Savannah According to Instagram

Road Trip: Savannah, Georgia

As amazing as becoming parents has been, Nate and I have been craving a good old fashioned road trip like the kind we used to take before Maddux came along. Taking a kid on the road, as fun as it can be, completely changes the dynamics of any vacation. We haven't been away from Maddux since he was born, almost 21 months ago. It was way past time for us to leave the Munchkin with Nana and Papa and take off down the open road.

When we were pregnant, we took a trip to Savannah and absolutely fell in love. Like, we could move here and spend the rest of our lives here kind of love. So off to Savannah we went, despite tropical storm warnings and the threat of Memorial Weekend crowds.

Savannah has not lost its touch. The Spanish Moss still hang romantically from the trees in the squares, River Street still allows you to walk around outside with a beer, and Paula Deen still cooks up a mean Southern buffet.

We loved out first stay at the Marshall House so much, we decided to make a return visit. Being Savannah's oldest hotel, it is filled with history, charm and romance. If you get one of the Broughton Balcony King rooms you can sit outside on the balcony with wine and cheese and watch the sunset, or the too cool SCAD students walking to Leopold's . Which is exactly what we did:

The Marshall House also has the distinction of being one of the most haunted hotels in America . So if you're cool with that then this may be the place for you.

One of our favorite things to do in Savannah is just wander through the old squares admiring the well-preserved historic homes and churches.

We also got dressed up one evening and had an amazing dinner at Belford's. Their Baked Brie was seriously out of this world. I'm craving it right now!

We also spent a couple of hours at Tybee Island. Tropical Storm Beryl was in the area, but we never got really nasty weather. It was actually kind of nice. Breezy, slightly overcast, mid-80's. Perfect.

As amazing as our trip was, I have to admit one of my favorite parts was picking Maddux up. When we opened the door, he ran to Daddy first, then me, giggling uncontrollably. I mean, he was practically giddy. But we absolutely can't wait to go back, and would highly recommend Savannah to any of you planning a little get-away.

Vacation Planning

San Juan Island

(Image via Travel and Leisure)

Nate and I are planning a trip to Washington State this summer and will be visiting Seattle for the first time. We are super excited to catch up with friends and explore the city for a couple of days. 

While browsing vacation planning sites and blogs, a few things kept popping up on all of the "must-see" lists. Naturally, the Space Needle shows up, but there were also a few other places, like the Pike Place Market that I had never heard of. 

Nate and I like to go to "non-touristy" spots, so we will have to rely on our friend Matthew to give us the low-down on the local's hangouts. 

I would also love to sneak away to San Juan Island for a day. Doesn't it look amazing?!

And I'm sure we will have to work in a Space Needle photo op with little Maddux!

If you have any Seattle suggestions, let me know! I'd love to hear your favorite places.

The Space Needle

(Image via The Best Travel Destinations)

Pike Place Market

(Image via Belltowner)

Road Trip: Nolensville, Tennessee

Another weekend, another road trip for me, Nate and Maddux. Saturday was such a gorgeous day here in Nashville, sunny and finally cool enough for jeans and hoodies. Fall is just beginning to make its presence known and after such a stifling hot summer, it is certainly welcomed.

We didn't have a whole lot of time, so we drove out to the tiny town of Nolensville, less than 30 minutes from home. 10 years ago, Nolensville was nothing more than a small area of decaying historic houses and rolling old farmland. But with the huge growth of nearby Brentwood and Williamson County, the town has grown exponentially. Gone are many of the farms in place of Publix grocery stores and cookie cutter subdivisions. But if you drive just past all that, the main town area still stands, albeit with a brand new, shiny Town Hall. 

We stopped at the Nolensville Feed Mill where you can buy groceries, gifts and knick knacks. On Saturdays, they host Music at the Mill (the store backs up to Mill Creek) where you can eat their buffet-style Meat and Three while listening to musicians do some "pickin' and grinin'". When we were there, we were lucky enough to hear the super talented Mark Winchester, who we found out used to play upright bass with the Brian Setzer Orchestra.

Here are some pictures from our fun day:

Road Trip: Charlotte, Tennessee. The Sequel.

Nate, Maddux and I headed back to Charlotte for their Fair in the Square on Saturday afternoon. As expected, sweet tea and fried food was in abundance, there was a bluegrass band playing and the locals were laying on the down-home charm. Basically, it was Heaven.

