My heart belongs to Georgia

Hey all! It’s been a minute. With summer coming, I thought I would get back on here and post about my favorite vacation from last summer. Buckle up, this is going to be a long one. I have told my kids their whole lives I would take them to the Georgia Aqarium. It is rated number 1 in the country and number 2 in the world. With that being said.... who saves up and goes to Georgia as a vacation?! After 10 years, I Finally did!

I had been to Georgia before in my early 20‘s and I had a “like it” not “love it” relationship. The south is very different from being raised in the suburbs of LA. I knew we wanted to do the aquarium but what else? I kept asking people if it’s worth the trip just to go there. I ended up deciding we weren’t just going to Atlanta, we were going to see the whole state if we were flying across country with a 9 and 6 year old. In typical fire wife style, I wasn’t sure if my husband would be able to come so I pre planned everything as if it was just the kids and me.

Atlanta airport is intimidating to me on its own. Any place with a train in the airport makes me feel like I need a xanax before I am even there. With that being said, we flew Delta there and considering we were in a pandemic, it was a great flight. Delta is one of my favorite airlines. The airport was under construction and not nearly as chaotic is I remembered. We landed, got our bags, and took the bus to our rental car without too much stress. And by we I mean my husband did most of it, while I made sure I didn’t leave a child in the airport. If you know me, you know I mean Edward.

Our first day, we stayed in an apartment in Smyrna Georgia. It was far enough out of Atlanta that I was comfortable if it was just the kids and myself, but close enough to go to the aquarium the next day. The airbnb was very basic, but the owner was so helpful, and the beds were comfortable. We stayed 2 nights there and I would definetely stay again. I actually booked it so the kids could swim. It stormed that night so it didn’t happen. We went to the aquarium and had the time of our lives. I could have sat there all day and watched the whale sharks. The goal was to dive there but I had the ear infection from hell and had to put off that dream for another trip. The one advantage to covid was the lack of crowds. This place is usually packed apparently but we were in no rush and didn’t have crowds pushing us out of the way. We spent some time with friends we have in Milton and the kids finally got to swim and then it was time to move to southern Georgia.

https://abnb.me/sdkSHeNuVgb

The next day we had a reservation for 2 nights in Savannah Georgia. I had pinterested this for years! We decided to go out of the way to Wild Animal Safari Inc in Pine Mountain Georgia on the way. We rented a nasty safari van so we wouldn’t ruin our rental car. You’re welcome Hertz and Usaa 😂 The employees were very kind when I went full California girl and refused to get in the van that clearly had some form of beehive in it. We got our new van and went to see some animals! We fed bison, giraffes, zebras, wild pigs, llamas, and deer. It was an amazing experience but be warned llamas spit. My daughter found out the hard way. After we were all covered in wild animal drool, we finished the drive to Savannah. Entering that city is like a movie. It is so beautiful.

When we arrived it was definetely dinner time and after the animal interactions and being in the car all day, we wanted casual. We drove through Savannah to Tybee Island. We ended up at the Crab Shack. It is not the crab shack you are thinking of, it’s way better. After we ate our delicious southern food, we want out back and fed their baby gators. The kids and the hubs were so happy. I highly suggest anyone with kids, go and do this. We finally went to our hotel after dinner. I booked the Hampton Inn historic district. I never book hotels when we have the kids.... I love them more than life, but I also like my own room 🤪 I was happy with this hotel though. Beautiful views and close to everything. We had a great night sleep and started our full day with one of those trolley tours. It was totally worth it when you only have 1 day to see it all. Leila happened to be learning about the civil war this year in school so it was amazing to be able to show her Forsyth Park and the history Savannah holds. We of course saw the Forest Gump bench, original Girl Scouts building, and Leopolds Ice cream. The ice cream shop is over 100 years old and some of the best ice cream I have ever had! I highly recommend it. We ended the night at The Pirate House. It was first opened as an inn in 1753 and is very cool to walk though. The food is delicious and the tour gives the whole backstory. They didn’t have official tours going due to covid but our server gave us the quick version. The normal tour involves going to the dungeon below! The next morning, we drove the riverfront since it was storming again. The cobblestone and old buildings are quite a site. We ended our Savannah trip by going over the bridge to South Carolina. We wanted them to be able to say they went there. If you do this, be warned the first parking lot to turn around in South Carolina is a Gentlemens Club 😂🤦🏻‍♀️ The kids wanted to see the Atlantic ocean one more time so we went back to Tybee island. We had swim suits but no towel so we planned to just stop and touch the water. The kids found out the water was warm and went all the way in. This pit stop ending up being the highlight of their trip.

The last part of our trip was suppose to be to Athens Georgia. It is a really cute college town and they love their Bulldogs. This was the airbnb I was most excited about. It was an adorable cottage that had everything we needed. I will post links at the bottom. We spent most of our time just hanging around the house because the weather got really bad for a couple days. We were suppose to go to Helen Georgia to tube the Chattahoochee but the weather was too wet and chilly. I got my first pedicure in half a year while we were there, thank you Georgia for being more open during covid. We went out to eat and drove the college campus. And finally on Leilas 10th birthday we drove back into Atlanta to go to the Coca Cola Factory. The kids really liked it, but I think my husband enjoyed it the most. The kids just loved having coke since I don’t let them have soda 😂 We ended that day with good friends having really good BBQ and cupcakes to celebrate Leila. Our last day, I decided I loved it so much I wanted to stay. We extended our trip and finally made it up to Helen Georgia. We tubed and went to the water park. This was probably my favorite part of the trip. I kept singing the chattahoochee song by Alan Jackson and the kids really appreciated that. After a long day on the water, the best meal at Big Daddy’s, and a candy shop we headed to our last airbnb in Atlanta.

https://abnb.me/Razqp1PuVgb

This was our favorite house! It was in the middle of the city and the location wouldn’t have been my choice with kids but the house itself was a dream. Keep in mind the kids were doing distance learning this whole time, so every airbnb we stayed in needed to have an area for school. This house had a screened in patio and we were all in heaven. The kids got to show it off to their classmates on zoom and I got to lay out there and watch netflix. We will definetely be staying there again. We just enjoyed the Atlanta area the last couple days, played top golf, and ate some great food. Chick fil A was a go to the whole time. It was founded there and they are on every corner 🤤 We wanted to stay even longer but my husband had to get back to work. We can’t wait to go back. I truly fell in love with Georgia.

https://abnb.me/6TnodY7uVgb