‘Twas a nice day for a hike!!! Excellent, actually. Perfect weather!
The four of us went to Umstead Park in Raleigh for a 6 mile hike that lasted about 2 hours.
GUESS WHO SPOTTED A SNAKE TAIL!!?!? I’m always on the lookout for predators… I ran the other way!
Ye ole mill
After the hike we headed to Sweet Tomatoes with coupons!!
I love lunch spots like this – a 50 mile long salad bar and buffet. Something for everyone!
-Unlimited food for Dad
-Interesting flavors for Matt
-A plethora of vegetables and ice cream bar for me
-And bread and sprinkles for Mom!
I had a big salad piled high with veggies, beans and a few salads
Sipped some tortilla soup
And dove into this sweet potato seasoned with maple butter!!!! My was that good.
There was lots of sharing at our table. Matt ate half of my potato and I tried about 5 things from his plate (didn’t care for the mac n cheese). Mom shared a bite of cornbread!
But for dessert, it was one for all
I had vanilla/choco swirl with sprinkles, cookies and granola
And mom had sprinkles with a drizzle of ice cream!
Our lunch was late and large, so Matt and I packed sandwiches to have whenever we got hungry again for dinner.
Avocado, cheese, tomato for me. Meatlovers for him!
<3 our mountainous home!
3 hours whizzed by and we’re unpacked and lounging now. Don’t see any dead spider bodies..guess that’s good!
{ 64 comments… read them below or add one }
What a beautiful day! Thanks for sharing these great pictures! This time of year is so gorgeous, I could not help but just post about the foliage.
It was a gorgeous day today! Glad you got to enjoy a hike. I love Matt’s T-shirt! When and where did he get it, and might I be able to find one?
Also, I wanted to thank you for your inspiring breakfast ideas! I had my first yogurt bowl with crumbled muffin today, a la KERF!
It’s from the Food Channel – they were giving them away at Foodbuzz last year
[And thanks!]
Was wondering the same thing. It’s such a cute shirt!
Matt’s shirt rocksss!
omg amazing food for a buffet style restaurant. And your sandwich is so cute next to Matt’s. Sounds like an awesome day, I absolutely love hiking and try to go most weekends.
Hiking is the best! Usually a good workout too. I’m hoping to find more trails for next spring/summer.
Hiking is so much fun! There are so many awesome things to see. I love fall hiking in new england because you are practically in the middle of a beautiful picture!!
Gotta admit, I love my ice cream the way your mom does—light on the ice cream, really heavy on the sprinkles!
You go Sprinkle Girl!
I wish I had another bowl of sprinkles with a tad of ice cream.
Lillian misses you lots!
I run the other direction amazingly fast when I spy a snake or hear something that may sound like a snake! YIKES! I’m such a scaredy cat!!!
They add so much happiness to life!
I have a thing for sprinkles!
It was such a good hiking weekend! We went yesterday and I don’t think it could’ve been more perfect.
If I saw a snake, I would have been out of there like a bolt of lightening! A snake came up to me at the lake two summers a go…I think I scared the crap out of it with how fast I got my butt out of the water!
ahhh I’m so jealous! I absolutely love hiking! Although it always makes me laugh when people talk about the Appalachian Mountains… I grew up going to the Rockies so the east coast seems more like hills to me.
That is a beautiful and scenic hike! Yesterday I got to spend my day in the country going horseback riding-it has been a perfect weekend for doing things outdoors! Also went mini golfing with my little cousins in the wonderful weather.
I’d love that bowl of ice cream with sprinkles. They make everything better
I once saw vultures eating a snake outside my dad’s house – it was one of the grossest things I’ve ever seen.
I’m in Raleigh! Glad you enjoyed the day here! Sweet Tomatoes is such a yummy place to eat. Did you hike at Umstead State Park? I’m not familiar with Olmstead…
YES!!! Oops
Going to change it!
PS. Thanks!
OMG I love Sweet Tomatoes – we used to go every week back when we lived in FL…we went to that one in NC this summer and also to ST’s twin Souplantation in CA when we were there…ahh…wish Cville had one!
I love salad bars! Variety is what I live for.
Have a safe trip home!
It’s so rare that I see someone else who loves sprinkles as much as I do! (We call ‘em jimmies up here in Mass.). Your mom & I are kindred spirits
I adore them! I really like the round kind better–nonpareils –but they’re hard to come by these days.
Oh, chocolate ice cream with chocolate jimmies…. be still my heart! I’m a Mass-raised gal.
mmm, the chocolate are my fave! I went to school in South Carolina & had to re-train myself to say “sprinkles” so the Bruster’s people wouldn’t look at me like I had 3 heads.
