Mother's Day ...Athens, Georgia

We left Beach Barracks, on Mother's Day and rode with great anticipation to Myrtle Beach to check out Bike Week. We've been to Daytona, Sturgis, Laughlin, lots of HOG Rallies and were excited to see another bike event. We stopped at Waffle House, a southern fixture for a quick breakfast and to call our moms.  

We cruised through North Myrtle Beach and Myrtle Beach, seeing lots of bikes and one Harley Dealership but unfortunately never found the hub of the event. How disappointing! We did see the beach front and huge Ferris wheel but nothing else. We have a feeling that like Daytona Bike Week, the Myrtle Beach event must be spread out and we don't want to waste anymore time looking for the action.

The traffic getting out of the beach is exactly like Sturgis but worse because mostly cars were on the highway. Bumper to bumper and hot! It took us over 45 minutes to go about 5 miles. Unfortunately there's no shortcut or detour and one driver told us that the traffic is "typical".

The ride to Athens was through lots of great small towns, but it was also filled with Mothers Day drivers and too much construction. One stop though was typical of many in the area: BBQ, gas and boiled peanuts!


We arrive at my Uncle Bob and Anne's home just in time for cocktail hour on their deck. Uncle Bob is my mom's brother and has always been my favorite uncle. He's my only uncle and even if I had more, he'd still be my favorite! I have great memories of him as a child, and always thought of him as a cool dude. In fact, I still do!


Randy met my Uncle about 12 years ago and had never met Anne, so I was happy to finally get them together. We were spoiled with great conversation, cocktails, lobster rolls and a dip in their amazing pool. A wonderful evening.

Athens was a great stop just to hang out and see the town. My Aunt Anne, knows everyone and everything about Athens and is a remarkable tour guide! Anne took us into downtown Athens and we walked the area checking out the local bars and culture. Lunch was at the World Famous Bar which by far, turned out to be one of our favorite stops. Their speciality was cocktails made with citrus, nice beer menu and fun appetizers.

We also managed to find a couple of brewery's (of course) but unfortunately our timing wasn't the greatest - they were both closed.

The town is fun and quaint although quiet because all the students were gone for the summer. Athens is home to the University of Georgia and you an tell that everyone loves the Georgia Bulldogs! I think we need to go back for a visit during football season when the town is really hopping! 

All along our southwest drive, I kept expecting to have Mexican food and never did. So in northeast Georgia, we went to an authentic Mexican restaurant that also served Salvadorian and Central American dishes. Absolutely delicious - but I forgot to take pictures or even get the name of the place. Oops, I'm not sure I'll be a good travel writer if I forget such details. Trust me, everything was fabulous!

Our second day was truly a "down day". Mr. Fix-it, Randy installed an air conditioner in the garage, to keep the dogs, 6 year old Sallie & puppy Beowulf, cool in the blistering humid heat of the summer. Anne and Uncle Bob worked and I caught up on laundry and writing.  Of course, swimming was in order as well.  In fact, we swam as much as possible, how could you not?  This is the best pool ever!

Dinner was at a great restaurant called "The National" which is next door to a movie theater, so we had movie & dinner. The National specializes in local foods, farm to table and dinner was remarkable. The theater features a full bar, coffee and fresh popcorn with about 10 spice shakers with interesting toppings. We saw that movie "Hotel Budapest" which I though was hysterical. Quirky, odd and the perfect laugh out loud movie (at least for me)

We had a wonderful time visiting with Anne and Uncle Bob. After riding for over two weeks, it was good to have a couple of days to just chill out. They spoiled us so much, we considered never leaving and moving in with them. Athens is a great town and we love their dogs and pool! (Anne & Uncle Bob are pretty great too!)

Savannah, Georgia

We arrived in Savannah, Georgia on Thursday, May 8 full of anticipation and excitement.  After all, we're in the city that is know for the Garden of Good and Evil!   We do tour the Bonaventure Cemetary and see the Mercer House but I'm writing a separate blog on that - I have amazing photos from that tour. 

First though, we spend 3 1/2  hours at the Harley dealership.  When you're on the road, you have to take care of your bikes.  Travelling by bike is much different than by car.  You worry about your tires, oil, virtually everything about your bike.  Randy's bike was having some issues and mine needed a new front tire.  We decide to have Randy's tire replaced as well and the dealership found something wrong with his wheel bearings.  After taking it apart they discovered that his wheel bearings had spun inside the races of the wheel.  I know this sounds technical for us novices, but trust me this is BAD.  If the wheel goes out that just spells disaster.  Harley overnights us a wheel but in the meantime we're left without a bike.  Woohoo!  Harley's extended warranty provides Randy with a Ultra Classic and it's RED to match my bike!  Now he's really styling.  

