Is it a BEAR??

Day 3 is complete and it was another busy day! We had an early start to our day. We were on the road by 7:45 AM. Our first stop was for some breakfast! We really wanted What-a-Burger but there were none to be found. So, we stopped at Chick-Fil-A for a wonderful chicken biscuit. 

Our first stop of the day was to Covington, Georgia. This quaint town is home to many movie and TV sets. Make sure to stop at the visitor center to get some great pictures and some information about the town. Ron, who was working at the visitor center is a wealth of information and the nicest guy!! 

We went here because it is the home of the Vampire Diaries show currently on the CW. To our GREAT surprise they were actually filming today!! I don't want to break any spoilers out there but I did get to see 2 actors and the whole film crew :) I was in heaven!! We even picked up some merchandise.  

After spending some time in Covington, we headed to the South Carolina Capitol. Here is the welcome center sign!

This is the Capitol Building!! #29! Columbia, South Carolina It was very beautiful.

There is a statue of George Washington! My class loved George Washington so I made sure to take a picture!

This is on the building to describe the construction of the State House.

Whenever I see staircases like this I think about Gone With the Wind! I wanted to have on an elegant dress and walk down the stairs like royalty!

This is the House of Representatives side. Guess what! The other side was the Senate! After 29 capitols you figure out where everything is!! This capitol building was a little smaller inside than some others I've been to. There was a nice waiting area where you could sit on couches and relax. I felt very welcome while visiting!

We decided to walk around the building a little bit. There were beautiful trees and gardens all around the capitol.

 This church was next to the capitol.

 Another view of the capitol!

After leaving the capitol we headed for Congaree National Park. We ate a picnic lunch and then started our hike. We chose to do the boardwalk path.

 Watch out for mosquitos! (and other nature creepy crawlies)

Congaree National Park is so amazing! There are huge trees and tons of wildlife! If you know me well you know I don't do well in nature. You will be so proud of me! I immersed myself in nature! I walked off the path a couple times and got touched by bugs!

 Look! I'm hiking!

 Shortly after snapping the above picture we ran into some wild animals. Before we got too close to actually see them I started to panic. I looked at Natalie and asked her; well more like panicked and freaked out, and said, "OMG! Are those bears????" Thankfully they were just baby wild hogs. We quietly kept walking and freaked out the rest of the hike. And when I say "we" I really mean "ME!" But, I survived nature!

 So... after finding this lake there was no more trail.... so we headed back... and the path we needed was closed because the boardwalk was broken. Well, since we forgot our map in the car we took a chance and went down a different path. Thankfully we ran into a guy hiking. We asked him if the path led to the boardwalk or visitor center. He told us that it did in like 4 miles.... I wish I had a picture of our faces at that point. We were a little shocked. He gave us his map and trucked on... left us to fend for ourselves. We eventually found where we needed to be.

After getting back to the car and blasting the AC we headed for our pit stop. Yep, that's right, we are staying in North Carolina tonight. We are staying in an apartment that was built in the 1930s. It is so cute and welcoming.

Well, another day is done and I am so tired! We are picking up our travel buddy tomorrow and will soon be a trio! Again, thanks for reading! 

Open Happiness

I had forgotten how much I truly love to travel. It is amazing to explore a different city and meet new people. Let me start with our AirBnB experience! The house we are staying in is so cute! We have a room with 2 queen beds and pretty much our own bathroom. There is a sink in our room so that if someone is in the bathroom we don't have to wait to brush teeth/do makeup/hair!
Tracy, the owner of the house, has 3 adorable dogs. This one loves us and wanted to stay in our room. We were worried that she was not allowed on the beds. We found out that she is! All was good!

 This is the super cute kitchen where we made our dinner for the evening.

 This is the front of the house.

 Our cute bathroom

 Our super cute room! There was a lot of areas to put our stuff and spread out a little bit after being in a car for so long.

Today we spent the day exploring Atlanta. I had a great time meandering the streets and walking to our destinations. We drove to the Capitol first from the house. It has a beautiful gold dome. There are beautiful trees in the front and a few statues depicting influential people from Georgia. This is the 28th Capitol I have been to. Almost to 30!!! 

