Georgia

Before I even begin this post, I have to thank my good friend Libbie for recommending Red Gate Farm Campground to us. Libbie took her family out on the road in the same model RV that we have last year, so she’s served as mentor to me in many ways. She helped me know how to organize the RV and gave me great ideas and her husband took the time to show James the ropes on all the mechanical and “hook up” details. (It is more complicated than I realized!)

We have always heard wonderful things about Savannah so we planned a few days to relax there on our trip. When Libbie heard we were headed to Savannah she was quick to tell me to check out this out-of-the-box campground. It’s basically a beautiful little farm property with race horse stables, a large pond, and a little farm house that has been turned into an RV parking area with hook-ups.

I could not get over the enormous shady oak trees and the pretty red out buildings. There were goats, peacocks, chickens, ponies, horses, and ducks. As I sat next to the pool watching the kids, a few horses strolling by (some of them just roam around), and a man painting the white fence, I thought, “I could stay in this moment forever!”

We did pull ourselves away from the farm a few times to enjoy the local sites. We drove down to the river front and treated ourselves to THE famous Leopold’s Ice Cream shop and enjoyed learning the history of the legendary business that invented Tutti Frutti (and inspired the song!)

Confession: We were complete gluttons in Savannah. How can you not be with all that amazing southern cooking, seafood, and famous ice cream? Don’t judge- appreciating the food is appreciating the culture in my opinion!

Continuing on the theme of gluttony, we found some AMAZING southern food at a little restaurant called The Sisters of the New South. Let me tell you- those sisters know how to feed people! The yams- I could have just eaten a whole plate of yams and cornbread! When you order a lunch combo plate you’d better wear your Thanksgiving elastic wasted pants (no I don’t really own any of those but if I kept eating here I’d need some!) because their spoons are large and they PILE on the food! That’s all I really have to say. Go to Savannah. Sleep at the farm. Go see the sisters and order the yams. Do it and thank me later.

Oh, wait, you need to add one more thing to that list. OK, the yams were amazing, but THIS was our favorite outing in Savanna: A sunset cruise with “Captain Derek’s Dolphin Adventrue” on Tybee Island! Derick and his First Mate toured us around for an hour and a half. And there were dolphins EVERYWHERE!!! They were diving and swimming under our boat. None of us had ever seen a dolphin before so we were squealing with delight! (Squealing. For real.) The pelicans were also diving for fish which might not sound exciting, but they are hilarious! They just nose-bomb into the water and it is very entertaining. Did you know that pelicans dive with their eyes open and most of them die from starvation because they eventually go blind? And the largest dolphin in the world? The Orca “killer whale”. Yep, it’s not a whale, it’s a dolphin. There’s a little free sample of our road schooling- you’re welcome.

The highlight of the boat trip was probably about 20 minutes in when our 5 year old Ninja announced that he had to pee now. No he could not hold it for another 70 minutes. He needed a bathroom NOW. (I know what you’re thinking, and no, he couldn’t just pee over the side. The sides were wide and that would have resulted in having 30 people watch my son pee onto the side of the boat and possibly endure some of the not-so-great kind of splashing.) OK… I have to say this. After YEARS of trucking our daughters back and forth to the ladies room I firmly announced that it was James’ turn when I gave birth to a son. So, the question I’ve been pondering since our boating excursion is how on EARTH did I end up bent over in a dark storage crawl space under the bow of the boat watching my son pee into a 5 gallon bucket? I don’t really have much more to add to that story, except that the First Mate received a nice tip and now I know where sailors pee.

Lets end on something more lovely. We headed out to open sea and sped along right beside an ENORMOUS cargo ship. Wow- that was so fun! And we came back in front of a beautiful lighthouse as the sun set. We also passed by Fort Pulaski (which is a very large Confederate fort that is still standing) and learned some fascinating history.

Savannah was a win in our book! The only regret we had was that we made it through the whole state of Georgia without eating a peach. (Tragic I know!) Well, now we have to go back!

I have a lot of great pictures from our Savannah days:

Sunset cruise off Tybee Island

No filter on this beauty!

Pure gluttony! Shameful, I know…

Savannah’s Cathedral of St. John the Baptist

And a few memories from the farm…

Our “spot” by the lake.

We had a fun surprise in Atlanta! We weren’t planning to do any touring even though they are known for their amazing aquarium and there are several other fun stops we could have made. I had a team event scheduled and the kids were still tired from touring city after city, so our goal was to let James and the kids rest for a whole day while I went to my speaking gig with our Atlanta team. I did a quick search to find a campground that was not too far from my event. It appeared to be at a State Park that was a quiet wooded campground on a lake sequestered off from the busy city- a perfect place to chill out and rest! What I didn’t know was that the park we were camping at was an amazing sought-after historical attraction.

It’s called Stone Mountain Park. I noticed some pictures online that showed a big domed stone mountain, so I assumed it was just an interesting geological feature. We rolled in late at night, so I stopped in at the camp store to settle up in the morning and took a few minute to look at the post cards. It seemed weird to me that I couldn’t find any that pictured the domed mountain. Instead they all showcased some kind of sculpture of men on horses. Thank goodness we have Google for every question that pops to mind because I suddenly realized that Stone Mountain Park wasn’t just about a mountain. It’s a historical monument that features the largest high relief sculpture in the world!!! Three Confederate Civil war heroes, President Jefferson Davis and Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson, are carved into the side of the mountain.

This sculpture is bigger than a football field! It is truly a spectacular site. We were amazed to learn about the sculptors that created the monument in the early 20th century. In addition to the wonder of the craftsmanship, I have to say that experiencing the history of the Confederacy was quite interesting to our Northern born and bred family. In all honesty, we have never given much thought or attention to the specific history involved in the Confederate side of the Civil War. I have to admit, the tribute to the war history of the south was somewhat perplexing to us. It was interesting to see how our fellow countrymen in the South regard the Confederacy through a different lens than we do. It gave us the opportunity to dialog and try to better understand a part of our country who may view history from a different perspective. Regardless of this, we also talked about the importance of recognizing the events and characters of history regardless of our opinions surrounding those events.

We were there on the off season, although the weather was perfect so I’m not sure what would make it an off season. Never the less, everything but the museum was shut down. They have built an adorable village at the base of the mountain filled with shops and food, but nothing was open. It felt a little bit like strolling through Disneyland if it were closed. We weren’t there for the shops so it actually made our touring quick and easy. The grounds overlooking the sculpture is divided into plots to honor each of the Confederate states. The history of each state’s Confederate history is printed into the cement under their state flag. We enjoyed a perfect morning of strolling and learning with no crowds.

If you find yourself in this part of Georgia, I highly recommend stopping by to see Stone Mountain. We are sure happy that we stumbled onto this awesome site by accident!

In addition to our spontaneous sightseeing, we did have a relaxing stay by the lake. I had a wonderful Mother’s day driving through Alabama and Georgia (and we finally found a restaurant open on a Sunday so I didn’t have to cook!) and the following day I met my life-long friend and business partner, Crystal, who drove down from North Carolina. The two of us had a great Thai dinner and event with some wonderful people from our Atlanta team and the kids enjoyed watching the squirrels (Nolan’s still trying to catch one with his bare hands) and relaxing. The aquarium will have to wait for another day! Thank you for some great R&R Stone Mountain Park Atlanta!