The extended warranty also paid for the new wheel as well.  Thank goodness!  After we get Randy's new wheels,  we head to the historic Riverwalk area of the Savannah river.  Interesting but much too touristy for us.  Randy's not satisfied with riding on modern asphalt, so I had the pleasure to ride on at least 200 year old cobblestones.

 You can only imagine that I'm not too happy about this!  

We walk along the shops and river and are amazed at the historic buildings and the kids.   Savannah offers a "Tour Savannah" for junior high kids and they are everywhere.  Note the kids in the pink shirt.  We saw kids in blue, pink, yellow, green etc... a rainbow of colors!

There are lots of historic buildings and a river paddleboat too!

It's  way to hot and crowded for us and we cruise out and head to Rob & Brent Ingersoll's home.  Rob and Brent are friends from Salt Lake and they've lived in Savannah for about a year.

When I say hot, I mean HOT!  By the time we get to Rob & Brent's home, my hair is soaking wet from the humidity and sweat.  Sounds gross but I'm a mess!  

Rob knows exactly what we need and he takes us to the Bona Bella Yacht Club which is the coolest bar ever!  I mean COOL!  It's a perfect respite from the heat.  I order a Rum & Ginger Beer which is now my new favorite cocktail.

 If I lived in Savannah, (which is a distinct possibility) I would spend a lot of time right here!  When we're finally cooled down we head out for a night on the town.

Savannah downtown is fun and lively.  We first stop at the "Abe on Lincoln Street".  This is a fun local tavern that has caricatures of Abraham Lincoln.  Not just a few...hundreds of drawings.  Pretty amazing artwork.  

It's definetely a locals taverns and we have tons of fun.  We fit in really well.  How can you not have fun with 2 redheads?  Rob and Randy are very lucky boys.  

Afterwards we walk to downtown, and we were having so much fun that I don't remember where we went. We had a late dinner at a french themed restaurant called "Circa 1875" and it was delicious.  Or we were just hungry, no it was fabulous.  After dinner we visited several beer bars and I found another favorite beer "Jekyll Island Cooter Brown".  

See Jekyll Island is following us.  Some say coincidence, I say fate.  

After a remarkable evening of yummy food, good beer, and great conversation with good friends, we took a taxi home and crashed!  Between the heat and celebrating with good friends we are exhausted and tomorrow brings us the Garden of Good and Evil.  

The Beach Barracks: Oak Island, North Carolina

For years, Kevin and Becky Ireland have been telling us about the family beach house located on Oak Island, North Carolina. (Kevin and Becky are friends from Ogden and they also ride Harleys).   We always talk about visiting but never do.  But this is our year!  Kevin and Becky are at the beach house at the same time we're going to be near the coast.  We re-route our trip to allow us a couple of days with them.  We are so glad we did!

We got a late start because we're waiting for the Savannah Harley Dealership to finish Randy's bike.  The overnight part arrives early afternoon.  We finally head north on the interstate to Oak Island.  

We arrive after dark so it's hard see the sights as we ride in. The house is right on the ocean, you can see it and best of all hear the waves crashing.  We're excited to finally arrive at the infamous beach house.

I'm up again at the crack of dawn to see another ocean sunrise.  Unfortunately, it's so cloudy that all I get to enjoy is the pounding surf and a pink sky.  I try again the next day and am rewarded with the same.  I'm bummed, but you can't be unhappy for long....it's the BEACH!

Randy and Kevin spend the entire day on beach projects.  They also hang out with Becky's dad, Jim.  He's retired military and a graduate of West Point - ergo the name "Beach Barracks".  

Here's the before and after on the walkway project.  They also got the hot water running on the outdoor shower.   Nice job boys!  

The girls head over to South Port  for lunch at the Provision Company  and shopping.  We have an amazing lunch and the restaurant is very casual.  Those rectangular boxes to the left are condos -- kind of odd looking.

 It's all "honor code"  - you order food and help yourself to beverages and then when you check out - tell the cashier what you ate. It's hard to belive that it works, but they've been doing this for years. 