 After visiting the capitol we made our way over to the Olympic Park area. First, we parked at the Aquarium parking garage (only $10 for the day!) We bought our CityPass online and it included 5 sites. It is good for 9 days and WORTH every cent!!! The first time you use it you have to go to the ticket line to redeem your voucher. After that, you just walk up to the CityPass line of each attraction that is included and you give them your booklet. Then, you walk right into the attraction! No waiting in super long lines.

Our first stop after parking was the CNN Center. We got a little lost walking there but it was found quickly. We went on the tour that shows you a behind the scenes look into how the news shows up on your TV! Our guide was Paula and she was really sweet. We were always in the back of the line so we bonded with the security guards.

Around the atrium/food court there is a timeline of key events that have happened in history. It was fun to find my birth year to see what went on that year.

I just thought this was funny :)

We ate lunch in the food court and ate at the BurgerFi! It was so good!! It was very filling. The fries were a great addition.

After eating lunch we went to Olympic Park. There are flags from many countries.

There is even a splash pad for children (and adult children) to cool off on a hot day!

 Found the Olympic rings!!

We then decided that it was time to cool off at the World of Coca Cola building. Here, you learn everything about how Coca Cola is made, merchandise, memorabilia, see a 4D show and then you get to taste some Coke products from around the world! It was so much fun except for the rude people who push their way to try all the cokes. I guess you can't blame them, they are a little hyped up on all that caffeine!

 Natalie designing her own coke bottle.

 Oh yeah, you get a free coke at the end of the experience!

 Our last stop was the Aquarium. It was really cool, but was like any other aquarium. They have 4 Whale Sharks which is pretty cool! They are huge!

 Playing with the fishes!!

 Look!! I found NEMO!!!!!!!

After leaving the aquarium we needed to get some ice. We decided to drive around a little. It was well worth it!!!! We saw Georgia Tech and some neat areas of downtown. Overall it was a great day but we are BEAT. We walked over 10,000 steps :) and now are ready for bed. We have another exciting day planned tomorrow! Thanks for sharing our adventures!!

4 AM Wake Up Call!

We are on the road again for another summer adventure. We will be visiting 24 states and 15 capitol buildings! Here is the start to our epic adventure!!

Our day began with a 4 AM wake up call. It was hard to leave our puppies for a whole month! I gave Sydney a BIG hug and I'm praying that she behaves for everyone watching her.

We hit the road around 5:30 AM Texas time. It was a long, fun day in the car. We have stopped at 4 welcome centers - Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. I only have pictures from the first two; the other 2 are on my phone.

This family brought their rice cooker on their trip... That would be interesting to have on a road trip... Does it cook in their car?

After 4 1/2 hours of driving we made it to the Duck Dynesty Headquarters... Too bad it is Sunday and it was closed. Womb Womp. Still got to see this big truck with pictures of the crew.

Our next stop was Mississippi. This is a view from the Mississippi welcome center and it is of the Mississippi River. It was so beautiful outside today. It was REALLY humid as well so we didn't spend too much time outside.

We went back inside to the visitor center to find out if the Vicksburg Cemetary sold any postcards. Mary Hopkins inside the welcome center gave us a VERY wonderful tip. She told us to turn left out of the visitor center and then turn left onto Clay Street and we would be able to see downtown Vicksburg. This was an AMAZING tip!! First, you will need to park your car near this small park. If you have kids or if you need to cool down there is a small splash park you can cool off at. Then, start at the beginning and walk the mural path. The murals depict the history of Vicksburg. It was totally worth the sweat!

At the end of the murals you will be at the old train depot. Unfortunately it is closed on Sundays... Boo again. But it was incredible!!

For the rest of the day we drove all the way to Atlanta, Georgia. We lost an hour because of Eastern Standard Time so we traveled a total of 15 hours today. 

We have a very busy day tomorrow so check back and see what we do!! Goodnight everyone!