back at least some time within the next 4 years or so, I miss it alot and I miss the family. Seems like when I'm not there we forget about each other, only recently have we started talking through facebook, but even that isn't very much :(
I grew up in (back then) a small town called Lehigh Acres, Florida. Its a town in South West Florida about 2 hours South of Tampa Florida or 3 hours South of Orlando Florida. Growing up there I saw lots of changes. As far back as I can remember and for the longest time we only had a publix grocery store, a shell gas station, a dairy queen, a dunkin donuts, a post office, a sheriff's department, the bank where my momma still works (24 years later) a pizza place called Ike's, a Chinese restaurant called China Star, a McDonalds, an Elementary school and a Middle school. The Elementary school that I went to was just finished being built the year I moved to Lehigh. I remember walking in on the first day of school and still smelling the new paint and carpets. I can remember when Wal-Mart finally came to town! LOL! Later on as I grew up the town got bigger and more people came to stay in the early 1990's the population was only about 9,000 people and now its estimated between 70,000 to 80,000 people... my how things have grown huh? Its not quite the same town as it used to be though, I used to be that I could walk into just about any store and see either a friend or family member and now its nothing but strangers but *sigh* I guess that's what happens when you move away... right? My parents still live there so I go back from time to time but, it will never quite be the same for me as while I was growing up there.
My first big move was after the hubby and I started dating. He was stationed out at Tinker AFB in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. My oh my... what a HUGE change that was and talk about culture, weather and landscape shock! I couldn't have picked a more different state to be transplanted to LOL! Six years later and you can see it was well worth the move. ;)
I actually grew to love living in Oklahoma. I actually would move back there, given the chance. Hubby on the other hand would rather make Hell his new address first LOL!
I admit there are some harsh weather conditions... like 5-6 feet of snow and blizzards during the winter. Soaring over 100 degrees in the summer and let's not forget the Tornados! I was used to Hurricanes having grown up in Florida so I thought I had a handle on "these little Tornado's" boy, was I ever wrong! They are nothing like going through a Hurricane... there is sometimes little to no warning before it happens and then boom! Its right in your back yard! Yes, living in Oklahoma was sooooo different! There's no real sweet tea, I mean there's sweet tea but no Southern style SWEET tea... they make theirs by dumping the sugar in it after its already made! YUCK! Us Southerner's dump a hell of a lot of sugar in it while the thing's still brewing and then dump some more in just after while its cooling LOL! They also love to fry interesting things... like... Oreo's and Twinkies... and Snickers bars. And they think I'm crazy when I ask for some boiled peanuts?! Everyone kept asking me why I would want some boiled Penis... apparently I have an accent LOL! They do have some awesome steaks! Best steaks I've probably ever had in my life, was while we lived in Oklahoma. Also some of the cheapest gas prices I've ever seen! It's also where I first learned to drive in snow and walk, or should I say skate on ice in the Wal-Mart parking lot. It's the first place I've "bunkered" (we say hunker down in Florida) down in a closet for a tornado, and it's where my munchkin was born! She is a native Sooner! Yes, Oklahoma I learned to love you.
Then we moved to Georgia... Augusta, Georgia. Your might have heard of it if your a golfer. It's where they hold the Master's Golf Tournament every year. It was also the birthplace to the god father of soul; James Brown. Augusta is located about half way up the Savannah River, about 2 hours East of Atlanta Georgia and about 10 minutes from the South Carolina border. It's the city I've ever lived in that has 2 counties in it, Richmond County and Columbia County. It's also home to one of the LARGEST Army training posts in the country! In the 1700's it used to be the capital of Georgia before the great fires of the 1800's and the great "Burning of Atlanta".
It was an interesting place to live, definitely not my favorite place to live but I did meet some of the greatest people there, and that is what it made it worth while! I do miss its changing of the season's it had some of the most beautiful fall foliage I've ever seen and I also miss driving up and down the hills.
After Georgia we PCS'ed to Biloxi Mississippi and that is where we are currently living. Biloxi lies directly on the Gulf of Mexico and is home to the Mississippi Sound and a lot of barrier islands. Biloxi was first founded by the French in 1559 and has over 400 years of history to it. It was also owned by both the British and the Spanish in the 1700's and later was claimed by America and admitted to the union in 1817. Biloxi for me, has by far the most interesting history! It's amazing that it's history goes back as far as some of the first settlers in our country! However, not all that history is pretty... Biloxi is host to hundreds of battles and a few wars with lots of bloodshed and heartache. You can just imagine the paranormal stuff that goes on here... ;)
Two of the biggest hurricanes to effect the area were Hurricane Camile (a category 5 Hurricane) in 1969 and Hurricane Katrina (a category 5 Hurricane) in 2005. Hubby was actually deployed down here and to New Orleans right after Katrina struck; I can remember talking with him on the phone and him describing it looking like someone dropped a bomb on the gulf coast.
Since then though, the city and the whole gulf coast has worked VERY hard in its clean up and rebuilding efforts. Now, you can barely see the scars of the city, in fact you might never known a Hurricane of that magnitude had ever been through here unless you visit the Katrina Memorial. The Memorial sits across the street from the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, it stands over 14 feet tall to symbolize the standing water after the storm, on that wall is a list of names from the lives of local people the storm took. It is a very beautiful yet somber place.
I think my favorite things about the living down here is the hospitality and general pleasantry of the people... I swear the Cajuns invented hospitality along with their food! And the food! My goodness! I don't think I've ever eaten so many good thing's till I moved down here... beignets, muffulettas, crawfish etouffee , gumbo, po-boys... and the list goes on and on! And let's not forget Mardi Gras! (which actually got it's start in Mobile Alabama not New Orleans like everyone thinks) ;) Yes, its a HUGE deal down here! There are parades, and balls, and tons of festivities! Its such a big deal down here that the kids get 3 days off of school just to party! See... told ya... now don't you wish you lived down here?
And where are we going next? Well, if plans work out the way we have them set then it will be Jacksonville, FL. Where the hubby grew up. Yes, we would move back "home" to Florida. There are lots of job opportunities there for hubs. He is not one that will make the Air Force a career, the Air Force has been good to us but with the knowledge and education he has, he is twice a valuable on the outside. Plus it gives a chance to be closer to both our families. I think I will miss the moves, the traveling, and the getting to see other parts of the country but it will be good to finally call a place "home" again. :)
