Georgia Road Trip w/Janice - Middle Georgia & Savannah

Our friend Janice came to visit for a long weekend for the first time since the pandemic. Janice has visited Atlanta multiple times before, so for this visit we decided to leave Atlanta and do a road trip to Savannah. After hanging out in Atlanta for an evening, Paul had to work in the morning on Friday, then we hit the road. Our first stop was a quick swing through Macon, viewing the historic architecture downtown before a stop at Fall Line brewing for a beer and snack.

Our next stop is one of our favorites - Lane Southern Orchards. It's basically a roadside agri-tourist attraction with a little shop and a cafeteria. They have seasonal things like strawberry picking and a peach packing facility. For us, the main reason for going is the home-made soft serve ice cream. Yum! We made a quick stop at Buc-ee's so Janice could bask in American consumer culture, then continued on to David's parent's house in Warner Robins. We hung out with David's sister Christina and nephew David (yes, there are a lot of Davids) and had a Greek dinner made by David's Mom.

Sharing a flight of beers at Fall Line.

Janice and David with a big ol' peach.

Ice cream and rocking chairs on the porch of Lane's.

Everyone loves Buc-ee!

Baby David playing with bubbles.

David and David going on a little walk.

Saturday morning we set off toward Savannah, which was about a 2.5 hour drive. Since our AirBnB wouldn't be ready for check-in until the afternoon, we drove right past Savannah and continued east to 

Fort Pulaski National Monument. This large brick fort was originally a US coastal fortification, then became confederate, before being recaptured by the Union. We continued east to Tybee Island, which is essentially Savannah's beach town. After lunch at Fannie's we walked on the pier and saw some jellyfish before heading back to the car.

Great weather at the fort.

The moat around the fort is impressive.

The walls have civil war damage including some cannon balls still lodged in the brick.

Giant fish sandwich!

Typical touristy beach restaurant!

Yes we got frozen drinks. :)

Tybee views from the pier.

We drove back to Savannah to check in to our AirBnB, which was on the southwest side of the historic district, easy walking distance from all of the tourist attractions. The afternoon turned drizzly with more rain forecasted, but Janice and Paul grabbed umbrellas for a walk through Forsyth park and a quick grocery store stop. Luckily the full thunderstorm didn't hit until after we returned to the AirBnB. After waiting out the storm, we took a casual walk around the neighborhood, got some cocktails at the Wayward, then had dinner at Fire Street Food.

Janice hanging out on our cute 2nd floor balcony.

Classic view of Forsyth Park with the fountain.

Did I mention our neighborhood was cute?

We love the huge moss-draped trees in Savannah.

Uh-oh, here comes the thunderstorm.

Most of Savannah's squares have a monument or fountain.

Post-rain vibes.

A hearse ghost tour went by us!

Lots of charm in every nook and cranny of the city.

The Savannah theatre sign reflecting in a puddle.

Forsyth Park selfie!

We started the next day, our full Savannah tourist day, with a walk to the nearby Origin Coffee Bar, which was great. After finishing getting ready at our AirBnB, we headed up toward the river, walking through the historic squares. Our first stop was the new JW Marriott, which opened in 2021. It might sound odd to visit a hotel you're not staying at, but the JW Marriott is in a retrofitted early 20th century power plant, and has museum-quality rock and fossil displays in the lobby. It also includes a fantastic new Riverwalk expansion. Worth a stop! We walked along the riverfront for a bit, which included a craft fair, and made a quick stop at The Pirate's House.

A cold brew with orange. Different and delicious.

More amazing trees.

Savannah just oozes charm.

The main part of downtown.

We watched the river for a bit, with a couple of huge container ships passing by.

Janice and David on the riverfront.

Savannah's oldest buildings are along the river.

Watch your step on the stairs!

Maybe pirates lived here once?

Our next stop was the Graveface Museum, right when it opened at noon. We weren't exactly sure what this would be, but it had good reviews and looked weird. It was indeed weird! It had exhibits about traveling sideshows with fake mermaids, serial killers, and a horror-themed pinball machine room.

Janice entering the museum through Satan's mouth.

A "real" mermaid!

We had a late lunch at Treylor Park, which was really good. That afternoon we decided to hit up the Telfair museums, which have a combined ticket. After booking times for a house tour, we started at the Telfair academy, which has a lot of mostly middling European art in a historic building. Our next stop was about a block away - the Jepson Center, which focuses on modern art. Finally, we walked to the Owens-Thomas House for a self-guided audio tour, which also included the former slave house. This three museum combo is a good choice when visiting Savannah.

David at Treylor Park.

Stay away, rain!

Lots of great details around the city.

Museum time!

The interior of the museum.

The famous statue from Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

David participating in modern art.

The slave house.

The garden of the Owens-Thomas house.

We made a few stops on our leisurely walk back to the AirBnB, first passing through Colonial Park Cemetery, then shopSCAD, where we accidentally got locked out because we went through a door to the restrooms. We had to exit and walk back to the main entrance, still with unpaid merchandise in hand! We went to nearby E Shaver Booksellers - complete with cats - then a quick stop at Franklin's  coffee shop where we sat outside for a bit.

Old graves in the cemetery.

The Cathedral of St. John seen from Lafayette Square.

Resident cat on the couch!

We also walked by the original girl scout headquarters.

It had been a long day of walking, so we relaxed for a bit at our AirBnb before walking to dinner at Zunzi's. We later found out Zunzi's has expanded and opened an Atlanta location. David and Janice liked the loaded nachos. That wrapped up our full day in Savannah. We love this city and hope to visit again soon.

Arizona & Las Vegas Wedding

In late April we took a trip to Arizona and Nevada. David had a work trip to Phoenix, and that weekend our cousin Josh was getting married in Las Vegas, so it was a good opportunity to make a week out of it and drive from Phoenix to Las Vegas via the Grand Canyon. Paul's been to Arizona before, but this was David's first real trip to all but a tiny corner of the state.

