This is my niece Kenna modeling our earplugs. There were 5 of us in our suite and we all snore, so earplugs were a must, at least for light sleepers like me!
This is a float from the Cherokee parade. The theme for the National Holiday this year was "Learn from All that I Observe". This was one of the best parades I have been to. Not because the floats were extravagant, but because they threw out a lot of good candy and other items including tooth brushes, pepsi, orange juice.
This is a picture of Ray, his sisters, and his stepfather. In order from left to right: Mona, Marlene, Ramona, Ray, Charlene, Coco Chanel (the little pup), and Chief (Dru's Grandpa).
This is a picture of the Cherokee Museum and Heritage Center. The museum was all about the Trail of Tears. It was very interesting and sad to see what happened to the Cherokee people. I wanted to take pictures but they were not allowed inside the museum. At the Heritage Center they had a replica of a traditional Cherokee village. It was a guided tour where we learned a lot about their traditional way of life.
This is a picture of our tour guide. I will never forget this woman because she hated my husband's guts. For those of you who know Dru well you know that he can be quite stubborn when he does not want to do something. This poor woman tried to get Dru to participate and when he refused her love for him was nonexistent. It was so funny!
This picture is part of what is called Grand Entry. It is where all of the dancers parade around in their costumes. It is the best part. I was very impressed that the first part of Grand Entry included the American Flag and the National Anthem. Many of the festivities began the same way. These people have been greatly persecuted and pushed out of their original homes, but they are incredibly patriotic! Sorry it's not a very good picture. I had a couple of videos but they would not load.
We were able to see Ft. Gibson Cemetery. For those of you who don't know it is a military cemetery and I was amazed at how big it is. Ray's dad is buried there so it was a really neat experience to be able to visit his grave.
This is where we spent a lot of our time, Del Rancho Restaurant. We ate at this restaurant 3 or 4 times on our vacation. We had many good laughs there. The first thing I learned about Dru's family is that they love to laugh. The first evening I laughed so hard that my face hurt. Each day after that was the same. They are amazing people and I enjoyed getting to know them better. I hope that we can see them soon.
3 comments:
Ashlee,
I loved seeing these photos and hearing about your trip. It sounds like a great trip. You can really feel how much you love Dru and his family.
Is it ok if I "borrow" some of these pictures? I haven't gotten them from Dad yet and your blog has motivated me (I need a lot of motivation!) to blog about our trip! We did blog on Sunday so be sure to read it! I know--I'm a horrible blogger!
This sounds like my type of trip - lots of stuff to see and learn. I love the name Coco Chanel for a dog that is just cute.
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