Thanksgiving has become one of my new favorite holidays. I’m not sure when it started but one of my great aunts down in Vidalia organizes this big country breakfast on Thanksgiving morning where all of the extended family that is in town comes. My family used to spend Thanksgiving up in Atlanta with my mom’s side of the family but about 4 years ago we decided we wanted to start coming down to Vidalia to see my dad’s side of the family. It is now something I look forward to each year as its the only time I really get to see that whole side of the family (which would be my Grandma Clarke’s brothers and sisters and their respective families).
Yesterday (Thanksgiving) was one of the best I think I have ever had. All the boys (my dad, brother, and uncle) woke up at like 4:30 AM to go deer hunting (they’re crazy!) and then we (me, my mom, and my aunt) met them over at my Aunt Pinkie’s house around 9 for the big Thanksgiving breakfast. It has pretty much turned into the “Williams Family Reunion” (my Grandma’s side of the family), which I love since we don’t have the “official” one anymore and it was always my favorite. I got to see all my great aunts and uncles and my 2nd, 3rd, and 4th cousins, who I probably haven’t seen since this time last year. Breakfast was awesome– pork chops, breakfast casserol, cheese grits, homemade blueberry muffins, and homemade biscuits with Aunt Pinkie’s homemade grape jelly (which she makes from the grapes off the vine in their backyard). There was also some thick country bacon which everyone seems to love but I don’t like bacon so it wasn’t on my plate.
After eating breakfast and socializing with everyone, it was time for what has become the annual four-wheeler ride for my cousin Sara. Sara is my Aunt Pinkie’s granddaughter and is 16 this year. She loves riding four wheelers but doesn’t have one so she looks forward to when we come down at Thanksgiving. I don’t have a four wheeler either but my dad and brother each have one and they let me ride (well actually, just my dad– Mitchell doesn’t like me on his for some reason…). My aunt has a great field behind her house where we can ride so I always do a few laps with Sara.
When the breakfast part was over, my dad decided he wanted to go ride around our property out there, which is about a mile from my Aunt Pinkie’s house (everyone lives near each other out in the country). I wanted to go with them but since I don’t have my own I had to be a passanger. So it was my dad and me on his red four wheeler and my brother and my Uncle Don each on their own green four wheelers. Our property is the old cow pasture that my dad planted pine trees all on. We rode all back through, dodging branches and even driving through the creek. On the journey I learned how to track a deer– how to spot the signs that a deer has been there and how you shouldn’t drive through the tracks because the deer might not come back through there again. It was a fun adventure as my dad hit about 4 trees (some forwards and some while we were backing up) and kept loosing the other 2 so we couldn’t see which way we were supposed to go. I also was wearing my brothers brand new stocking cap and while ducking under one branch the hat got caught and came off my head. We had to back up to go back and get it and a string had come loose so Mitchell was of course upset with me for messing up his new hat. After we finished exploring our property we took off down the dirt road to some other property that’s for sale and my dad is thinking of buying.
It was probably the longest amount of time I have ever spent on a four wheeler and it was so much fun! I would love to have my own four wheeler some day but there’s really no where in Atlanta to ride so it probably wouldn’t be a smart purchase.
I may live in Atlanta, but I feel like I’m a country girl at heart. Going down to Vidalia brings out that side of me and I treasure the time spent down here. My dad is a true country boy and I love seeing him come back down to his hometown and let that side of him come out. I love our family down here and I wish we got to see everybody more often!
