The People You Meet Along the Way - Hannah Mercer

I started scrapbooking in 1998, shortly after my grandson was born.  To this day, I have not scrapbooked all my photos of that little guy's life. (Yeah, he turns 21 this year).  But after the birth of my 2nd grandson many years later, I realized that when I focused on getting those photos, I missed out on moments.  That was more important to me, so I started putting the camera down and enjoying each moment, committing it to memory.  I've never been good with selfies either.  Same reason.

So it wasn't until Leanne at From Chaos Comes Happiness started posting about our trip to Plains, GA that I realized there were so many people I met that made it a memorable trip.  But because I was "in the moment", I failed to get pictures of all of them.  Nonetheless, they made the trip memorable, so I'd like to tell you about some of our new friends in Sumter County. 

Like Hannah Mercer.  Hannah is a Barista Trainer for Cafe Campesino, and she gave us a tour of their facility.  We got to meet some of the workers who roast and package the beans.  The story behind the founding of Cafe Campesino is so heartwarming. It started with a wheelbarrow of dirt that was dumped on a coffee bean plant during a Habitat for Humanity program in Guatemala.  Click on the link to read more.  Let me tell you, you'll have a whole new appreciation for fair trade purchases! 

I love that phrase "inspire conscious consumption"

This is Hannah!

    

After our tour, Hannah led us in some Latte Art!!  So much fun!  Leanne, the ultimate fearless artist, picked up a brush and jumped right in.

   

I'm not so much the artist, but I was lovin' the canvas!

Yes, Leanne made sure Frida Kahlo made it to the coffee cup!!

What a fantastic adventure at Cafe Campesino!  Oh, and while staying in Americus, we were right across the street from a Cafe Campesino retail store.  So that's where we had our breakfast and met up with Nicole for our next adventure.  

Southbound and Down...On our way to Georgia

As I mentioned in the last post, Leanne over at From Chaos Comes Happiness and I took a road trip to visit our friend Nicole from Destination Unknown.  This trip began last fall, as Leanne, her sister Laura, and I just started talking about the road trip and Laura reached out to Nicole to start the planning.  Shortly after, Laura was diagnosed with a rare, metastatic ovarian cancer and by December, we had lost our dear friend and sister.  But Leanne and I, in our year of healing, have decided to honor the plans that Laura had made.  So on March 31, 2019 we headed out.

Day 1 - On the road nice and early  - 4:15 a.m. CDT
This was the first road trip Leanne and I took together.  We were kind to each other for, I'd say, 45 minutes.  Just kidding.  It was sweet!  And we got to witness an incredible sunrise!

Along with some snow.  South of us.  Still trying to process that!!

Anyway, I will say that Leanne is a top notch navigator, although she did laugh at me for printing out the Google map directions.  "Dear Peg, don't you know that we have maps on our phones?"  But the printout came in handy for those short turns.  (You see, that lady on the phone app can't talk fast enough.)  

After 13-14 hours on the road, we finally met Nicole, our long time blogger friend.  Finally, face-to-face, "damn, you are real" moment.  And we stayed at the Plains Inn.  Talk about quaint!!  Seven rooms, each with its unique and authentic design, based on decades from 1920-1980.  Leanne took 1970, otherwise known as the presidential suite, and I stayed in the 1950s room.  How adorable is this!  And there's so much more history to this building.  I'll save that for another time!!

And there is a community room where we had a continental breakfast, coffee and good chat with other guests.  I had such a wonderful chat with a gentlemen who came into town to deliver the eulogy at the funeral of his long time friend.  And honestly, after talking to so many people in town, we eventually started calling it "the funeral" since everyone in town knew about it!

From the balcony off the community room, you can sit and enjoy the beautiful garden on Main St.  Seriously, if ever there was a place that epitomizes Main Street, this is it!  Captured my heart!!  Want to see more of those adorable rooms?  Check out the Plains Inn website, scroll down and click on each of the decades. Will I go back?  You bet!  I could spend a week in this little town!!  If I was writing a book, this would be my getaway!!  

Did you know you can subscribe to my blog and receive notification whenever there's a new post?  Just click on "Subscribe" on the right and you'll know each time I post!  What better way to keep up with this incredible adventure we had!!