A trip to Cheaha State Park and a fun find

Yesterday was such a pretty day that Alex and I decided we needed to get out of the house and go gallivanting, so we ended up in Alabama at Cheaha State Park, which is the highest point in Alabama and definitely feels like it once your car winds its way uphill! Here, we had stopped to enjoy the view when we realized we were looking down on …

A helicopter! It appeared to have picked up a large red box-shaped something or other way down below, and we agreed it seemed highly unusual to be looking *down* on a helicopter in the air!

We stopped at several stores along the way, including a couple of thrift shops, one of which appeared to be open but was closed (lights on, cars lined up out front) and one of which appeared super junky outside but inside was one of the nicest, most well-organized thrift stores I've ever been in. Didn't buy anything there, but it was fun to look. Then, Alex spotted an antique mall near Lake Wedowee. The first thing I saw inside was a nice display of uranium glass, which my friend Connie has asked me to be on the lookout for. And what did I buy for myself?

Only one thing, but it was something I've had on my bucket list for a while, a vintage Blue Willow teapot! I've been around Blue Willow all of my life, it seems, but developed an appreciation for it only later in life. I had priced new Blue Willow teapots on Amazon for about $50, but this isn't exactly a scarce pattern, and I certainly don't need a big collection or anything, so I had a feeling I would spot one "in the wild" one day. This Sadler version was just $17, in mint condition, and it was the perfect souvenir of a fun day trip!