Bell Buckle, Tennessee

I was born for the north. Have I said that before? Pretty sure I have and pretty sure I'll say it again. In fact, I actually checked the forecast for Alaska yesterday just to dream of what it would be like to not be soo ridiculously hot outside. In case you were wondering, it was 55 in Anchorage yesterday. Bliss.

Last night I met up with a friend and enjoyed a fun yet somewhat "muggy" night at the drive-in. It really wasn't that bad once the sun went down, and The Proposal and Up made it all worthwhile. I laughed SO hard throughout The Proposal - will definitely be purchasing that when it comes out on dvd. I actually shed a few tears during Up! Who knew a pixar film would be so heart-wrenching?! Very sweet movie though, definitely go see it. I feel like I've seen a million movies lately, but I guess it's because between the drive-in ($7 for 2 movies) and the free sneaks I've gone to, it's made for pretty cheap entertainment.

This morning a friend of mine came over and we headed over to 9Fruits for a delic-i-ous smoothie before hittin' up the pool. It was so hot (I mean, HOT!) that you could only lay out for a few minutes before being drenched in sweat, so we spent the majority of our time IN the pool. Way more fun that way anyhow. Once we'd had our fill of the sun, we headed back to the house to change clothes and take off for Bell Buckle, TN.

First off, I've wanted to visit Bell Buckle for quite a while since I heard it was a really cute small town. I love small towns. Love, love, love them. I like the fact that you would actually KNOW the person that works at the local coffee shop or the guy that you buy your stamps from at the post office. I like that you might actually know your neighbor's names and borrow butter from them if you run out in the middle of baking. I like the simplicity and the quaint-ness and the overall laid-back atmosphere. I love the unique little gift shops and mom-n-pop cafes.

Anyhow, back to Bell Buckle. It was definitely one of those towns. An old ice cream parlor, a small candy store, it's very popular "Bell Buckle Cafe" and antique stores. It was the kind of town where you felt like you'd just stepped back in time 50 years. It was everything I hoped it would be.




It also happens to be the town that the Moon Pie originated from...

...as well as RC Cola.

They have a festival to celebrate this honor every year and I'd heard it was a pretty big deal. In fact, I've been told that it was even featured on the Food Network at one point in time. This year they were expecting around 10,000 visitors...but they may have had even more than that. Other than the fact that my face turned so red from the heat that I thought I might pass out at one point (did I mention how painfully HOT it was today?!), it was so.much.fun. I will look forward to going back again every year, but I'll definitely be visiting Bell Buckle at least once more before that.

oh, and we got henna tattoos. The one on the left is my friend's and it says "Hope". Mine is on the right and it says "sexy" :) Haha! I just thought it was too funny, but I'm a dork that way sometimes ;). We apparently took off the ink too soon though, so rather than dark, rich brown henna tattoos, it's now more of a dark pumpkin stain on my wrist. Nice.