Guest Post - MY BFF!

Hi Everyone!!!

My name is Ashley and I have the honor of being Emily's best friend!! We grew up together in Pensacola, FL and she is literally one of the GREAT loves of my life! While she and Johnny Boy are off on a fabulous anniversary trip, I am going to be talking about one of my favorite trips ever!

To make any trip extra special, it's always important to stop and see your BFF along the way!

This particular trip was in 2009 when Emily invited my Hubbs and I to run the St. Jude's half-marathon with her in Memphis, TN while she was living there. It was literally 27 degrees on the way to the race and I tried to talk Emily and my Hubbs out of running it (after all that training, yeah right?!)

Turns out, we absolutely had a blast!!!! After the race, although exhausted, we managed to stop by Elvis' house and eat some delicious Memphis barbeque.

After Memphis the Hubbs and I packed up and made a huge loop across central America.  We stopped in St. Louis, Chicago (where both of our Southern-born selves saw snow for the first time; can you tell we are a bit excited?) 

Gary, Indiana (to visit Michael Jackson's childhood home, who wouldn't?!;)) Indianapolis (went to the Indy 500 track), Louisiville, KY (Churchill Downs please!) 

and then ended at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. We absolutely had a blast!!!! 

The greatest part of the whole trip was we took historical Route 66 where we saw the most insane sights along the way!!! It truly was one of the greatest adventures of our life! Did I mention that we Southerners couldn't drive in snow either??? We definitely had some firsts and experienced some lasts, things we will never do again - but had an incredible time!!! 

My greatest travel tip of all would be: 

   

--- Get off the beaten path.

Although Route 66 took so much longer, we experienced things we wouldn't have if we had stayed on the interstate.  And always remember, you have time to pull over and take pictures. I mean, who sees a huge pink elephant on the side of the road everyday?!!!!

Cheers! xoxo