And I Don't Even Like Goat Cheese

Saturday was a rather eventful and somewhat strange day. It went by so quickly. Seriously, one minute I woke up and then next thing I knew it was 7:00 p.m. The day started with laundry and a little cleaning and then I headed out to meet my cousins and my dad for breakfast at Galen's in New Hope. We met up around 8:00 a.m. and enjoyed some really yummy breakfast. It was my treat because my cousins (Chris and Benny) were moving a picnic table across town for me and my dad because he's my dad and goodness knows he's paid for my breakfast enough times in my life. 

We wrapped up breakfast shortly after 9:00 a.m. and headed to South Huntsville. Would you believe that it was my first time down Hobbs Island Road? As long as I've lived in Huntsville, I've never driven Hobbs Island (or ridden down it that I can recall) from New Hope to South Huntsville (or vice versa). It's a really pretty drive and there are some lovely homes along the way. Who knew? 

My co-worker had received some new patio furniture for Mother's Day and so she was getting ridw of a picnic table that she had and as it turns out I have actually wanted a picnic table for a while, but never taken the plunge to buy one. To make the deal even sweeter, the table was originally came from our church and so it has a nice story/history to go along with it. Since I don't have a truck and can't lift a table all on my own, my sweet cousins agreed to help me, and let me add that it was raining which makes their deed even nicer than if it had not been raining. 

We managed to get the picnic table back to my house and unloaded by about 10:30 a.m. and then we parted ways. I ran inside, let Pip out for a quick second and then ran back out the door to take care of a couple of things. 

My first stop was the grand opening of the Belle Chevre Cheese Shop at Clinton Row in Downtown Huntsville which was scheduled to open at 11:00 a.m.. While I was at the food truck fiasco on Friday night, the folks from Belle Chevre were out and about announcing the grand opening and inviting everyone to come out. They told us the first 100 people to come to the opening would receive a year of free cheese. For those of you who do not know, Belle Chevre is in Elkmont, Alabama (about 45 minutes from Huntsville) and they hand make artisan goat cheese. The company has really grown in recent years and I actually first found out about it when reading a Southern Living magazine back around Christmastime. Since I'm not one to pass up a good opportunity, I went downtown, noticed the line wasn't too long, found a parking spot, jumped out and got in line and was one of the lucky 100 people to get a year's worth of free goat cheese. 

To be honest, I'm not sure I've ever had goat cheese prior to Saturday; but since everyone has been raving about Belle Chevre, I figured it must be the greatest thing since sliced bread. We got a cheesecake sample while in line and I noticed it had an aftertaste that reminded me of the great outdoors, or goats and that had me a little leery of what the cheese may taste like. When I finally made it inside (about 30 minutes after opening), I grabbed a tub of coffee flavored goat cheese to try on my morning bagel. When I got to the counter, I tried the pimento cheese which was good, but then had that aftertaste. I took home the coffee cheese and tried it for breakfast on Monday. I managed to stomach about half the bagel. On Tuesday, I gave it another go and ate maybe one third of the bagel. I've come to the conclusion that goat cheese is not for me, y'all. The aftertaste is very, well, goaty, and I don't really care for it at all. So, I'll be finding someone or multiple someones to share the remainder of my year of free cheese with because I will not let it go to waste. 

When I left Belle Chevre, I headed to Publix for my weekly shopping trip. I ended up going to the downtown Publix (the new one) because I didn't want to drive over to my regular Publix on Whitesburg. As a result, I have determined that the downtown Publix is not for me and will only be used for quick grab and go runs. I felt like a nervous wreck the whole time I was there because I had no idea where anything was and I backtracked about 10 times and I truly hate backtracking at the grocery store. Miraculously, I managed to eventually find everything I needed and I was also able to register for all the giveaways that I missed on opening day. I also registered for the daily prize which is given away every 30 minutes (you must be present to win) and noticed there were no entries in the box so I felt pretty confident I would win and I did. The prize was a chocolate dessert cup which did not have a goaty aftertaste was was quite delicious. 

I finally made it back home and unloaded and put away the groceries and then laid down on the couch with The Pip and napped for a couple of hours. The rest of Saturday was spent cleaning, cooking for Sunday potluck, and doing laundry, all while wearing an apron. I looked at myself at one point and had never more felt like my Grandmamma than I did in that moment...and that's not a bad thing. Overall, it was an interesting, adventurous, and tiring day which equals a successful Saturday in my book.