Trip to the beach

I'm getting really bad at updating, but I suppose the more you travel the fewer new places there are to go. I need to start expanding my horizons!

But this past weekend I went on a short-notice trip to Savannah and Tybee Island, right here in Georgia. Having never been to either city, it really was an exciting trip. Savannah reminded me a lot of Charleston, SC - only if Charleston was smaller and not nearly as cramped in the downtown area (although Charleston does beat it out in terms of things to do and history). I even got a chance to stop by the Moon River Brewing Company. The food was great, although the beer was average.

If you're ever in town, two "musts" are Zunzi's (a great hole-in-the-wall place for lunch that apparently is loved by everyone in town) and The Distillery, the only craft beer bar in the city. When you stop by The Distillery, make sure that you save room for dessert and order their deep-fried moon pie. It is truly exquisite.

Tybee Island was also a blast - we got to go up to the top of the lighthouse on the north side of the island, and had an awesome calzone at Lighthouse Pizza (wonder where they got their name...). The beaches weren't all that crowded and were gorgeous - we even saw a pod of dolphins swimming just off of the shore!

All in all, it was a very pleasant trip. Hopefully I'll have more weekend trips like that in the near future - but in the meantime, I'm busy planning my first trip to Europe. Can't wait!

As always, safe travels - and let me know if you need any companionship for a trip you are taking!

~G4

Trip to Athens

Back at the beginning of May, I made a trip with some friends up to Athens, GA. At first we stopped at the Terrapin Brewery, which was a blast. It's hard to beat the deal they have there - you pay $10, get to hang out and listen to music, get a free pint glass, and get enough pours for you to have a good time (I think by the end of it I had 3+ pints worth of beer). The atmosphere there is awesome, so if you have the chance to visit Athens, doing a tour at Terrapin is a must.

From there we headed out to dinner at Cali N Tito's, a BYOB Mexican establishment. I recommend the enchiladas - exquisite. While there we also dropped off my brother to hang out there for a while. So if you stop in, see if you can spot a Clemson gnome in the establishment - he should be there somewhere. :)

I'll post a short update about my trip to Charleston after this. In the meantime, check out the pictures from Athens!

As always, safe travels - and if you need any company on a future trip, you know who to call!

~G4

From Georgia

Mayfield Dairy

This past weekend I went on a short excursion to Braselton to check out the Mayfield Dairy. Had some great ice cream, and got to hang out with the largest (and only) cow there.

But surprisingly, that's all I really have to report for the past few weeks. I'll be going to the Clemson/GT baseball game on Saturday here in Atlanta, so perhaps I'll snap a photo or two there.

As always, safe travels!

~PG

From Georgia

Costa Rica and free Thrashers tickets!

Firstly, I've planned my first TRUE international adventure to Costa Rica! Still need to book everything, but it looks like I'll be leaving the last week in August. I'll be going on canopy tours, hiking volcanos, white water rafting...and that's just the first 3 days! I'll post more details as I have them.

Also, I just won a free pair of tickets to the Thrashers/Bruins game tomorrow. It's the biggest game the team has had in probably 2 years, as this determines who owns 8th place in the playoff race. Thanks to The Blueland Chronicle for the tickets. I'll hopefully have pictures after the game tomorrow!

~PG

Hiking over the weekend

Hey all! Just thought I'd give a quick update on some weekend plans. I'm going hiking with some friends up in the Georgia mountains (we're still determining a location - perhaps close to Helen). It'll be the first time I've had a chance to go anywhere since Christmas, so I'm really looking forward to it. I'll try my best to get pictures up ASAP (if for no other reason than to get them off of my to-do list), so keep an eye out for that!

As always, if you or anyone you know is going somewhere fun and want a friend to tag along, you know who to point them to.

Safe travels!

~PG

Travels Around Georgia

The picture in the link below is from a recent trip to Alpharetta, however also in that gallery (following this picture) are photos from my trip to Ellijay, where I took in the sights at the Georgia Apple Festival. Let me tell you, you certainly got a much different look at culture up there than you do here in Atlanta. I can't remember the last time I had a deep fried Oreo and deep fried Twinkie in the same minute (but boy were they delicious).

The sights from our cabin were definitely worth the trip in and of itself. In fact, after all my trips to the mountains (Helen, Ellijay, Dahlonega, Cleveland, etc.) I can't remember a single trip not being enjoyable. Not too bad for being so close to home!

~PG

From Georgia

In Ellijay

I'm currently up in the mountains of Ellijay enjoying a relaxing weekend away from the big city and traveling. When I get back to the city, I will be helping make both a Belgian strong pale ale and a standard American pale ale. And then when I have time, I'll make sure to put my pictures from both trips onto here and Facebook.

As always, safe travels!

~PG

Trip to Aiken and Augusta

I got back from my trip yesterday, and what a time I had! I got to go on a Sunday drive through the Aiken and Augusta areas, as well as the Sumter National Forest! Below are links to my Georgia and South Carolina photo galleries - hope you enjoy paging through them (the pictures are also up on facebook)! Now it's time to update my map...

I'm not going to announce anything yet because I'm still not sure, but I might be embarking on a very impromptu road trip in the next few days. I will keep you posted.

Safe travels!

~PG

From Georgia	South Carolina

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

SNOW DAY!!

So I found out yesterday that my planning for Birmingham was mistaken - the tournament is next weekend, not this one. So I've decided to travel to Germany tomorrow instead of waiting an additional week for a trip to Alabama.

However, staying an extra week resulted in good news - it's snowing in Atlanta! This is our first snow of the year (and I'd predict our last), and actually the first snow I've ever seen. So I stepped outside of my home to take a few pictures with my roommate Luke - check them out if you'd like. :)

Tomorrow: off to Deutschland!

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

Helen, GA (08.23.08)

Here are some more pictures from my recent past - a trip my friend Luke and I went on to the mountains of Georgia, and the small town of Helen. If you ever imagined "what would a small town in the mountains look like if Walt Disney tried to make it look like a town in Germany", you would get Helen, GA. We had a blast up there, and can't wait to head back to the mountains again!

Georgia

Beer Trip 05.27.08 - 06.3.08

So while I'm getting comfortable in Albuquerque, I figured I'd go through some old albums from before I started this blog. I found a whole lot of pictures, so over the next few weeks I'll be adding albums from 2008. Today's album is from a tour three of my friends went on that took them from Atlanta all the way up to Wisconsin! They stopped at breweries all along the way, tried different beers, tried different foods, took in the sights, and managed not to have to go to the hospital (even though one of them had severe burns on his foot!). The pictures have decent enough explanations on them - hopefully you can get the idea of how much fun we had!

Beer Trip

European Adventures!

I just received word from a friend in Germany that I will be going there in early March! I am very excited about this, as my only experience in Europe has been in airports en route to Ethiopia. I've updated my map accordingly, and will be adding pictures once I get home to Atlanta.

I'm hoping that I can get back to Atlanta by the weekend so I have some time to explore around town before I head off to Albuquerque for the better part of a week. After having my injury in Ethiopia, it might be a good thing for a little R&R...

Returning from Ethiopia

I am currently traveling back to Atlanta after a few weeks in Ethiopia. I am bringing pictures back with me, and soon will be able to share the sights and stories from my trip. I'm hoping I can get back soon enough, though, as I will have to immediately turn around and board a plane for New Mexico!

Keep checking in - I should have pictures up sometime in the next week or so.