12/13/17 - Relaxation and End (of year) Game

We haven't updated in a while, as we have been less on the adventure front, and moreso relaxing and visiting friends the last few weeks. We mosied over to central NC near Durham to visit my friends N. and A. and had a great time catching up, eating the foods, and managed to get him on board to be our Master of Organization at the wedding. It went well :)

Thanksgiving was nice, but fairly low key. We meandered over to Black Mountain area the day before. We bought food to cook ourselves, and enjoyed them a bit, but not on Thanksgiving. We enjoyed a friend's leftovers on the actual turkey day, and they were tasty enough for sure. We spent 4 days just outside of Asheville, NC, (at a friend's house in Black Mountain, NC) which included Thanksgiving, and then spent one night at the lovely cracker barrel in Asheville proper, where we met up with another friend for the afternoon. We got to check out the New Belgium brewery in NC, as well as Green Man Brewing, Wicked Weed, The Funkatorium, and Catawaba Brewing, which were pretty tasty. We did most of them on a Sunday night, so they were fairly empty, especially with it being the off season.

After Asheville, we headed north to visit my Uncle in Boone, NC, who was staying there temporarily at a time share, and was kind enough to let us park out front. Navigating the hills was a bit tricky, but we managed just fine (slow and steady). We got to check out Blowing Rock too, which was kind of neat. I got to practice flying the drone a bit in the mountains, which made for some pretty nice shots (can be seen on YouTube Channel link).

After three nights in Boone (where we even got to go for a swim in a heated pool!), we headed south towards Charlotte, but ended up staying in Gastonia, NC at a walmart for the night. We left after lunch (Zaxbys!) the next day, and headed towards Greenville, SC. We enjoyed a tour of our first distillery of the trip, and Sarah's first ever, at Sugar Tit Distillery. The blueberry moonshine was delicious and easily won in my opinion. We actually got a small campground here, but it was faily minimal, without any bathrooms or showers (despite still being 40$). There weren't any games either, but at least it was friendly. It was near the new BMW plant they built, which was kind of neat to see.

We then headed southwest towards Athens, GA, and it just so happened to be the day of their playoff game - which they won. We caught the tail end of the game at the Terrapin Brewery. In turn, the town was nuts with kids out celebrating, and it was entertaining to witness the energy of the town after the win. We uber'd in and out of town fairly easily, and enjoyed the ambiance for a few hours before heading home. Home for the night was a tire shop which was closed until Monday, so it worked out. It was within walking distance to Terrapin, so it was pretty ideal.

After a day in Athens, we headed farther west towards Atlanta, where we actually met some new friends for once. We enjoyed some famous beers (although they had essentially nothing special that you couldn't buy at a store, which was odd). Their food truck guy canceled for the day, as it was a Sunday, so we ordered some food to the brewery, and shut it down with a group of 8 or so people. We even gave them a brief tour of our home, as we got permission to sleep on-site for free, which is always nice.

We left Atlanta around 11 the next morning, and headed south towards Macon, GA. We stayed just a bit off of I-75, on a cotton farm campground, which was actually very nice. It was far enough from the highway that you couldn't hear it, so it was quiet with nice stars, cool cotton to frolick in, and even a pond for fishing if desired. The bathroom was present worked, which was a welcome change. It was probably the smallest campground of the trip, with only 17 spots. Two were available initially, and then we snagged the last one. We liked the peace so much that we stayed for two nights before heading farther east to Savannah, GA.

We stayed a first night at the walmart in Savannah, as we weren't quite sure of the parking situation at Sarah's cousin K's house, which ended up working out just fine. We restocked on supplies at walmart, and left in the morning to go 4 miles down the road to her house. We enjoyed the company of family, met her new daughter (super friendly kid), and went out on the town for an evening. We stayed in Savannah at her house for three nights before heading out on Monday. I had Monday off from work, so I was able to drive. We bled the brakes again, changing all of the brake fluid, before leaving, though it didn't seem to make much of a difference. We still stop just fine, but it doesn't quite feel right.

After Savannah, we headed two hours south to Jacksonville, where I went to college back in the day. We stayed with our buds T and T for two nights, and enjoyed a night out downtown, where we checked out Hyperion Brewing and a new restaurant called Crispys. Good times were had, but now it seems we've stalled. We want to check out St. Augustine, but the cheapest campground is about 60$, and doesn't quite seem worth it. We haven't decided yet, but we will likely try to head to Daytona this afternoon, and find a spot to sleep. We're in money-saving mode for the holidays here, and I'm working double-time again temporarily. I'm looking foward to being in Central Florida by the weekend though (another 4 day weekend! Woo!).