Colossians 3:15
And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful.
Now that we are on the east coast our trip is focused on visiting people. Our first stop: Roswell, Georgia. We visited Michael’s niece’s family: Julie, Jordan, Olivia, and Elliot. I first met Michael’s family during a trip to Erie, PA, for Julie and Jordan’s wedding, so these two hold a special place in my heart. Michael is the youngest of eight children and Julie is the daughter of Michael’s eldest brother, Frank. The difference of age between Michael and Frank is sixteen years, so Julie and Jordan are somewhat close in age to Michael. Recall from my previous post, we flew back to Georgia from California during the government shutdown. Luckily, our flight was just about thirty minutes late. We arrived at Julie and Jordan’s house close to eleven and exhuastedly went to bed.
The next day we hung out in the morning and then went on a small hike/walk near the Chatahoochie River. We walked around to see the old mill powered for a bit of time through water power, a covered bridge, and some incredibly large leaves falling to the ground. It was a lovely family hike and Jordan took lots of photographs of Olivia and Elliot. After the hike we ate at Moxi Burger and walked around downtown Roswell. Well, Michael stayed at the wine bar to watch Penn State lose another game! We went back home and had a nice evening watching a movie. The next morning Michael and I went to Mass while the family went to the Methodist church where Julie sings. After church, we had a relaxing afternoon around the house. Michael and Olivia made dinner and we played games until homework/bedtime. Elliot was working on a science/technology fair project while we were visiting and since our visit, we have found out that he was chosen to go to the next level of the competion. Congratulations, Elliot!
Our next stop: Sanford, Florida, to visit Michael’s buddy from college, Andy and his beautiful wife, Beth. We arrived at Andy’s mid afternoon and by the time we left for dinner I had sampled many of Andy’s home brews. He is quite an accomplished brewer. Andy and Beth took us to a German restaurant in downtown Sanford and to a bar after. After the bar, we hopped into the hot tub in Andy’s backyard, and, for a second, into the chilled pool. It was a lovely day.
The next day, Michael and I went on a seven mile hike through the Florida swampland. On this hike we saw two alligators, several birds and several wild boar.
After a nice visit with Andy and Beth and two of their three beautiful daughters, we started our trek northward, up the eastern seaboard. Our first stop: St. Augustine, Florida, followed by a bar crawl and overnight in Savannah, Georgia.
At St. Augustine we visited the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument. This historical spot claims to be the oldest city on the east coast. We also visited the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine. Both sites were impressive and served as our half-way stop.
Savannah was a fun place to hang out overnight. The bar scene was super walkable so we set out for the evening to eat small plates and drink cocktails. My favorite spot was our first bar called Husk. The food and drink were top notch. It seems like the rest of the spots catered to the younger, less discerning crowd. It was fun to walk around the town through the southern squares. It brought back memories from the books I have read about the slave trade in the south.
Until next post!