A Day in Laurel, MS 10/27

Have you watched the HGTV show "Home Town"? It features Ben & Erin Napier and the work they are doing to restore their hometown of Laurel, MS. They have redone so gorgeous, old homes and have brought new life and interest in their little home town. 

I've loved watching the show and really admire what they are doing--I love the idea of investing your time, energy and talents into where you are instead of searching for something better...make it better where you are--make where you are into something you invest in, something you love, something you are proud of.

We started our day at the Lauren Rogers Museum where they happened to have a DaVinci exhibit going on--it was so cool. 

 There were replicas of his inventions & paintings, interesting videos about his life, and a lot of it was interactive. 

We even got to be Mona Lisa...kinda. 

The museum also held some very beautiful art, woven baskets, and some other really neat pieces. The grounds were breathtaking and it served as the perfect start to our day. 

 We headed to Pearl Diner for lunch and had some seriously tasty southern cuisine. 

If you've watched Home Town then you know Mrs. Pearl was on one of their episodes and they renovated the cutest little house for her. 

She came in for lunch at her place while we were there so we were able to meet her. 

You definitely want to eat at Pearl's Diner if you make your way to Laurel!

We spent the rest of the afternoon hitting up all (and I mean ALL) of the shops. 

Everywhere we went, they were decorating for Christmas and sprucing up their storefronts. I can imagine that it's quite enchanting during the Christmas season. 

All in all, it was a fun, full day of working our way through Laurel. 

I also started reading Ben & Erin's Memoir that just came out entitled "Make Something Good Today" and it's been such a good read. It's been neat to read about their upbringings, how they met and how The Lord used their families, their upbringings, and their talents to bring them together and take on this task. Definitely worth a read!