St. Pete Beach

Last weekend I took a trip to St. Pete Beach in Florida, and wow did I have a blast! Unfortunately, on Saturday we had a heat index of 110 degrees, so it was sweltering outside. But we still made the most of it - enjoyed a cabana on the beach, laid in a hammock in the afternoon and evening, and got to spend a lot of quality time with family and friends. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun place to go (we stayed at the Tradewinds, which is a massive complex - it seemed to keep going on and on and on and...).

Only news to report is that some friends of mine may have snagged some tickets to the Auburn football game. I'm not adding it to the calendar until things are set in stone, but it looks promising! Can't wait for football season, especially now that the baseball season is almost over (also can't wait for us to kick some Sun Devil ass tomorrow in Omaha).

Well, here are the best pictures of me from my trip - hope you enjoy them!

~G4

From Florida

Auburn football game

Unfortunately, it looks as though it is going to be far more difficult for me to get tickets to the Auburn football game this year. Single game tickets aren't available, and since gnomes aren't made of money I may be SOL. We are still going to do our best to make it happen...but I'm not holding my breath. Darn shame.

Next weekend, however, I will be heading to the oily beaches of Florida's gulf coast. I'm really looking forward to see in person whether Florida's advertisements of having clean beaches is really true or not.

And before I sign off, best of luck to the Clemson golf and baseball teams! Golf is in the hunt at the national championship tournament up in Chattanooga, while the baseball team begins regional play against Southern Miss in Auburn on Friday. Should be an interesting baseball game - especially since Brett Favre told the Southern Miss baseball team that he'd return to the Vikings if they return to Omaha.

Go Tigers!

~G4

St. Petersburg, FL

I'm in the final stages of planning my trip to Costa Rica (looks like I'm going to have a heck of a time), but I also just found that I'll be traveling to St. Petersburg, FL for a long weekend in June. It'll be my first trip to that area since losing to Georgia Tech in the ACC Championship Game, so we'll see what I can do to keep from getting misty-eyed while down there.

I'm also flying to Charleston the weekend of the 24th...up until then I don't really have any travel plans, but hopefully I can find a weekend adventure to go on...

As always, safe travels!

~PG

ACCCG

Well, I just got back from the ACC Championship Game in Florida. Had a really memorable time down there, and despite the outcome it was a very fun and entertaining game to watch (as pretty much every GT game for the past 6 years has been).

We also were selected for the Gaylor Music City Who Cares Bowl in Nashville against Kentucky. A few years ago I had the chance to go to the Who Cares Bowl in Nashville to see us play...Kentucky...and I said then what I'll say now "One of two outcomes could happen: we beat Kentucky (who cares?), or we lose to Kentucky (why'd I waste money on this?)." What'd we go out and do? Lose, because our team didn't care about playing Kentucky, which after the last two losses we've had I really feel like will happen again. If we want to have much in the way of positive momentum for next season, we don't need to just beat Kentucky - we need to slaughter them.

That being said, that doesn't mean I want to travel to see that. So I'll be watching the game from the comfort of a couch in Greer, probably working off a meal from The Beacon in Spartanburg.

Also, I've found that over Valentine's weekend I'll be going to Asheville, NC. This will be my first time going to that state, so I'm very excited (although there is a slight chance I'll go to NC over Christmas break). I'm also going to a wedding in Newberry next weekend, which should be fun - it's been a while since I've been in formal wear.

I'd go into more detail on the ACCCG (like how we should focus 99% of our recruiting in the next year on linebackers), but I really don't have the energy from all the driving I did today. So I'll leave you with a few pictures from my visit to Tampa.

As always, safe travels, and let me know about any fun trips you are going on!

~ PG

From Florida

Going to Tampa!

I'm buying my plane tickets tomorrow...I really can't wait. I don't want to overlook the SC game, but all I can really focus on is beating Georgia Tech. Hopefully the team doesn't have that mindset this coming Saturday...

I'll be going to Greer for Thanksgiving this week, then on my way down to Columbia for the game. I'm thinking that I'll fly down to Tampa on the morning of the game and then drive back up on Sunday, but that's still up in the air. All the same, hopefully I'll get to see some of you down in Florida. Thankfully, I'm finally getting a trip that doesn't take me to South Carolina!

As always, safe travels!

~PG

Tampa...?

Hadn't posted in a while, so I figured I'd get one here and share how excited I am about this coming weekend's game against Virginia. One more win and I can book a plane ticket to Tampa! I'll be in Clemson this weekend tailgating my heart out, so hopefully I'll be in good game shape by the time 3:30 rolls around.

But in case you weren't aware, Mr. Spiller is trying to win the Heisman. Make sure you vote on a daily basis for him - I know I am! He's in first as we speak, but we can't let anyone catch him.

All that being said, hopefully I'll have some news of exciting travels in the near future. Right now all I have booked (other than maybe Tampa) is some trips to South Carolina. We're about to start planning the next beer trip, and my hunches are it'll come down to North Carolina or Maine. We'll see how that all pans out. In the meantime, if you're going anywhere fun and want company, just let me know!

