Georgia Trip- Part 3, Savannah's Candy Kitchen

On our trip to Georgia in September for Lundyn's wedding we stopped in Savannah on the way home. I can't believe I haven't visited Savannah before, it's under three hours away from St. Augustine and such a beautiful place to visit.

We were only there one night but with recommendations from locals and the help of Yelp we found some great restaurants and fun stores to shop for Christmas gifts.

One of the last places we visited before leaving was Savannah's Candy Kitchen on the historic waterfront. We walked through the sweet smelling store on what was more of a tour watching the various treats being made.

We must have watched the taffy puller for 10 minutes as the machine pulled, cut and packaged the pieces of taffy it slides onto a trolley system then drops onto the stand. Or into the hands of someone eagerly waiting for the next fresh piece to fall. :)

  I'll take four of these please. Chocolate jimmies galore!

The smells flared up both of our sweet tooth's so we got a Coca Cola float for the road!

I can't wait to get back to Savannah and check out some more spots.

Do you have any favorite places you like to stop at in Savannah?

Georgia Trip- Part 2, Goats on the Roof

Driving through Georgia to our hotel we passed a building with a massive sign that read "GOATS." I did my usual squeal for farm animals and insisted that we make a stop there before heading back home. Little did I know that in addition to the adorable goats, yes there were even babies, the place offered sluicing for gems! Needless to say I found my new favorite spot in Georgia - Goats on the Roof.

Goats on the Roof is located just south of Clayton, Georgia; which is about an hour and a half from Asheville, NC. When you first walk up you will be greeted by a number of friendly goat faces from the top of the building. 

There are two gift shops with the cutest little stuffed baby toy goats, local jams, fudge, ice cream, and of course rocks! We opted for a large bucket of dirt that had the top covered in gems I recognized.

Outside in the sluicing area we took our screened boxes and sifted handfuls of the material through the running water. It was awesome to see all the stones that I recognized and some that I didn't. They were decently sized too! Dee even got into it a bit.

After finishing our bucket we stashed our goodies and walked around to see the goats. There was a lookout area where visitors could go up to and see where the goats were hanging out. You could feed the goats too, one contraption was a pulley system that was connected to a stationery bike. As you pedaled it delivered the feed up to the goats.

The young kids were adorable! Living on a farm as a young child I remember playing with our own goats and bottle feeding the babies. They are just the sweetest little animals!

Petting the baby goats! 

A couple of the goats looking for the food to come over.

Homemade fudge for sale! Yummy!

Making ice cream with dry ice!

Geode cracker!

If you are in north west Georgia I recommend a stop at Goats on the Roof. Kids will love seeing the goats, and everyone will have fun sluicing for gems and/or eating some ice cream!

Goats on the Roof

Located in Tiger, Georgia

Georgia Trip - Part 1, The Wedding & Atlanta

This past week I took a trip to Northwest Georgia with my husband to help a college friend with her wedding. She contacted me a few months ago to help with the wedding planning and coordination. We took our time making our way the 7+ hours north and stopped in Atlanta on the way up.

Downtown Atlanta at Night

I had been to Atlanta about 10 years ago but it was Dee's first time. We were there only a short while, less than 24 hours, but took the time to check out downtown from the Sundial Restaurant and Bar at the top of the Westin.

The Sundial is 72 stories high and rotates 360 degrees about every half an hour so you get a full view of Atlanta and beyond. Drinks were on the pricey side but that was expected with the atmosphere and spectacular view. Even the elevator ride up was breathtaking, but also nerve racking. Dee and I were both backed up to the wall from the windows with shaky legs. 72 stories is really high, and yes I've been skydiving but this was different. There was no parachute strapped to my back! ;)

The wedding was beautiful and set in a gorgeous venue in the mountains of Lakemont, Georgia. Pinterest projects filled the Pavilion at Lake Rabun making for the perfect shabby chic wedding. The rain slowed everything down a bit and moved the ceremony inside, but once the bouqet was tossed I finally could relax knowing that the bride and groom were happy. With the majority of my job complete until the guests left it was time for a glass of champagne to me- cheers to the new Mr. and Mrs. Carter! It was really nice seeing old friends from college and making some new ones too.

Just Married!!

The beautiful wedding cakes provided by Publix.

Being in Georgia reminded me of western Maryland and brought back many memories for me. I think we were about 3 weeks early to see the leaves changing, but we did take the time to do some hiking while were in Lakemont. More on that in my next post though.

The view from the Pavilion at Lake Rabun

I'm thrilled I had the opportunity to help Lundyn & Elliot make some of the most cherished memories they will have in their lives. The experiences I had on this trip and the breathtaking views will be fluttering through my mind this week as we get back to work and the real world. It was nice to escape for a little bit, but I'm ready to be home. To be able to cook some of my own meals and get back on my 10K training schedule is totally needed.