Guide to Getting Away from the Sunnyside Traveler

I've recently been sharing some places in Savannah to friends who are visiting or thinking about visiting. I thought it would be helpful for me to share that in a new post. Some of these places I've mentioned before and some are new. It's always good to check to make sure these places are still open! Businesses are always opening and closing.  I'll group things by area.  Tybee: Favorite restaurants: North Beach Bar & Grill (casual, mostly outdoor seating), Sea Wolf (fancy hot dogs and other specials, good cocktails and wine), Raw Ingredients (down by the pier, good sushi), Mi Vida ( breakfast and lunch, healthy options), Tybean for coffee, Fannies (by the pier, we like their quesadillas), Crab Shack is an experience but kind of touristy Things to do: bike around the island, watch the sunset on the back pier (https://maps.app.goo.gl/PtbfLEqR9u3W2dmK9), check out what's going on at the Tybee   Marine Science Center (they do special walks) and Lighthouse, w...

View from Wayah Bald A few years ago the ladies in my family did a trip to the mountains in July and we stayed in Dillard, Georgia. It was the first time I had stayed in the area and I enjoyed my time there. We went kayaking, hiking, found a salvage yard, and visited a fun French-ish restaurant that was located adjacent to a gas station. I liked the area and wanted to return.  In the years since, I have been back to the Franklin, North Carolina area a few times. This year, we went over 4th of July weekend. We decided to go there because we thought it would be a good place to avoid the crowds that you find in many areas of the North Carolina mountains. It was a good choice. We were able to do all the things we wanted to and didn't feel that we were ever in a situation where there were too many people in close quarters.  During this visit, we hiked two short trails. I was amazed at the flowers we were able to find along the trails and roads, since it was July and many flowers ha...

2019 Hiking Week 41 Charles Towne Landing Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! It’s been quite the year traveling all over the state and seeing all that South Carolina has to offer. We didn’t anticipate at the beginning of this year that we would visit all of the South Carolina State parks but we finished and received our certificate! We ended our state park visits with Charleston area parks. We stayed in the area and visited Edisto , Colleton, Givhan’s Ferry, and Charles Towne Landing . We had previously visited Colonial Dorchester State Park on a day trip.  Edisto Beach State Park covers a large part of Edisto Island. There is an inland section with trails, camping, a boat dock, and nature center, as well as a beach section of the park. It was pretty cold when we visited but still beautiful. Edisto is one of the barrier islands that is remote and takes awhile to get there. It’s about an hour’s drive from Charleston. We’ve stayed there a couple times and it’s one of...

2019 Hiking Week 29 Most of the time, people in Columbia take I-77 North to visit Charlotte. Whether it's for a flight, a concert, or just to shop at IKEA, many drive right past the Rock Hill area. Rock Hill is home to Winthrop Univeristy and has become a suburb of Charlotte. I enjoy stopping there on my way in or out of Charlotte, or sometimes we go there just because of the good restaurants and breweries there.  Recently, we were going to be in the area so I wanted to stop by the Glencairn Gardens . They were featured in the book "Classic Carolina Roadtrips"  and I thought of how many times I had been to Rock Hill but hadn't seen these gardens. They are just outside of downtown Rock Hill. Since we visited in the middle of summer, it was pretty green but not a lot of flowers. The park is 11 acres in the middle of an older neighborhood. It has many different sections: lawn, amphitheater, ponds, waterfalls, a "victory garden" and children's...

I don't know about you but I have a bit of spring fever. My remedy: plan a vacation! I love to travel and plan trips. Day trips, weekend getaways or even longer vacations, sometimes I am just as excited planning the trip as I am going on the trip. When I'm out of town, and we're tired and hungry and looking for somewhere to eat, I'm glad I did all the prep-work. Also, it comes in handy when you're trying to plan a trip and save money. So I thought I would share some of my money-saving vacation-planning tips to help you plan your upcoming adventures, wherever they take you. Budget - Think about what you're willing to spend on and what you want to save on.  travel - I, personally, would rather drive just about any time over flying. And I love flying. But, with the time and money involved in flying, I don't see it as worth it. When driving, I can see more sights and pack more. If you're concerned about gas prices, you can consider renting a car that ge...

Asheville, North Carolina, is a great city for beer. It has recently gained popularity for its locally brewed beers and has attracted a few national breweries to the region. If you live in the South, this is a great city to tour and taste the many, varied offerings. Also, there are a few towns nearby that are worth checking out. About 30 minutes to the west is Brevard and maybe 15 minutes to the east is Black Mountain. Not to mention the many other towns worth visiting in the vicinity.  I prefer to start in Brevard and then head over to Asheville. The breweries in Brevard are open earlier so you can get the most out of a day trip. I suggest checking each place's website for hours for their tasting room as well as tour hours. I've attached my map with some places pinned on it. It helps so make a driving plan so you're not going all over town. Downtown Asheville traffic can get difficult, especially on a busy Saturday.  Be sure to have a designated driver for this!  Also...

So, I was supposed to go to Savannah the other weekend but other plans came up and I wasn't able to go. I was bummed when we had such nice weather on Sunday and I knew it would feel like spring in Savannah. It got me thinking about the city and what I would do or recommend someone to do if they were in Savannah for the weekend. I thought I would share with you my ideal itinerary. I'm giving you some "Save" options and some "Splurge" options, you could also see these as save = more family friendly options and splurge = romantic weekend options. I hope you can use these and enjoy Savannah. It's one of my favorite southern cities. First thing I would do, is check the Savannah visitor's website . See what kind of events are going on that weekend in Savannah and Tybee Island. You may want to join these events or avoid them. Also, be sure, if you're going to be spending time downtown, you may want to invest in a parking pass for the city. You can f...

Amelia Island is an island off the coast of Florida, near Jacksonville. Amelia is the island's name, Fernandina is the beach on Amelia Island. It's a historical area where many of the original settlers arrived. I've spent some time there and I really like it. It's a good mix of Florida and the southern barrier islands (like those in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina). There's a neat historic downtown area as well as a few parks. Also there's a nice beach and good walking/biking paths on the island. But keep in mind that it's a fairly large island that would take most of the day to bike from one end to another (north and south). There is a wide range of places to stay, from B&Bs to the Ritz Carlton. Below is some information that I've gathered to help you plan a vacation. Visitor website -  http://www.ameliaisland.com/ B&B's in the Historic Downtown: Fairbanks House - Higher end but historical -  http://fairbankshouse.com/ Hoyt...

Wow, I can't believe I haven't posted about restaurants in Greenville, South Carolina! I love Greenville, it's a great town that has done an amazing job with their downtown revitalization. I remember visiting the Falls Park area back in 2000 and it was a place you probably shouldn't go at night. Now it's one of the busiest places in Greenville, day or night. The South End has many shops and restaurants that you can't go wrong with. There are many places up and down Main Street that are great to visit. If you can, check out the Greenville Drive's baseball stadium. It's a great place to catch a game. These are a few restaurants that I have either been to or have been recommended to me. The Velo Fellow - I've posted about this place before, but it's my favorite restaurant in Greenville. We went there recently on a night we were looking for some jazz. We ended up there not realizing that they were having live jazz that night. It was great, the f...