Tag Archives: adventures

A Southern Tri-State Adventure

14th October 2013

A downside of this whole adulthood deal has to be moving away from the friends you also had the chance to have a three year long spend the night party with.

So this summer, when my we found out that Jack Johnson would be coming to town during the same week as our best friend was getting married, Elizabeth and I immediately began scheming for how to work out a bit of a road trip to accompany it all.

While Jack would be coming to Atlanta to play at the Fox Theatre (one of the coolest things about his From Here to Now tour is that he is only playing in small and intimate venues), we actually decided to risk our cards and vie for tickets (the tickets are running on a lottery system) to his show in Nashville at the historic Ryman Auditorium.

So here’s what our weekend looked like:  Atlanta – to Chattanooga (where Elizabeth lives) – to Nashville – to Atlanta – to Hiram (bridal brunch) – to Piedmont, AL (wedding location) – to Atlanta. In three days.

For illustrative purposes only, clearly, we took a much more direct route.

For illustrative purposes only, clearly, we took a much more direct route.

I hadn’t been to Nashville since high school, so it was quite the treat to see it in a whole new light. We were welcomed to town in rather appropriate fashion, as a Big and Rich music video was filming just as we walked up after checking into our hotel.Big and Rich

Per suggestions of multiple friends, we grabbed dinner at Merchant’s. The restaurant is separated into a dressier upstairs and slightly more casual downstairs, but rest assured, all delicious. Another perk of vacationing with your BFF? Splitting meals to try a little of everything on the menu.Merchants

From there, the Ryman and Jack certainly didn’t under deliver. Stunning. I cannot say I have EVER heard acoustics so lovely in my life. We danced, we swooned, it was definitely better together.Jack Johnson Ryman

We made a few stops the following morning, like a run through Vandy’s campus and Hatch Print Shop, before making a slight trek north to the Southern Living Idea House. I visited last year’s house in Senoia, Georgia, and we couldn’t come all this way and not stop to dream swing for a little on this front porch.Front Porch Swing - Southern Living Idea House

From Nashville, we made a quick stop in my hometown for bridal activities and from there it was onward to Alabama. The best part of a road trip is always the roadside attractions and in our book that means cheesy state line photo shoots and an antique warehouse of course.Antique Store

I nabbed quite a few goodies, including two yards of designer home fabric and three bud vases, along with a few other odds and ends for a grand total of $7.00. Don’t let anyone tell you the middle of no where isn’t any fun.

State Line

Wedding day arrived, it was beautiful and we got to stand by the side of one of our best friends as she said I Do on the shores of Terrapin Creek. We made the most of every moment of the weekend, even spending time wading in the creek on wedding morning. Just like a front porch swing, we could have stayed on a rock, with our toes in the water, chatting all day long. We may have even squeezed in a mid-day Coke float to match. I’m not sure it gets more perfectly southern than that.Jessica and Ryan

After three days, three states and nearly 14 hours in the car together, we headed back to our separate homes. While I’m certainly a fan of trips far and away, it’s nice to find a set of adventures close to home.Terrapin Creek

Summer Bucket List: Scott Antique Market

9th June 2013

A mere several hours after I wrote this post forcefully putting my summer dreams into stone type, my dear friend Kristy asked about about heading to Scott’s over the weekend. It had been several months since I last visited Scott Antique Market to explore what is best known as “America’s favorite treasure hunt.” So Saturday morning, after a brief stop at the Peachtree Hills Festival of the Arts, which included King of Pops (check another for the bucket list) and free Applewood hotdogs (delicious), we ventured out to brave Atlanta traffic.

If you aren’t familiar with Scott’s, picture two separate buildings, the size of … well I’m not sure exactly … several airplane hangers each? Who knows, let’s just say it’s HUGE. There’s a $5 entry fee and that might as well be $5 to get to go the Six Flags of Antique Hunters for adults.

Here’s your cheat sheet for navigating:

  • North building: Really, really old and beautiful things (aka expensive)
  • South building: Think fixer-upper (aka diamonds in the rough)
  • Don’t be afraid to negotiate on prices, in fact I think it’s a must
  • If you can’t find a dealer, just ask the neighbors. Even sellers have a habit of getting a case of wanderlust in this place
  • Bring cash

So with cash and game faces in tow, to the South side we went.

Here are a few of my favorite finds:

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Who needs a mummy in their house? Probably us.

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I was fascinated with these bottles and their story. They sure didn’t come cheap though (around $50 for the bigger ones.)

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Sometimes you see things like this.

After all of those antics and some more exploring, I finally settled on a rather simply jewelry purchase of three necklaces, for a grand total of $4. I was fairly pleased with this one, and I even negotiated, even if it was only a dollar.

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So there you have it, we will be back, soon I’m certain. To more adventures and bucket list items I go.

Summer Bucket List

5th June 2013

I’m not quite sure what it is, but even post-college, summer still seems to have a sweet aura about it where you can dig up a little extra time in the days and make the most of a great adventure or two.

Peachtree Road Farmers MarketWhile we are already a week or so in to my favorite season of the year, I’ve finally compiled my summer bucket list, one which I hope will evolve and result in supporting blog posts to document the tales.

  • Hike to the cliffs and jump. If you’ve gone tubing down the Chattahoochee before, you’ve seen the jumping cliffs. Fun fact: you can hike there too. Weeknight hikes are quickly becoming my favorite way to cap of a weekday and while hiking scaling the side of a cliff isn’t on my list of favorite things to do, I do seem to get less fearful each time. Plus it’s hot and jumping into the water while we leave our shoes on the cliff just sounds plain fun
  • Learn attempt to learn calligraphy. This one is slightly lofty, but it’s been on my list for quite some time, so what better summer project. I’ve been eying this program, but if anyone knows of a local in-person course, I’d happily take recommendations
  • Sharpen my media skills. This one is work driven, but I am no pro when it comes to media buying, vendors, etc. As my role requires me to have a fairly in-depth knowledge across channels, this is a good continuation
  • Buy vegetables from the farmer’s market. I finally made it to the weekly Peachtree Road Farmer’s Market last week and it was lovely. However, picking out greens seemed too overwhelming, I’ll get over this
  • Take a trip to the mountains complete with fresh fruit: blueberries, cherries and peaches … oh my. Maybe I can even cheat and get cherries in Michigan during our annual trip in August, I always seem to just miss peak season
  • Watch more than one sunset from PDK. Another favorite hidden Atlanta gem
  • Run once a week without a watch to keep pace. This is a big one, the watch is addicting and distracting. I need to spend some time falling back in love with the pavement (or trails)
  • (On the opposite effect) Run a sub-50 10K. With my recent knee issues, that don’t seem to be letting up, I’m not certain this is realistic, but you better believe I’ll try my darnedest on the Fourth of July
  • Kayak the Hooch. We can add tubing here, that’s bound to happen at least a few times
  • Make King of Pops a staple (as if it wasn’t already)
  • Celebrate turning 25 without fear of entering my “mid-twenties”