Road Trip: Charlotte, Tennessee

One of the many reasons that I fell in love with Nate is that he loves road trips as much as I do. I'm not even talking about the pack up the car, be gone for days kind either, although those are pretty awesome. Sometimes, even just getting gone for a few hours will do the trick. We love to explore, and now with Munchie, we have an even better reason to get out of the house. I want him to see as much of this incredible world as possible, even if it's just down the street from his house.

This week, we took a late afternoon drive to the tiny (think no stoplights) town of Charlotte, Tennessee. It was only about a 45 minute drive from Nashville, and filled with gorgeous scenery, like rolling green hills and thick vegetation. 

The town itself mostly consists of a tiny square centered around the courthouse, which we learned is the oldest in the state still in use. 

There is some Civil War history here, and several of the buildings around the square that date back to this period (and before) are still standing.

We were only gone for less than three hours, but we returned feeling like we had been on a week-long vacation! Sometimes, you just need to step outside your own front door and look around a bit.

The old Presbyterian church, formed in 1830 and used by Federal troops during the Civil War.

This house is located just off the square and is in a pretty deep state of disrepair. It has an old National Historic Marker outside, but we couldn't make out what it said. I told Nate I want to buy it, restore it and turn it into a front porch music venue and vintage clothing store. Well, I can dream!


P.S. We are thinking of going back on Saturday to the town Fair in the Square. I have a feeling that sweet tea and buttered biscuits will be readily available!

Travelogue: On The Road To California. Day 7

Our sweet childhood friend Meadow and her daughter, Irene.

Today's the day! The whole reason we decided to make this crazy road trip in the first place. So here's the deal: One of Nate's favorite bands in the whole world is a group called Animal Collective. You can listen to them here.

Apparently, they very rarely tour, and when they do, they certainly don't come to Nashville. Back in January, we were browsing through their website, listening to new music when we decided to check out their tour schedule. Well, lo and behold, we discovered that they were indeed touring, but they were only doing five shows and they were all in remote locations in California.

Not ones to be deterred by a lack of geographical closeness, we started hatching a plan to go see one of these Cali shows, specifically the one in Big Sur.

For those of you who have never been, I would certainly recommend placing Big Sur, and the entire California coast for that matter, on your bucket list of places to see before you die. It is literally breathtaking. I had the privilege of living in the area when I was growing up, and really wanted to show Nate.

We had originally planned on flying and just taking Maddux to the show. It would be outdoors in the redwoods, and we could spread a blanket, put these on, and just relax and listen to music.

Well, Mother Nature had other plans apparently. Big Sur experienced a deluge of rainfall which caused a part of Highway 1 to literally fall into the ocean. And guess where that part was? Yes, right at the Henry Miller Library, which is where the concert was to be held.

Obviously, they had to move the show, which bummed us out. We were looking forward to camping near the concert site and breathing in the ocean air. But, we figured Animal Collective would be good wherever they ended up playing. The show was moved about 30 miles up the coast to the cool, laid-back town of Santa Cruz. The venue was now indoors in an 18 and older, dark club, so there was no way we could take the Little Guy with us. Thank God for Nana!

Mom, Maddux and I would drive (since my mom won't fly), and Nate would join us in L.A.

It worked out perfectly! Mom and I got to have an incredible girls' trip together, Maddux got to see some of our beautiful country, and Nate still got to see Animal Collective.

The icing on the cake was the fact that one of our good friends that we had grown up with in California now lived in Santa Cruz, and she graciously let us stay with her for the night.

Meadow and her gorgeous daughter took us to eat the most delicious organic Mexican food. It was just a little place downtown, with a few tables outside for seating, but it was amazing!

After dinner, Meadow and Mom took the kids back to the house, and Nate and I headed across the street to the concert. The people who had Big Sur tickets got to go in early, so we ended up at the front of the stage right in front of the speakers. Nate's ear suffered a bit, but I had remembered my earplugs. :)

The show was amazing! I have to say I wasn't quite sure if I would like them live or not. Their music is very textured, with lots of sounds and intricate harmonies. I didn't know if they would be able to pull it off live, but they did, and then some. We had such an incredible night. There was an after-party, but we headed home to snuggle up with Munchie. We wanted to get an early start the next morning so we could spend as much time in Monterey as possible.