Hey Look! It's Wetumpka!

Yesterday I told you that we were in Alabama, on our way to Florida for our 10th anniversary celebration, when we decided to take an impromptu side trip.

We were just north of Montgomery and were stopping for fuel and a Thanksgiving lunch snack when I happened to see a sign that said Wetumpka was just about 15 miles away.

You're saying it, aren't you? "What's Wetumpka?"

Ryan and I love watching Hometown on HGTV. It's Ben and Erin Napier's show, where they redo houses in their hometown of Laurel, Mississippi. (That's a bucket list location for us, too.) Well, a couple of years ago, they did a show called Hometown Takeover, where they went outside of Laurel to help revitalize another small town. They ended up in this little place called Wetumpka, Alabama. And there we were, practically in Wetumpka's backyard. We decided it was WORTH IT to add an hour or so to our trip in order to see Wetumpka in person. 

It was Thanksgiving Day, so nothing was open, but it made for great photo opps! (I would love to go back here someday when things are open, because there were so many places we would love to see inside.)

If you saw the Hometown Takeover season, you might remember the shipping container they turned into a pop up shop. Found it! It is adorable. The whole shipping container shop is a brilliant idea, in my opinion. 

Found the mural, too! There was a whollllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllle parking lot and the ONE car that was there parked right in front of the mural, obstructing the view. (!!!!) The driver finally left just as we were driving away, so we went back for a full picture. 

Here's the cut-off version (the car is just off-camera to the right).

And here is the whole thing that we were finally able to see after the car left!

Couldn't eat at Coaches Corner, because it was Thanksgiving, but we got a great picture of it. 

The bridge is just as cool in person as it was in the drone shots on the show. You can walk it too, but we didn't have enough time for that.

The downtown had so many cute shops and a restaurant for sale. (Just in case any of you are looking for a career change.)

We've never seen the Big Fish movie, but we had to get a picture with the house Ben and Erin made over.

Thanks for the side trip, Wetumpka! You were SO FUN to see in person!

From there, our destination in Florida seemed to be about four million light years away. The whole trip had gone quickly and smoothly, but that last leg was a little bit brutal. We also lost our sunshine (!!!) and that was sad!

Made it!

Months ago, we found an Airbnb with a water view, and we got there just before dark!

Well. There's a water view when there's not drizzle and fog. (!!!)

Tomorrow I'll tell you about our Airbnb and some of our mind-blowing Thanksgiving evening adventures. We just had to laugh.