The first couple days of the trip David was in Phoenix for his meeting. Paul joined on Tuesday afternoon and together we visited the Arizona capitol building and then drove north to Sedona and on to Flagstaff.

Old church in downtown Phoenix.

Downtown Phoenix is small, but pretty walkable with a new rail line connecting it to the airport.

The Arizona capitol building, just west of downtown.

More like the "ok seal of the state of arizona"

Nice rotunda in the capitol building.

Paul's always giving legislators the side-eye!

David, on the other hand, is going for a more authoritarian state of Arizona!

Leaving Phoenix, it's amazing how fast the landscape changes. It was unseasonably hot in Phoenix while we were visiting, with highs around 100*F. Driving north you quickly start to gain elevation and the desert is replaced by a forest of saguaro cacti. Further north this abruptly changes to grasslands and eventually forests above 7,000 feet. The diversity in landscape is one of the more endearing characteristics of this state, which makes up for the somewhat underwhelming city of Phoenix.

Our first stop was in Sedona. This city is known for its red rock outcrops and canyons. The contrast between the cliffs and the grasslands is beautiful. We took a hike on the Cathedral Rock Trail to a vista near sunset to get a view of the area. There are lots of vacation houses and rentals and a small touristy downtown area with shops and restaurants.

Red rocks in Sedona

Sedona vista

Paul nearly at the top of the Cathedral Rock Trail in Sedona.

Chapel of the Holy Cross blends into the scenery at Sedona.

From Sedona we drove a short distance north to Flagstaff, another climb of a couple thousand of feet in elevation. Flagstaff is a pretty town, with a cute downtown and a university nestled in a pine forest at the base of Humphrey's Peak (Arizona's highest point). The city is very livable with bike facilities, a good bus system and lots of shops and restaurants. The elevation gives the city a cool climate in the summer and snow and cold in the winter. Overall, it was delightful. We rented an AirBnB near downtown for two nights.

Flagstaff is a great base to explore northern Arizona. Numerous sights are located within about a 1-2 hour drive including: Meteor Crater Natural Landmark, Walnut Canyon National Monument, the Grand Canyon, the Lowell Observatory, and lots of other natural and native american cultural sights - some of which are national monuments. We used a full day to explore a couple nearby sights.

Biff's Bagels in Flagstaff. People put up pictures as memorials to their dead pets. It's a little morbid, but they have good bagels.....so, here we are.

East of Flagstaff is a giant meteor crater! There's a science center attached.

Near meteor crater is the town of Winslow, Arizona, famous for the corner from the song .

We crossed Route 66 lots of times driving around Arizona. It still has some touristic charm for mostly retired RV folks.

Just east of Flagstaff is Walnut Canyon National Monument. People lived here in cliff-side dwellings.

Example cliff-side dwelling from 1100 - 1250 CE. Eventually the climate dried and people left the canyon.

You can see how closely the buildings were packed under the cliffs.

Lots of stuff in Arizona is trying really hard to poke you. Be warned!

Due to its altitude, spring had just arrived in Flagstaff.

Lunch and beer at Lumberyard Brewing Company.

Flagstaff also is a local brewery hotspot. Paul was pretty happy with two days of brewpubs. This one is at Dark Sky Brewing, which was Paul's favorite of the trip.

Lowell Observatory just outside of Flagstaff.

This is part of the Lowell Observatory. They discovered Pluto in the building behind David.

Flagstaff has lots of nice local parks, including Buffalo Park which has jogging trails and mountain views.

After a two nights in Flagstaff it was time to head to the Grand Canyon and then on to Las Vegas. We got up around 3:30AM to make the drive to the eastern most entrance point of the south rim to arrive ahead of sunrise. Sunrise at the Grand Canyon is spectacular. Seeing the light move down the canyon walls illuminating new shades of color is a bucket list must-do. After watching sunrise, we drove along the south rim towards the visitor center, stopping occasionally to check out the views and do a little hiking. After around 5 hours in the park we started our drive to Las Vegas to meet up with my family at an AirBnB for three nights surrounding Josh and Yami's wedding.

The first bit of morning light over the canyon, at 5:30AM.

The sunlight hitting the far canyon walls, about 8 miles away.

Paul enjoying dawn at the Grand Canyon.

David didn't get as close to the edge as Paul.

There were a lot of cool shadows as the sun continued to rise.

Remains of a kiva at Tusayan ruins.

View of Bright Angel Canyon later in the day.

Another benefit of going early is avoiding this situation in the afternoon. It gets crowded!

Goodbye Grand Canyon National Park!

Driving to Vegas we stopped for Tex-Mex on Route 66 in Williams.

Finally, we had 2 and a half days in Las Vegas to hang out with family. We rented an AirBnB with David's parents, sister, brother-in-law and two cute nephews. Unfortunately, David's mom threw out her back and wasn't able to go out much, so we ended up spending a lot of time hanging out at the AirBnB or with our Las Vegas family. The wedding was great, and it was wonderful to catch up with family.

AirBnB was on a freaking man-made lake in Las Vegas. That's sustainable!

Gabe is super cuddly!

We made a little time for bingo, of course! Ricky won $250 this game!

Josh has an entire soccer team worth of groomsmen! :)

Alex and Gabe both really loved the flower petals!

It's amazing what random things can lead to that level of joy!

When he wasn't trying to walk into the water, Gabe was pretty fun. ;)

David's Dad and four of his siblings!

Josh and Yami with David's Uncle Rick.

I specifically requested to not be seated next to a child!

There's still a whole lot of Arizona and Nevada we haven't explored. A western road trip is in order!