Bear with me on all these Charleston pictures. I don’t get to travel much so when I do, I go just a little ham on the photography. Can you blame me? Charleston is a beautiful landscape of pastels that is easy to walk and easier to enjoy. We stayed a 15-min drive away from downtown so every day we just drove on over, parked, and took in the scenery on foot.
Recent travels have taken me to Texas, where my appetite is definitely bigger. I visit Houston at least once a year to see family, but now that I have a cousin studying at UT, a mini road trip to Austin was a no-brainer. The highlight of this weekend trip? Oysters, burgers, and barbecue. It’s a wonder how I was able to keep the button on my jeans from popping off.
The oysters at Perlas were like dipping your toes into the cold salt water of the ocean. Briny, but in the most Invigorating and refreshing way possible. I’m not picky when it comes to oysters because I’ll take what I can get, but seriously. These were amazing.
When my family comes to visit me, they usually take me to places I would have never gone myself. One of these places is Helen, Georgia. In an effort to see some natural beauty, we set out on a short road trip and found ourselves meeting the Blue Ridge Mountains of North GA. Here, just a couple hours from Atlanta, is where you’ll find Anna Ruby Falls – a humble yet still gorgeous spot in the Chattahoochee National Forest. The actual trek to see the falls is really easy so it’s a bit more fitting for a leisurely afternoon stroll rather than a true forest hike.
Just as interesting as the waterfall were all the quirky country shops speckled throughout the town of Helen. The architecture of the main street is meant to be a re-creation of historical German alpine villages (I tried to take pictures but they all looked hella boring), but it ends up being sort of like a second-rate Epcot scene. While it feels a bit lame, there’s something that’s also weirdly charming about it all.
A Georgia road trip just isn’t complete without a stop for boiled peanuts and tchotchke-browsing. Although it seems like my family and I never actually manage to eat all the peanuts we buy for ourselves.
….Oh, also gem stones. Yes, I said GEM STONES. Are they real? Maybe. Are they pretty? Definitely. I didn’t purchase any because I have no earthly idea of what I would do with them. So I thought I should at least take some pretty pictures.
I’m not quite sure what’s happening with the amount of adorableness in my blog posts. I just can’t help it, I guess! This last road trip I went solo which sucked but was awesome at the same time. I very much enjoyed being able to sing as loud as I can and stop wherever I wanted. The most surprising stop for me was the Plantation House gas station in Tifton, Georgia.
(an abandoned building beside the gas station)
The pumps were old and I felt like an alien in the whole scene. But there were two amazing things at Plantation House. First one being, feral KITTENS.