A much needed vacation

Hubby I went on a second honeymoon in May for our 19th anniversary. We left the kids home, and drove to Georgia.

It was wonderful to reconnect without any stresses. We even rented a car, so we didn't have to worry about whether the car would make it or not.

We didn't really have any destinations planned, just a general area for hotel reservations. We both enjoy photography, so we decided to make it a photo safari. We just drove and stopped along the way to take pictures of whatever caught our eye.

On one hand, a driving vacation with today's gas prices seemed silly. But, on the other hand, admission to a theme park would cost us as much as 40 gallons of gas. Even at only 20 miles to the gallon, that would be 800 miles. As it turned out, we went 1800 miles in 6 days. We went to Savannah, GA; Hilton Head, NC; Blue Ridge, GA; and Panama City Beach, FL.

I'd always wanted to go to Savannah. Now that I've been there, there are really only two cities I'd like to visit, Chicago and Boston. Since I don't want to fly, I probably won't be going to either one any time soon.

The first day we got as far as Hilton Head, NC. We went to see the beach, however, it was the day that Sub Tropical Storm Andrea was brewing off the coast. It was incredibly windy, even for someone that's used to hurricanes. I started taking pictures, but realized that hubby was just trying to keep the sand out of his camera. We decided to go to dinner instead.

We did find a cemetery to take pictures in. Hubby likes cemeteries, I don't know that I share his fascination, but this trip was about compromising. I was surprised when we found a book of 101 things to do around Savannah that it included a picture of the same crypt we found.

The next day, we toured Savannah. If you go, make sure to take one of the bus tours. They offer on and off services, so you don't have to worry about finding a parking space. Although, we walked most of the city anyway.

Savannah was pretty, and had a lot of history. But, I think I had romanticized it so much in my mind, that Paris, France wouldn't have been good enough. It also seemed that hubby was a little antsy to get to the next destination on the list. In fact, he canceled the hotel that night so that he could drive farther towards Blue Ridge. We stayed in Atlanta that night instead.

Since we didn't have as many miles to drive that day, we had time to see something in Atlanta. I didn't know that the Atlanta Zoo has the youngest panda in America. So, when I figured that out, it was a no brainer. The zoo is small, but the gorillas, orangutans, and pandas made the trip worth the admission.

One odd thing is that you can't sell any pictures you take there. There's a big sign out front that says so. Hubby and I would like to sell pics at some point, but the ones at the zoo were obviously for our own pleasure.

I stuck some of the pics in a montage and posted it on youtube. You can look if you like. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VN-aJXuIZy8

Tomorrow I'll share the rest of the pics and the surprise he had waiting for me near Blue Ridge.