A place of refuge

What quote am I vibing? "My grand affair appears settled, for America is certain of her independence, humanity has gained her cause, and liberty will never be without a place of refuge." Marquis de Lafayette

What is going on, we thought you were done? I'm on a little east coast road trip for Thanksgiving. I can still do this whenever I want.

But what about Teddy? Where does he fit into all this? You'll see. Just relax.

Yesterday morning I set out from Stuart, FL in order to spend Thanksgiving with family up north. I don't always go home for holidays, because I'm not such a lover of the fuss of the holidays, and also because it's nice to be in the Florida warmth instead of the unreliable northern weather. However, this year, after a month at home after my summer/fall road trip - it was time for me to get back behind the wheel.

I split the drive between two days - it's more fun that way. And spent Saturday night in Fayetteville, NC. Along the way, I stopped for a mini-adventure in Santee State Park in SC. This morning, I had an awesome brunch at Circa 1800, and wandered around the historic downtown area.

The gorgeous statue of Marquis de Lafayette is in Cross Creek Park, and the name seemed so very familiar to me. It was when I read a marker indicating that before the town was named for Lafayette in 1783, it was called Cross Creek that I realized why it was so familiar - this town plays a huge part in my beloved Outlander series! Cross Creek. Cape Fear. It's all there.

The town of Fayetteville is SO AMERICANA. Like, if you ever wake up one day and think "Just how America can I get today?"- go there. I fully intend to go back for a longer time to explore Fort Bragg and the historical trails - there are so many things of historical interest in the area. Exciting.

Drove the rest of the way home to Pennsylvania. It's cold, y'all. And that dirty snow. My blood has just thinned in Florida. I need a minute. And a good night's rest. I'll let you know when something exciting happens this week!

I'm not sure if the sun at this time of year is just dying to be photographed in this way, or I have taken to only taking sunburst photos, but if you're not a fan of the sunburst, I'd advise you to stay away from this blog from now on. I'm always looking to catch that light.

As you can tell by my off-the-shoulder sweatshirt, I didn't actually intend to hike on my way to Fayetteville, but I got sick of passing signs for cool stuff without stopping.

South Carolina forest

Lake Marion. Madame Librarian.

Red Eye Sirloin. Grits. Steak. Onions. Peppers. Eggs. YUM.

"An immigrant you know and love who's unafraid to step in" (Lin Manuel Miranda) // Marquis de Lafaytte, who visited Fayetteville which was named after him on his Grand Tour of America in 1825.