As always, safe travels - hope to see you on the road in Solid Orange!

~PG

Florida Pictures

I'm back from my trip to Florida, and as you can see below there are pictures to be shared! My flight down was a bit scary (between the plane's electricity turning off during taxi, seeing another plane's landing gear fail, and two unexpected and sudden dives during the flight I had enough flying for the rest of my life), but once I was there I got to relax for a few days on the beach. I even made time to head down to the US Navy SEAL museum, which was definitely an interesting time. My visit was far too short, but I enjoyed myself thoroughly.

Looks like I won't be going to Illinois after all...unfortunate, to say the least. But hopefully I'll be traveling somewhere interesting soon!

Safe travels,

~PG

From Florida

In Florida / Another trip cancelation

I'm here in an awesome hotel on the beach in Vero - quite a pretty area. I'll be posting pictures upon my return sometime this coming week.

Yet again, my trip to Deerfield has been postponed. Apparently it will "eventually" happen, just not sure when so I won't bother posting that I'm going until I'm about to get on a plane. Let's keep our fingers crossed that I'll be able to get up there sooner rather than later.

Safe travels,

~PG

Preparing for Florida & A Trip to Illinois

I just received word that I will be going to Deerfield the week of the 15th. Hopefully I'll have some time in the afternoons to take in some sights, but we shall see. I might even get the chance to run into an old friend of GNOME's! Should be a lot of fun.

This past weekend, in preparation for my trip to Florida, I watched the Clemson super regional out in Arizona. Sad to say that our team got swept, but given that we didn't even make the tournament last year you cannot be disappointed in how Clemson performed. While watching the games we also brewed a hefeweizen that will be on tap sometime very soon. Once I move into my new apartment next month, hopefully my own tap system will be in place and I can start brewing for football season!

Anyway, I must be off. Safe travels!

~PG

Travels Around Georgia

Two weekends ago I spent my Saturday and Sunday visiting different parts of Georgia. On Saturday I spent the day walking around Atlanta and taking in all the sights (the Georgia Aquarium, the World of Coke, a Braves game down at Turner Field). While that was a lot of fun, it took a lot out of me, so I decided to head north the next day to Dahlonega and Cleveland to have lunch at a brewery (the Dahlonega Brewing Company) and go on a winery tour (at the Blackstock winery in Cleveland). It was a wonderful weekend - although I'm sure glad I had a driver to take me back home on Sunday!

I had plans to be in Deerfield, IL this coming week but those got canceled. I might be there the week of June 15th, but that is yet to be seen. As such, my next trip is going to be to the beaches of Florida in two weekends - I can't wait! In the meantime, I'll probably just spend my time watching Clemson in the Super Regionals for baseball on TV and homebrewing this coming Sunday - should be a blast.

Safe travels, and enjoy the pictures!

~PG

From Georgia

Back from New Mexico

I returned home to Atlanta on Tuesday, and wow am I glad to be back - it's so dry out there in the dessert! My skin started to crack (as though I don't have enough problems with that as is!), which made things very interesting, but I still had a great time. I'll be uploading pictures from that trip sometime in the next day or so.

In sad news, I was not able to get done with Albuquerque soon enough to make it to Italy. I will still be going to Germany, though, so I am very excited to leave! If all goes according to plan, I should be on my way starting this coming Monday.

In the meantime, I will post additional pictures of my Florida trip that I received from my friend Stacy a few days ago. Enjoy!

From Florida

Pictures From Florida

I finally got some time to myself, so I uploaded my pictures from my Christmas/New Year's trip to Florida! They can be found here.

I still have no word yet from the doctors on my status - they've been keeping me waiting, and I'm getting quite anxious to hear the diagnosis! As soon as I find out the news, I will pass it along.

Florida

Back from Florida

Well, I got back into Atlanta today and I must say that I had a heck of a trip down in Florida. I got to see so many places, met so many new people, and may have even met some friends who will let me visit them in Sweden! All in all, I really had a great time and cannot wait to post pictures for you to see - I just need to wait for my friends to email them to me.

Tomorrow I'm off to Knoxville to meet Christen, and then it's time to hop on a plane for Ethiopia where I'll be through most of the month. Internet will be scarce out there, but Christen tells me we can check my email from time to time, so feel free to send me a message if you want. See you soon!

Update from Florida

Hello, and greetings from sunny southern Florida! I only have a minute or two to spare, but I'll share with you what I've told my friends back home about my journey so far. So far I have:

- had an entire pitcher of sangria
- gone on a winery tour
- posed with baby Jesus in a manger scene
- gotten kicked out of a wedding

And that's just the start of the fun I've had! Once I get home, though, I won't have a chance to relax as the very next day I get to drive up to Knoxville for a day, then it's off to Eastern Africa for a few weeks with my new friend Christen! When I get some spare time I'll post pictures from Florida so you can see all the crazy times I have had down here.

Anyway, time to get off the computer. See you soon!