Georgia (and North Carolina) On My Mind

Well, we're back from vacation and it's time to compile a blog post that will be a major picture overload. It is basically the equivalent of me inviting you over to my house and forcing you to watch my vacation slide show like Ross showing his fossil slides. You're welcome.

On the first day, we headed down to Asheville, NC and did a tour of the Biltmore. But we had to make the obligatory Cracker Barrel stop along the way, including some brief front porch action rocking chair style.

I wasn't sure what to expect from the Biltmore, but it was really pretty cool. And very massive. Amelia exclaimed over and over again that it was a castle. Yep, pretty much.

In addition to the impressive mansion-castle, I was in awe over the gorgeous garden and just the landscape in general, surrounded by beautiful mountains and lush trees.

We stayed one night in Asheville and then headed bright and early on the second day down to Savannah. But before we left Asheville, we stopped for breakfast at this hole in the wall breakfast joint called Biscuit Head. OMG. It was crazy amazing. Chris got the chicken biscuit as pictured below. Brace yourself.

After stuffing ourselves silly, we loaded up and headed down to Savannah only requiring one quick rest stop along the way to stretch our legs.

Amelia truly did so good with the long drives. She kept us constantly entertained by singing her made up version of a song entitled "We're Almost There." It is sung to the tune of "The Farmer and the Dell".

We're almost there...
We're almost there....
Hi ho the derrio....
We're almost there!

Finally, we made it to our destination. Since our room wasn't ready yet, our first stop was down by the river where we hit up the Savannah Candy Kitchen and left with a slew of sugary treats as well as a Peppa Pig lunch box to store them in. Pralines and candy and fudge, Oh My!

When our room was ready, we took a quick break to settle in and write our vacation post cards, as you do.

Then we headed out for dinner. As you'll discover, our vacation basically revolved around our various dining experiences. We went to the Public Kitchen, which for the record, ended up being mine and Chris's favorite restaurant of the trip. It was fancy but not too fancy and the food was yum yum yummy. We both got burgers - mine regular and his lamb. Yep, you heard me right. Chris ordered a lamb burger. Also known by the abbreviation lb burger (to some people).

Now on to our third day, which we spent at the beach. Now, on the drive to the beach, Amelia was all pumped up about "let's go to the beach". Even when we got out of the car and she could see the beach, she was super excited. But as soon as we stepped foot onto that sand, girlfriend decided she was NOT A FAN.

She did NOT want to put her dainty feet on that dirty grainy sand. She did NOT want to stick a single toe in that scary ocean water. She clung like a little spider monkey to anyone who tried to coax her into it. Despite this setback, we managed to get a few pictures to document her first family beach trip.

Speaking of spider monkey and being scared, she also was terrified of the elevator in the hotel. Every single time we got in the elevator, she would say "Mommy hold me!". She loved the hotel, just not those elevators.

Her favorite thing about the hotel was the cordless telephone. She "called" everyone she knew. She carried that phone back and forth from our room to her grandparents room like it was her personal cell. She called Aunt Beth just to say, "Beth, I'm pooping. Okay, bye." And then she would call back 3 seconds later to say, "Beth, I'm still pooping. Okay, bye." Seriously. That happened.

My favorite thing about the hotel was the location. It was directly across the street from the gorgeous Forsythe Park, which is filled with countless stunning old trees that were covered with Spanish moss.

On our last day in Savannah, which happened to be my birthday, we toured the city on one of those guided trolley rides. We also spent some time shopping some of my favorite stores - the Savannah Bee Company and the Paris Marketplace.

  And we ended the day eating at the Crystal Beer Parlor where I was treated to a birthday cake that totally exceeded my expectations. Savannah Mud Pie = oreo crust and coffee ice cream. WHAT!? Yum. And amen. 

So there you have it. Our first family vacation down in the books. If you made it to the end of this vacation slide show, bless you.

I returned to Kentucky a year older and about 37 lbs heavier.

But at least my lbs were consumed by eating oreo crust and coffee ice cream instead of lb burgers.