What a fun day with your parents! The weather was amazing.
Gorgeous day for a hike! Lovely photos!!
i’m a fan of ultramarathons and the ulmstead 100 mile is a popular one! looks like great terrain to enjoy.
love your mom’s helping of sprinkles – awesome.
In LA they’re called soup plantation. I love them!!!
I want to go to sweet tomatoes SO bad!!! It sounds like a place I would LOVE!
I’ve been to Raleigh a few times for business (my last company’s HQ was in Durham), but never did hike. I have a sister in NC. It looks like a beautiful hike. One thing I miss about the East Coast is fall, and the green forests.
I’ve never actually eaten at a Sweet Tomatoes, though I’ve seen them. If I’d known that they had a mile long salad bar, I’d have stopped!
We love Sweet TOmatoes in my family – my mom and I go there for a dinner date about every month!
I love Sweet Tomatoes. They don’t have them near me, so I go when I visit my grandparents!
I seriously need to try maple butter! Looks like a great day
i used to love sweet tomatoes solely for the self serve soft serve. seems so cool when you’re a kid!! i am much more appreciative of the endless veggies these days
I love sweet potatoes! They’ve been on my list of easy (and lazy) dinners lately. So good! I usually put a little peanut butter on them – may seem weird but it’s super delicious!
That looks like the perfect family day to me!
I seriously LOVE baked sweet potatoes. YUMM.
MAPLE butter?! OMG. I like making my own homemade butter occasionally, and sometimes I even do honey butter. I’m going to have to try making maple butter! I’ve got a huge bag of organic sweet potatoes just begging for something like that!
Your mom loves sprinkles
http://faithfulsolutions.blogspot.com/
Mmm I’m all about the unlimited veggies and ice cream too!
I love Sweet Tomatoes.
You’re looking pretty good for just hiking!
I went to Sweet Tomatoes a few weeks ago and fell in love! I love how the beets were cut to look like crinkle fries:)
Yeah for hiking! It was just as perfect weather on the West coast for hiking, too. Although my daughter complained, she did great. The hike we took tends to be steep in parts, but taking quick pit stops to enjoy the view of the creek and trees helped her out a lot.
Yummy salad! Can never go wrong with a well stocked salad bar.
sweet potato, tortilla soup, AND ice cream? just call me a weeee bit envious!
sweet potato seasoned with maple butter…wow, that is quite the find in a restaurant. I need some maple butter in my life! yum!
And what a great TALL salad…love it.
Glad you guys had such a great day together!
Looks like a wonderful day!
Sweet Tomatoes sounds awesome..everything looks so delicious, especially the sweet potato and sundae!
This looks great! Maple butter sounds like something I am going to have to make!
Looks like a great hike! I actually went hiking on Saturday and saw a snake! It was just a tiny little ribbon snake though.
Looks like you had a great weekend!
There is nothing better than spending time with family. I love sprinkles on a sundae!
Fun times with family! Great pics, love the pic of you with your mom & dad. Who do you look more like? I’ve been enjoying a few baked sweet potatoes with a little butter and brown sugar or maple syrup.
I think it’s a toss up, but I’ve always thought I was more like my dad and larbs is more like my mom
I concur with you, Kath…you/Dad, Larbs/Mom. But, you all resemble each other quite a bit!
That’s what I was thinking, but I didn’t know if it was just because you are next to your dad in this picture. You can certainly tell that you are all related. How about personality wise?
BTW…..while I’ve never tried it myself, I’ve heard hedgeballs are an effective and eco-friendly way of keeping spiders away. Here in Iowa we have hedge trees all over the place and can find said balls at farmers markets or regular grocery stores for cheap. You are suppose to place them around windows, doors and let them do their magic. While they are organic, I do believe they are toxic to small animals and children if eaten……though they are very ugly and I have I hard time thinking anyone would attempt to eat it.
good luck!
I <3 Umstead! And I'm with your mom on the sprinkles front, yum!
Love, love, LOVE a great hike. Looks like a beautiful day!
Fun hike! I just went on a big hike myself today–always a nice way to switch up the fitness
And I LOVE LOVE sweet potatoes. Mmm now I want Thanksgiving to come so I can have a bunch of sweet potato casserole. Yum.
What a lovely day for a hike! I miss hiking with my husband. We’ll have to get on that soon.
I was at Umstead GeoCaching this weekend and the weather was gorgeous! I swear I saw your dad but didn’t want to be “that girl” who asked if he was your dad! LOL
Where and what time!? Maybe it was him
Wow that does look like a gorgeous day for a hike! Fall is so pretty on the trails!
Love Sweet Tomatoes!