A massive storm hit overnight, the kind that brings floods to nearby towns and even a tornado for good measure. We’re safe and sound, but apparently it woke Matthew while I slept through the whole thing like a brick. Today marks our final full day of this adventure, which feels both impossible and a little heartbreaking.

By the time we’re finally ready to take on the day, the storm has well and truly passed. It’s still cloudy, but it feels like the weather gods are giving us a break. Perfect timing, because we were hoping to wander the town today and see what magic Marshall has tucked away.

I’m on the hunt for a good coffee this morning, so we set off, and in less than five minutes we’re in town. This place is so quaint, with a couple of cool antique shops that sadly didn’t yield any new Disney treasures for the suitcase, but still managed to surprise us around every corner and in every room.

We soon find an actual coffee shop — the kind with a real barista, the hum of a proper machine and that smell of freshly ground beans that warms your soul and tells you the day is going to be alright. As a stream of very well‑dressed locals sidle up for their morning cup of joe, I ask the barista where they all work. We learned that Marshall built a whole reputation on patent cases, the kind where companies argue over inventions, ideas and who gets the credit (and the cash). The court here became famous for moving fast and siding with the little guy, which meant big corporations were dragged here constantly. It’s small‑town charm on the outside, high‑stakes courtroom drama on the inside.

Content and satisfied with a “real” coffee, we carry on our self made walking tour of Marshall.

We are fascinated to see one of the homes here has a tornado shelter to side. We hadn’t really realised this was a thing here, until we’d seen some snitppets on the news at the restaurant last night. A strange thing to see, and so far removed from the world we live in. Even with the crazy natural disasters we have, we’ve never needed something so permanent as a shelter.

The sky is still holding out, but we decide to wander inside to the Historic Court House, the centrepiece of town which now houses a museum and lawyers offices. It is incredible to see as you walk in and see the old staircase and ceiling. It’s grand and truly breathtaking.

The exhibition inside the courthouse is in chronological order, and tells of the history of Marshall and it’s people. Inclusive of the indigenous story of the region, and some very interesting artefacts. I loved how in the ‘religious’ section that has a very Jewish “Shalom” coupled with a very southern “y’all”. Priceless.

We watch a short video that tells the story of the town, and we even spot in the historical photos one of Ginocchio’s which we’d been in last night. It was small but informative and just the right pre-lunch stop.

We’d been told by our bartender last night another great stop is the Blue Frog, right in one of the main streets, so we head in, despite it looking like a sleepy cafe from the outside. It’s casual, but strangely also has a sit up bar, which I am sure you now realise is our preferred place to interact with locals and staff.

The server gets us menus and with deep hope Matthew asks if they have any non alcoholic beers. In such a small place we are surprised to hear there are 2 options. Matthew and I chat about how fortunate we were for our final day to have the weather we did, given we were expecting to be either uncomfortable outside in some rain, or stuck indoors and not be able to explore on foot.

The bar also has a dice game called Shut the Box, complete with instructions. I take a moment to snap a photo when I roll a double six. It feels significant, a little reminder that sometimes life just hands you joy, luck and the kind of experiences you couldn’t plan if you tried. I even have a tattoo of two dice showing double six, because I genuinely feel so fortunate to live the life I do. And for the record I also won the game.

We again debunk the classic Aussie myth that Americans keep rolling out to us that “everything in Australia wants to kill you,” much to the amusement of the staff and customers. The two staff who dip in and out of conversations are so proud to share they both own a passport, one because they needed to go to Canada, the other has not yet used it but wants to. Obviously we give a quick and quality advertisement to travel to Australia, especially now they know it’s a lot safer than they first thought.

We nibble on our super tasty lunch while they try to lure us back for dinner by telling us what last night’s special was. Entirely unhelpful information, but it did sound delicious. Maybe they’ve got a time machine out the back.

