Hello family and friends!
the greenes are coming to you from gainesville! we're so excited to do this blog and to share what's going on in our lives. the first event after the nuptials was our honeymoon in chattanooga, tn. i know y'all are excited to hear all about it, so get ready for lots of pics and fun captions! here we go...
we stayed at the Stone Fort Inn in downtown chattanooga. it's a european style boutique hotel with only 20 rooms in a renovated historical building. it had a bed and breakfast feel, but we had our privacy as well. the staff was so friendly and helpful with local tips and really made our stay special. we would absolutely recommend it to anyone! we were upgraded to their nicest room. we had a king bed, a sitting area with a fireplace and a balcony. the bathroom was enormous and had a jacuzzi tub and a shower. we absolutely adored all the antique touches!
we had some special surprises waiting for us in our room upon arrival. mom and tom had sent a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a gift that we would enjoy later on in the week. robin and john campbell sent a bottle a champagne. dad sent beautiful flowers, and we enjoyed them out on our balcony! thank you so much for thinking of us!
the inn had lots of common areas. we ate breakfast in the dining room every morning. stacey got zach hooked on tea served the english way!
there was also a billiards room! stacey won! it was still exciting even though she won because zach scratched on the eight ball.
we went to the terminal brew house the first night for dinner. delicious! it's also in a historical renovated building (lots of those on the southside!) we had to go by the historical choo choo also!
our first day we headed up lookout mountain to rock city (per jon and elizabeth wagner's rec). it was a bit touristy, but it's a mustsee in chattanooga! the trail up the mountain is like a landscaper's dream, and the view from the top is breathtaking! you can actually see 7 states on a clear day. wow! the over arching theme of the honeymoon (other than being newlyweds) was playing with our newest toy! Tom and Mom gave us a really nice digital camera for stacey's graduation/ wedding gift, so we tried some artsy pics along the way.
the next day we went over to the bluff view arts district! it was such a fun day! we visited some art galleries, took a stroll around the sculpture garden, and grabbed a snack at rembrant's bakery before heading across the walnut street bridge to the northshore.
we had decided that we wanted to buy a piece of art or some decorative piece for our home while we were on our honeymoon, so we had this thought in mind as we browsed countless art galleries. here's what we found! It's now hanging in our kitchen.
a great clock by ed and kate coleman from hanover gallery on river street. stacey loved everything in there, but the clock was a modest and fun pick! maybe an anniversary in the future will bring us the birds painted on a canvas! we also found a set of mugs that stacey had fallen in love with!
i had seen them in mama coop's kitchen a year ago and have envied them ever since! i was so excited that we found them at a shop called go fish! we loved shopping on the north shore and bought a few more things (zach really enjoyed our shopping day. really!) we had a delicious lunch at tony's and ate so much that we had to take an afternoon nap. when we woke up we were still full, so we got ice cream for dinner at the ice cream show (per ac and jesse english's rec) and went to a spot on lookout mountain called sunset rock. it was absolutely breathtaking up there!
we chased fireflies after sunset and checked out the chattanooga night lights!
we got to bed early because we had a spa appointment in the morning. we arrived at larimar medspa only to find that they had scheduled us on the wrong day. even after informing them that we were on our honeymoon they were not willing to work with us to reschedule, so stacey asked them to recommend another spa in the area. we were in a neat shopping center, so we spent the morning browsing knitting mill antiques and brought home a great drawer that will be a stacey project in the near future! we grabbed lunch at greenlife, an organic grocery store and reminisced about whole foods. we called natural body to make massage appointments for later that afternoon and have a very enjoyable experience. later that night we had dinner plans at table 2, a nice restaurant that supports local farmers. we had been looking forward to this dinner all week! Mom and Tom had called in a gift certificate for us, and that was such a special surprise! stacey had mentioned table 2 to mom in passing, and she remembered! we had diver scallops, shrimp and grits, duck and cheesecake. yummmmm
the next morning we got up early and drove up to the ocoee for white water rafting! we booked with a great outfitter, quest expeditions (per jon and elizabeth wagner's rec), and we would also recommend them to anyone! it was stacey's first time experiencing river rapids, but zach is a seasoned pro. we had a great time and can't wait to go again! sorry, no pics... we also stopped by a local place for lunch, the dam cafe.
we thought long and hard about how we would spend our last evening in the city... we went back to tony's! it was our favorite place, and the weather was nice enough for us to sit on the upstairs balcony to enjoy a great view of the river. we topped off the honeymoon with big ice cream cones from ben and jerry's (a tradition for zach and stacey).
and this is our favorite artsy shot! stacey snapped the pic while hanging out the car window, and zach perfected it in editing.
we had such a wonderful honeymoon! so many special moments to look back on! we were also excited to head back to gainesville to get settled in at home. after several loads of laundry and a good cleaning, we really feel at home! stacey started her job last tuesday at gainesville dermatology in the billing department. zach is staying at home taking care of things and cooking dinner at night. it won't be like this forever, but we make a good team!
