Surprise Babymoon!

Paul and I had talked briefly about wanting to get away for a night or two before Walker was born but had kind of let the idea go/decided not to do anything. Much to my surprise, he planned a two night getaway to Asheville at the Grove Park Inn. He wanted so bad to keep it a surprise until the day we were leaving but he knows me well and knew I'd want to be prepared and planned for it so he told me several nights before we went. The Grove Park hosts a Christian marriage conference each year that we always hear about on the radio and Paul decided he was going for it! The GPI offers rooms at half price if you attend the conference, which was the only way we could ever afford to stay there. Paul had never been before and I'd only been to look around for a day with some girlfriends years ago. I'd actually mentioned a few months ago that it would be a dream for us to go one day. The conference is always held on Sunday and Monday, probably because GPI isn't as crowded on those days and they are giving such a good "deal" on the rooms. Even though the conference was over at lunch time on Monday, the hotel offered the discounted rate for two nights, so Paul planned for us to stay Sunday and Monday night. He'd talked to his principal about taking two days off and worked all the details out with my family and Lindsey about taking care of Gray-all to who we are SO thankful for!!!

The first conference session started at 4:00 on Sunday so we'd planned on leaving early and making the most of our two days. But our power had been out for almost two days due to the ice storm so we hadn't gotten to do laundry, pack and all that necessary stuff. We got gone around 1:30 and made it there just in time for the first session. The couple leading the conference were Jay and Laura Laffoon, who I had never heard of but they were hilarious and had some awesome things to say and teach on about marriage. We had a two hour break between the first and second session so we checked into our hotel and headed downtown to a eat dinner at Tupelo Honey, which was a very popular local restaurant recommended to us by everyone who knew we were going to Asheville. It did not disappoint! I can see us driving to Asheville just to eat there again one day.

View from our room!

Perhaps the best crab cakes and mac and cheese I have ever had in my life!!

Paul got some kind of nutty fried chicken goodness.

And definitely the best blueberry dessert of any kind that I have ever had!

The evening conference session was led by the guest speaker, Gary Smalley. Paul and I read two of his books in our pre-marriage counseling and found them to be very interesting and helpful but we really had no idea who he was or had heard much of him since then. He is a 73 year old man that about had us peeing in our pants the whole time. He mostly ended up telling his own stories but also had some good things to say about communication in marriage and valuing and honoring your spouse.

Monday there were two morning sessions, one more by Jay and Laura and another by Dr. Smalley. They were both awesome and fun and even though Paul and I are blessed to be going through a somewhat "easy" time in our marriage, we left rejuvenated and motivated to be better spouses. I wish all married couples, including us, could attend a marriage conference once every year. Anyway, it was over by noon which gave us almost an entire day to venture around Asheville. We headed to Biltmore Village and had lunch at Cantina, a local Tex/Mex restaurant that as Paul would say, "makes you want to smack somebody". I'd eaten there one time years ago but it was even better than I remembered. Are we the only people that take pictures of our food?!

I can't even remember all of the things that were on my salad but it sure was delish!

Paul enjoyed shrimp and pork soft tacos.

We walked around Biltmore Village for a while and then headed back to explore more at the GPI. The resort is huge and beautiful and we wanted to just relax and soak it in. It was almost 70 degrees, which was perfect for sitting outside and enjoying the view.

This is the original part of the hotel and where our room was. They also have two wings of rooms but if you ever go, I'd recommend staying in the old side!

That night we ate dinner at one of the hotel restaurants called Edison. Paul had made reservations for a table right next to a window so we could watch the sunset over the mountains. It was perfect and the food was outstanding, though we were so hungry we ate before we remembered to take any pictures

View from dinner

After dinner we headed downtown to a local dessert spot called French Broad Chocolate Lounge, mostly for the experience since we were so full we could barely walk. We ended up taking half of our dessert back to the hotel but it was fun anyway.

When we got to the Grove Park on Sunday, Paul told me he had one more surprise for me. He'd booked a pedicure at their spa for Tuesday morning. I could not have been more excited! The Grove Park is known for their amazing spa but I knew we wouldn't be able to afford couples massage or anything like that so I wasn't expecting it at all. I hadn't had a pedicure since Gray was born and at this point I can barely bend over enough to pain my toenails. Needless to say, I was SO excited about it. The pedicure was scheduled for Tuesday morning but if you have anything done at the spa, you get to stay there all day if you want to and swim in the mineral pools, or just use their shower facilities, which I'd heard were amazing. We got up really early Tuesday morning so we could go eat breakfast before my appointment. I was downstairs sitting by the fireplace while Paul went to get the car and got a text from Lindsey that said Gray had thrown up and we needed to get home. He had another cold virus when we left but had no signs of any stomach thing and Lindsey said he'd been fine the night before so I just couldn't believe it. Not to mention this was the first time he had EVER thrown up before. It broke our hearts not being there for him and knowing Lindsey was having to deal with that. So we skipped breakfast, cancelled my pedicure appointment and headed home as soon as we could. We got to Lindsey's about 10:45 and Gray was asleep in a stroller, something he hasn't done since he was six months old. He was happy to see his mommy, but other than that he was a mess. He was so miserable and ill and there was almost nothing we could do to make it better. He wouldn't eat or drink anything. I rocked him to sleep and he napped for over four hours! He was still pretty ill when he got up but managed to eat and drink a little. He never threw up again so it's hard to say what was going on but he was all out of sorts for several days after we got home.

Despite having to come home early, we had a wonderful time and are so thankful to have had an opportunity to get away, just the two of us, before life gets even crazier with a newborn in just a little over two months! A huge thank you to my family and the Sowers for taking care of our boy so we could enjoy our time away. And especially to my sweet hub for planning such a thoughtful, wonderful babymoon. I am far more blessed than I will ever deserve!