After our lazy lunch we head home, keen to test out the pool table and start prepping for the journey back, including the all‑important repack of the Disney suitcase. Within minutes of walking through the door the thunder and rain starts again, and I can’t help but think how lucky we were that the universe gave us the perfect weather window today. It felt like a little wink, just so we could soak up every bit of Marshall’s charm exactly the way we wanted.

It’s actually pretty cool to have a pool room in the house, and decide it’s time to play best of 5 games. I grab the speaker and we rack up.

Sadly Matthew hasn’t read the rule book that he is supposed to let me win, apparently didn’t get the memo, and even though he wins the first 3, we play just one more just for fun. With the music playing and the relaxed chilled vibe we talk about how nice it would be to have a pool table back home. I guess if I didn’t have my Disney room, it may be possible. But I don’t love playing pool more than I love Disney so for now we’ll settle for playing here and in pubs back home.

I take the time-zone opportunity to touch base with my girls briefly to see what’s happening back home. We chat about some plans for when I’m back as Mother’s Day is fast approaching. Life is so different these days where you can stay connected so easily. Not like when you used to have to buy a phone card to be able to make international calls. And don’t even get me started on travellers cheques.

Setting off to a restaurant called High Horse for dinner, and as we walked in everyone was kind of keeping to themselves. Boy did that change quickly. We soon met pretty much everyone there. Turns out the group that were there are all mates from this being their local watering hole.

First we meet Travis who had been in the military and had actually been to quite a few places in Australia, and absolutely loved it. Was stationed in Rockhampton (he had called it Rocky – in all the right Aussie ways), but had also been to Townsville, Darwin, Perth and Cairns. He was so excited to share how much he loved our country and couldn’t speak highly enough about the beauty of the place and the people. His only complaint is that the stubbies were too small. Gold. We gifted him an Aussie badge and in return he bought our next round. Completely unnecessary and imbalanced reciprocity. But so very kind, and southern.

Chatting with James was also fun, a patent lawyer who’s been posted here for 12 months, girlfriend in LA with him originally from Washington, he loves Marshall. While he has not been to Australia, but is intrigued to hear about our lives in Australia. Everyone is so keen to understand how we ended up in Marshall, and also our story about how we met. That’s a story we love to share too. It’s so cute that all the people we’ve gifted badges to tonight put them proudly on immediately. Bless them.

Such a gorgeous crowd, and totally warmed to us and adopted us. The feel of the place is not dissimilar to the bar Matthew and I met in Terrigal, but the bar is DEEP so deep in fact they use customised cattle prodders to slide your drink to you.

We got to chatting Lani who was in the military too and is soon to host an exchange student from Slovenia. A mother of a 7 year old girl and also soon to go to Disneyland. Her friend is a stunt man as Peter Pan there. She’d already noticed my Mickey tattoo on my finger and I cannot believe the Disney connection. At this point she’s joined us to sit for a bit next to us and it’s clear she cannot wait for her exchange student to arrive, and making plans to host a welcome party for her too. This student is in safe and kind hands.

While we’re chatting with Lani, a guy shows up behind the bar, and she tells us that is the owner Matt. He is also excited to chat with us and hear about our travels. He explains the history and also the future plans he has for High Horse which includes a virtual golf venue on the 2nd floor and hoping to expand in the parking lot for a Wiffle Ball field, where they want to compete in the Wiffle Ball National Championships. Big dreams for a small town. I love it.

What at absolutely amazing way to spend our final evening in the USA. Complete with southern charm, kindness and a whole bunch of stories to tell The perfect way to end our incredible road tripping holiday of the South.

We farewell the crowd and can’t help but smile, hearts full, and yet another incredible day full of stories and smiles. Tonight’s packing ahead of us and our day plotted out for our drive to the airport, we are deeply satisfied. Our trip really isn’t over until the car pulls into the driveway, and with our flight not leaving till tomorrow night they’ll be one last instalment before we can call this holiday blog to a close. As with most days my heart is full. Thank you Marshall for delivering all the things we never realised we needed. Another day where life rolling us a double six is real!

All the stories from this trip can be found here, if you need, or want, to catch up!