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What Wegan Did Next: The South Y'all! Part 1

We can't believe that its already been over a month since we returned from visiting America! We absolutely loved our time there and enjoyed being back on American soil so much! It was tough to come home and back to reality to say the least. If only we could live half the year in the UK and half in USA! (Warning, I use a lot of exclamation marks it seems..!)

Before we take you on a run through our trip to the South, we would like for you to share in our Southern journey by listening to the following songs that were our road trip tunnessss! You'll be singing '"running outta moonlight" and "chew tobacco spit" before you know it!!



We set off to America on 11 May, on a flight at 7.45am! We were so excited to set off on our first ever flight together to the USA! It was a surreal feeling going to the airport together and not having to say goodbye, and instead checking in our bags and getting on a flight together! We bought cute neck pillows at the airport, and away we went! First stop was Chicago, onto Charlotte, North Carolina where her mum and cousin were waiting for us.


Ah finally- the taste of sweet tea! We had arrived!!


NORTH/ SOUTH CAROLINA

When we first arrived in NC, it was Whitney's shout for us to head straight to her favourite BBQ- Sonney's! I had heard about this place for ages from Whitney, so I was excited to try it despite obviously not being able to truly taste the South being a vegetarian and all! I still feasted on mac & cheese, southern coleslaw, a sweet potatoe, fried okra and corn frittas! Oh how I want to eat it NOW!

Warning: majority of this trip was food, food and Starbucks!

Megan's vegetarian options
Whitney digging in!
We couldn't wait to return to our beloved cinnamon and greatly rejoiced in drinking many iced cinnamon dolce lattes- NOM! We seriously want to petition to get it over here in the UK! It's just so yummy! Got to love the cinnamon coffee cake as well!


We fell in love with Whitney's cousin's little doggie named Aegi ("Eggie"- Korean name). He is beyond adorable!! He little face does appear a few times throughout our trip...


I received my beautiful Michael Kors bag that was my birthday present from Whitney. I love it sooo much!! It's gorgeous!


Whitney didn't miss her car... not one bit. Nopes!


On our first full day there, we set off on our road trip from South Carolina all the way to Kentucky! 8 hours in total. Whitney's cousin Kaydi drove us there as we were visiting her mum. I was very excited to finally get to see where Whitney grew up and to meet the rest of her Aunt's family. Oh & we had a pretty cute little passenger on board as well...

Aegi & Megan ready for their trip!
whitney-road-trip

Half way to KY I finally had my taste buds rewarded with TACO BELL! Yes as a vegetarian I still love their food- 7 layer burrito with cheesy fiesta potatoes.. why oh WHY aren't they in the UK?! Well apparently there's one in Birmingham, but that doesn't help me!

taco-bell

Oh look who it is...
Seriously- how cute?!
KENTUCKY!

Kentucky here we come!! We had finally arrived!


After 8 hours we finally arrived in KY, and a very cute welcome sign awaited us from Whitney's young cousins. So sweet!!

 

 It was truly love to be around her Aunt's family, they welcomed me with open arms!


We ate at the infamous Root Beer stand, which was a great novelty to me as they serve you at your car, and bring your food out to you! Being a vegetarian in the South is pretty hard, so I had fries & onion rings!



By the way, the town that Whitney is from (Corbin, KY) is the birth place to KFC! Yups. Apparently even has a little museum in it!!


The next day we drove on over to Lexington, KY to meet up with Whitney's childhood friends Seth and Sarah. Though we had a pit stop first of course at Starbucks! Can I just say how much we LOVE drive thrus in America? We miss the convenience and the amount of choice that you get. Most of all- Drive thru Starbucks are seriously the best!!


megan-evans-cinnamon-starbucks
Cinnamon Dolce Latte. NOM
 Unfortunately Seth came down with food poisoning the night before we visited, so he sadly could not accompany us to dinner. However it was lovely to catch up with Sarah, who I had only met once in South Carolina!

Sarah & Megan- 2013
Megan & Sarah 2011.. yeah I look better tanned!
We all had a great time catching up, one thing's for sure is that they all share such a special bond that I've truly not seen with any other friends!



Whitney took me to visit the beautiful Cumberland Falls, a place where she used to frequent when she was younger and it was very surreal to be bringing her British wife to it!




We went out to a local Mexican restaurant for a family dinner, and Whitney's Aunt had a Mexican birthday surprise up her sleeve as all our birthdays fall in May/ June. I didn't realise what was going on at first and next thing I knew we were all wearing sombreros with whipped cream being put on our faces!! Crazy! 


Our food indulgence did not stop there.. oh no.. we made sure we made a visit to Cracker Barrel! Oh how I love their French Toast!!





Before we knew it, our time in Kentucky had sadly come to an end. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to see where Whitney came from and getting to know her family better. Can't wait for them to come visit England, hopefully for the big wedding in 2015! Her young cousins were just too adorable and so open and welcome to accepting me in their family- is adorable! We then ventured onto Tennessee to visit Whitney's father!

TENNESSEE!


In true Southern style, her dad lives on a farm! He even has a shut gun next to his chair. No lie!!



We didn't get much time to explore the farm before having to head to Rockwood, TN for a family photo session! This had been her dad's wish to do for a long time whilst all the family were together (she has a half brother, and two step-brothers). Little did we know that I would be invited to join in the photo's as well- how sweet!

So... this happened...



Too funny!!

Whitney with her brother
Whitney and her daddy!
After a whistle stop tour we made our long journey back to South Carolina, driving at nights through the mountains sure was scary, but that Kaydi is a tough little driver!!

SOUTH CAROLINA... AGAIN!

We managed to catch up with our Starbucks friend Carl, who is actually originally from Ascot near where we live. He somehow caught on to the fact that we love cinnamon dolce lattes, and very kindly gave us a mahoossive bottle to take back!! Thank you Carl, we have been amusing UK Starbucks people by lugging that in!!


cinnamon-dolce-starbucks

One thing that surprised us by being back in the South as a married lesbian couple is a) how many American's notice your wedding bands as opposed to the UK which b) resulted in many asking if we were married which then c) lead to the assumption it was to a man which ultimately lead to d) them finding out that we are a married couple. One example was when we were in a Kentucky merchandise shop talking to a very sweet southern lady who's in her 50's. She had asked what church did we go to to see if we knew the same people.. then assumed Whitney had married an English man. At that point I started to exit the shop as didn't want to deal with the consequences of her finding out we're actually married to one another... before we had a chance to say or do anything, Whitney's cousin plainly told her "no they are married to each other!!" The shop assistant banged her hands on her desk, and then ran around the front.. to give us a hug!! It was so sweet and took us by total surprise! Most people that found out actually reacted really well, so I guess ultimately it was my stereotype about the South scaring me more than the people themselves.

Our first week in America came to an end. We had a fantastic time getting to see so much and so many people, but it definitely was time we got our pasty faces into the sun right? Part 2 will detail what we did in our 2nd week.. give you a hint.. Myrtle Beach!


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