Hotlanta

Christine had been wanting to take a trip to Atlanta, and we decided that it would be a fun road trip.  It isn't hard for us to convince each other to take a trip and get out of town.

Day 1: We spent the majority of our first day in the car.  Christine got a Groupon for the Ellis Hotel in downtown Atlanta.  During the drive up, she decided to Google the hotel and found out it is reported to be haunted. Previously the Winecoff, the hotel was the site of the worst hotel fire in U.S. history in 1946.  119 people died and the tragedy prompted fire safety reform across the country.  We had some fun with the idea that our room may be haunted.

Day 2: We got up nice and early and headed over to the High Museum of Art.  Upon our realization that the museum didn't open for a bit, we decided to walk through some historic Atlanta neighborhoods over to the Botanical Garden.

We found out that the Botanical Garden had a light display at night so we decided to come back that night and headed back towards the museum.

Later that evening we headed back to the garden to check out the light display.

Day 3: The next day we hit up the Atlanta Aquarium, including a behind the scenes tour, the World of Coke, and CNN. Usual tourist activities.  Even though I had been to Atlanta several times before for work, I had never been to any of these places before.

One of the few places on earth you can see whale sharks in captivity.  This tank was massive.

Day 4: We got in the car and started off on the long drive home.

Don't Go Chasing Waterfalls Part I

For this year's summer trip, my dad, brother and I decided to take a road trip up to the Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina.  We decided on a route that would take us through Amicalola Falls in Georgia, Pisgah in North Carolina and finally Myrtle Beach in South Carolina. 

All the campgrounds we were staying at allowed pets, so I decided to bring my dog Louie along for the adventure.

Day 1: Dad and I took off from South Florida and headed up to Orlando to pick up my brother Matthew.  After getting his gear situated and him in the back of the cab with a 75 pound dog, we were back on the road.  This day was basically just a driving day.  We went straight through Atlanta and continued up to Dawsonville where we were staying in a cheap hotel for the first night.

On the way to Dawsonville we passed by the town Cumming.  Many, many jokes followed.  My favorite was, "There's no free way to Cumming."  We were on a toll road.

We were all a little deliouis from the drive, so we all knocked out quickly that night.

Day 2:  It was a rainy and dreary day when we awoke.  We questioned whether or not to stop at Amicalola Falls or just skip it and continue onto Pisgah.  We decided to just go despite the rain since we were already there.

Louie at Amicalola Falls State Park.

Top of the falls.

The metal grate stairs down to the base of the falls was hurting the pads of Louie's feet, so I decided to get a work out in for the day.  I like to call this shot Lamb of God. He got heavy quick, but at least we were going down.

From Amicalola we headed towards Pisgah, stopping along the way to check out some creeks and waterfalls.

A waterfall along 64.

The trusty Taco.

Dry Falls.  Don't be fooled by the name.

Campsite in Davidson River Campground in Pisgah National Forest.

Sleeping deck in the back of the truck set up for Lou and myself.  Gear stored below.

Up close and personal.

Day 3: I slept great in the back of the truck.  It was nice and cool out and with the vents open it was pefect.  My dad got the espresso and breakfast going first thing.  Does it get any better than this?

After breakfast we headed out in search of some more falls.  Here is Looking Glass Falls.

Next up, a nice hike to Moore Cove Falls.

There was a trail to hike up to the top of the falls.

We decided to stop by Sliding Rock Falls next and take a dip.  The water was freezing.

We dried off and headed up to the Blue Ridge Parkway.  It was an awesome drive.

Decided we had the energy to do another hike, so we hiked to the top of the Mount Pisgah Trail.  Everyone was having a good times as evidence by the silly grins.

On the way back to camp we decided to explore some forest roads and check out another waterfall, Slick Rock Falls.