Chris' First Carbondale Trip!

I went to SIU and per the post below became friends with Nina. Luckily she is a Carbondale native, therefore, I have been fortunate enough to have gone back to Carbondale many, many times since graduating from the town near and dear to my heart.

But this past Labor Day weekend was Chris' first Carbondale trip! He was not as excited as I was to visit my almamater, although a stroll thru Saluki territory was not the highlight of my trip to good ol' C-dale either. But to stay at "Seven Gables," Nina's parents house is the true vaca-like experience I wanted him to have. They call their compound Seven Gables b/c there are seven peaks on top of the house and their home is really where they spend all their time and the way they live there NObody would ever want to leave! The service and friendly staff (Nina's parents LOL) at Seven Gables is second to none and I LOVE visiting there.

We came in late Friday, got in around 9.30-ish and Ian came in shortly there after. This weekend was Ian, Ann's boyfriends' first trip to C-Dale as well. We had a few beers from the tapper in the basement and talked til about 1am discussing everything under the sun and reminiscing on old stories. I have to live thru Chris and his friends reminiscing all their stories so this weekend was payback.

The next day was jam-packed so had to get in the pool quickly to get that out of the way. We hung out by the pool for awhile and were graced by the presence of Mandy and her 1yr old, Parker.

Then on to "where it all began..." with a trip to the Sig Kap house. But the worst thing that could ever happen - nobody was home! All the girls had apparently left campus b/c of the holiday weekend. None the less we hung out on the front porch for a bit and had a photo shoot with the front sign and the old swing. Many cigs were smoked and gossip shared on that swing back in the day after one of Patty the cook's gourmet meals. That house was my roof for three years during my college days, it's really a shame we couldn't get in, oh well next trip!

Next stop after touring around the campus and sorority house was Quatro's Pizza. Our FAV pizza joint and a must visit on all C-Dale trips. I really wanted Chris to DIE over this pizza the way I do but he simply said that there's a pizza place similar at ISU...that's so annoying.

Next stop after our stroll down memory lane in Carbondale was Bluesky Winery! What a GREAT place and exciting preview for Chris and my trip to Napa in April.

We had a few pitchers of Sangria and back to the homefront to get ready for the baseball game. Can you believe it's still Saturday?? We were busy!

We left the winery and played our new favorite car game on the 15 min drive home, "Categories." Who knew Nina and I could really hold our own in the gansta rapper category?

Nina had some extra "TIMIKE" (Tim and Mike in one word, get it?) shirts for Ann and I to wear. Tim is the baseball player that their family is hosting at their home right now and Mike, another player on the team and his family are very close to Nina and her parents. They were buzzing in and out of the house just as much as we were! Grand Central Station!

Mandy, Ann, Nina and Myself @ the Game!

Ann and Ian being newlyweds!

Below is a pic of the group at the game!

After the game we headed home for some food (of course, since we hadn't eaten in over an hour we were due) and off to our old stomping grounds with a first pit stop at Gatsby's. How we used to just DIE over this bar like it was the greatest time ever I don't know? And I think Chris was dumbfounded and confused how on earth we thought this bar was ever fun? But it def was, when it's filled with everybody who knows your name like on Cheers it's a good time - trust me. But we're old now so not so fun anymore...

one tequila, two tequila, three tequila - FLOOR! J/K, they only had one round of tequila. After a few laps around Gatsby's we were off to Pinch Penny Pub, aka: Pinch or P3. This place was a bit more happening (mind you it was a holiday weekend) but the scene wasn't much better. Although Chris, Ann and Ian managed to down a C-Dale fav and P3 original, a Green Dragon. Not sure what the recipe is for this concoction but its other name is "completely blasted in a plastic cup." Needless to say all three of them were bit by the dragon come the next morning.

These three look normal but they still have half their green dragons left, trust me it got ghetto fab in the car.

DJ Saltwater and Ann were rapping on the way home and DJ Smalls was in the front seat breakin' it down. Nina and I were dead sober, not good to be around 3 people who think they are Ghet-To rappers drugged by the dragon.

DJ Smalls workin' it in the front seat.

Sunday eventually came, we had a short morning dip in the pool. Followed by a wonderful brunch by yours truly the dyanmic cooking duo, G&V (Nina's parents). They always make specially for me my signature dill eggs :-)

We weren't ready to hit the road just yet, we decided to relax with a flick in the movie theater room before our departure.

Below is our final photo shoot in the gazebo out back before the five hour trek back to Chicago.

You may view all the C-Dale wkend pics on Nina's blog.

Thanks again to Nina and G&V for another wonderful trip to Carbondale!

Can't wait to see you again soon!