We have a great lunch of yummy seafood and girl talk.  In the photo is Becky, Vicki, me, MaryLou (Becky's mom) and Kelly.  Vicki, Kelly and Becky all work together as nurses at the VA.

The Provision Company's motto is "It's always 5 o'clock here"  Works for me!  I can get used to it being 5 o'clock all the time.  

In the afternoon, we take a leisurely walk along the beach and I'm surprised at how many homes have lost their beachfront...just since October 2013.  Becky has been coming to Oak Island since she was a teenager and she's seen the beach front ebb and flow.  Hard to believe that the sand will come back.

Cocktail hour is spent enjoying the beach view from inside - it's just a little too windy to sit outside. We have a delicious dinner at the Island Grill right in Oak Island.  The view and the food are spectacular.  

I think the sea grass is pretty and I really like this flower - I don't know the name but thought it was beautiful.

Our trip to the Beach Barracks is way too short and we're disappointed to leave. We make plans and promises to return.  Next time we may spend a week or so - there's always lots of projects to be done and I'm always up for just chilling at a beach.  I can't believe it's taken us so long to get to the beach with the Ireland's.  

We'll be back!

This is our last day on the Atlantic Coast, or any coast for that matter.  I'm sad to leave the ocean but we're heading inland for the next segment of our amazing journey.

Jekyll Island, a magical place

Wednesday, May 7, 2014 

The ride from Apalachicola to Jekyll Island was wonderful  We rode along the Gulf and then through the rural areas of Florida.  Wide sweeping curves with small towns, old cemeteries and farmhouses dotting the road.  We encountered very few stop signs or stoplights - we just cruised all morning.  It was fabulous; this is what riding is supposed to be.  

Eventually we lost our gorgeous roads and had to get on the Interstate.  Although a highway, most of the highways was lined with huge tall trees which made it just a little more pleasant.  We were excited because we knew when we arrived at Jekyll Island we will had completed our "coast to coast" part of our journey. 

We originally planned to stay in Brunswick, but in searching for a hotel, Jekyll Island kept creeping into the search.  Jekyll Island is a small historic island on the southern coast of Georgia.  I'm so glad it did as it did because our stay there was perfect.  We stayed at the Days Inn and it was right on the Atlantic Ocean and when we arrived we immediately hit the ocean!  We had ridden all the was from the Pacific Coast to the Atlantic Coast a monumental milestone in our trip.  Woohoo!!!

After a quick dip in the pool we cruised the small island.  There's lots of homes and several historic houses on the island.  It's a tourist mecca but in the off season it didn't feel like the Pensacola area It was charming and quaint.   Lots of historic homes, streets lined with trees covered with Spanish Moss.

 Jekyll Island Club is the historic hotel and it looks like something from a movie.

 It looked a little pricey for bikers, so we headed over the the outdoor Rah Bar for the sunset.  Definitely more our style!

We learn that on the Island you can enjoy the sunset and the sunrise!  We were rewarded with an incredible sunset and the best shrimp and crawfish dip ever.  Our waiter warned us to fend off the birds as they were bold enough to steal your food.  We almost most lost our crackers but we were faster than the greedy bird.  It was a fabulous evening! 

Most of you know that I'm not a morning person and rarely see a sunrise.  However, getting up at 6:00 am for the sunrise was completely worth it. Randy stayed in bed sleeping but he did peek out the window to see the sunrise.  The Atlantic was warm and the sun was a brilliant orange.  As I stood on the beach I can't believe that I'm actually there enjoying the gorgeous Atlantic sunrise. I reflect on how our lives have dramatically changed in just a couple of months. We're just two weeks into our journey and we've already had the experience of a lifetime.  

I was so happy to have my toes in the sand that I start to ponder why I'm living in the desert of Salt Lake City.  As much as I love Utah, I really love the ocean. 

In the morning we jet over to the other island...a little more touristy Saint Simons Island.  It's still cute and quaint just busier.  We have a fabulous breakfast at Palmer Village Restaurant (that we found on Yelp) and we do a drive by of their famous lighthouse.  

Over breakfast we chat about our Jekyll Island experience and are amazed that we experienced a sunset and sunrise, both over water.   That is something that is rare...both a sunset and sunrise from the same location.  Jekyll Island is special to us and we talk about moving to the Island.  See, it's not the destination, it's the journey and we're learning that you never know what the road will bring.