STATE BOTANICAL GARDENS OF GEORGIA

  While Wes and I were in Athens for the day we stopped in at the State Botanical Gardens of Georgia.  The gardens are open to the public and admission is free.  You have the option to donate upon arrival, and the suggested donation per person is $2.  Completely worth it for the trip and what they have on display.  Not only do they have a large indoor and outdoor display of herbs, regional flowers, and plants from around the globe, but there are also several hiking paths around the property to explore.  

  Wes and I hiked a bit on the White Trail before heading into the Visitor's Center and through the gardens.  The hike was nice because it was primarily shaded and not too stressing.  There wasn't all too much signage on the paths which was an initial disappointment, but once we got used to the fact that we were on our own and not going to learn much about the local vegetation it was a really pleasant walk.  I'd say it's worth it if you've got the extra time available.  I hope you enjoy some of the photos I took while we wandered around and took in the sights and smells!

LET'S GO - ATHENS DAY TRIPPING

Athens is all of an hour and fifteen minutes from Atlanta, so when Wes and I were sorting out our weekend plans, we thought a day trip to Athens would be perfect, and would get us back to Atlanta in time for a bit of the Shaky Knees Music Festival down at Centennial Olympic Park.  After extensive research (a quick text to ex-Athenian and all-around wonderful dude Brent and an even quicker Google search) we had a packed day planned.

We got in to Athens around 8:45 and headed straight downtown.  We had the area all to ourselves for the morning.  Turns out, it was graduation day at UGA so I'm sure plenty of people were sleeping off celebratory hangovers.  We wandered around by the convention center, through the UGA campus and around some of the shops in the area.  We had planned on breakfast over at IKE AND JANE CAFE AND BAKERY for biscuits and donuts across town in an area called Normaltown (best name ever?) so we wanted to get some downtown time in first. I'm a huge fan of how walkable Athens is!  There is a fair amount of shopping, local record and comic book stores, restaurants, and more bars than I've ever seen in 4 blocks. They've got everything they need.

  After breakfast at Ike and Jane (it looked too good I didn't have time to take pictures, I'm sorry! We devoured everything in about 30 seconds.  Everything being a cinnamon toast crunch donut, a fruity pebbles donut, a bacon, cheddar and egg biscuit, and a jalapeño, bacon, egg and cheese sandwich.  Just go eat at Ike and Jane and thank me later.  And then thank our friend Brent because it was his suggestion to go in the first place.  Way to go Brent!) we went and explored the State Botanical Gardens of Georgia.  That deserves its own blog post with the amount of photos I took there, and it shall get its own blog post - next week to be exact.  

  After wandering among flowers and bees, we needed to cool off.  About 5 miles up the road from the gardens is the entrance to SANDY CREEK PARK and LAKE CHAPMAN.  Entry fee is $2 per person and completely worth it.  There are a ton of areas for hiking, fishing, boat ramps, dog parks, and picnicking.  And there is the Lake Chapman Beach to catch some rays and swim.  Please understand that growing up on the coast I have always been an ocean person.  I can honestly say I've been swimming in one lake in my life and you could see the catfish swimming below you so that pretty much turned me off of lakes from the age of 5 forward.  Lake Chapman did a good job of changing my views on the situation.  The beach was small, but for the size there weren't too many people and the depth was perfect, and no catfish in sight!  There were notifications about boat rentals so we are definitely going to head back to do that sometime soon!

  We finished up at the beach and headed back into town to check out Sanford Stadium and get a late lunch.  On our morning walk we had come across something of a white whale on the street.  While wandering the downtown streets of Athens we came across an unassuming storefront but the name stood out like it was in Vegas neon.  R.U.Hungry ran across the marquee overhead and I think I let out an audible squeal.  I asked Wes if this was the same R.U.Hungry that he had boasted about from his college days; the same restaurant made famous by dear old Adam Richmond stuffing his face with the aptly named "fat sandwiches".  Wes was as excited as I was and looked up the menu.  Without a doubt, this was the same R.U.Hungry.  We obviously changed our plans and made that our lunch destination.  

  A Fat Darrell and Fat Bitch later and we headed back to Atlanta to catch the Saturday night lineup at the Shaky Knees Music Festival.  Huey Lewis and the News and My Morning Jacket were headlining and we had a great time listening to tunes and people watching while the sun set over Centennial Olympic Park.  All together, a completely packed, fun-filled day trip to Athens and can't wait to go back!  Uga uga!!

LET'S GO - A BEACH DAY ON FRIPP ISLAND

Last month I needed a bit of family time, so I hopped on 75 south and made my way home for the weekend in Beaufort, South Carolina.  While I personally might not believe in willingly getting sand into my crevasses, it happens to be one of my mom's favorite treats.  So on a Saturday morning we packed some high energy pups into the car and headed out to FRIPP ISLAND.  I was testing out a new camera so I thought I would post some photos to share with you all.  Super glad some of the photos could capture the insanity of McGee and Pita while roaming free.*

*note that no birds were caught during our day at the beach - no matter how hard the dogs tried.

 For those wondering, this is where I get my grace.

LET'S EAT PT. 7 - SHAKE SHACK

Let's Eat is back with Part 7 in the series and first up in Atlanta is SHAKE SHACK.  Wes and I have been craving In-N-Out lately and since that obviously isn't an option down here in the Southeast we thought we would try out a different praised burger chain.  Being that there is only one Shake Shack in Atlanta, the place was busy.  We stopped in around 3:00 on a Saturday and there was a line to the door.  I can only imagine what it looks like in here at noon.  It's also located at THE SHOPS AT BUCKHEAD, so be prepared to eat a good meal and then window shop at Hermes, Jimmy Choo, Tom Ford and other high end retailers.  Anyhoo....

I'll jump right in with the overall thoughts.  Shake Shack has a damn good burger, there is no arguing that fact.  When we got inside, we were able to look over the simple menu and make our picks.  Wes got a double shack burger with a vanilla malt.  I got a single shack burger with a fifty/fifty (half "shack-made" lemonade, half "organic fresh brewed" iced tea) and we split and order of crinkle cut cheese fries.  

Now, about this damn good burger.  Being that I got the single and Wes got the double we got to really see what you get for your money.  For comparison's sake, at Five Guys - which prides itself equally as much as Shake Shack does about their fresh ingredients and never using day-old product - a single cheeseburger is $4.49 and a double is $6.19.  At Shake Shack, the single is $5.29 and the double is $8.09.   The Shake Shack burgers were considerably smaller than Five Guys or even In-N-Out (not even going to go into In-N-Out's prices because they blow both competitors out of the water with quantity AND quality for the price).  I guess my point is that while these burgers really are extremely tasty, the cost just seems a bit steep for the competition.  

Rant over, now back to what's really important - the food.  The burgers were wonderful, and the ShackSauce needs to be added onto everything I eat moving forward, no exceptions.  Wes especially liked that the patty was smashed on the flat top.  Other notable quotes from dear Wesley, "the cheese was good, the bun was... a bun, the lettuce and tomato were on par, the grease level was moderate which is a good thing.  10 out of 10, would eat again".  I think what was most important to him was the consistency of his malt. "The temperature of the malt made it so that I could drink it with my burger, rather than having to wait for a too-cold shake to melt".  What can I say?  This guy gets deep when thinking about his meals.  The cheese fries were top notch in both of our opinions, which is pretty surprising since neither one of us would choose crinkle cut fries over almost any other type of fry.  The only part of the meal I wasn't impressed with was the fifty/fifty.  They take the time to note that the lemonade is shack-made and the tea is organic and fresh brewed.  To me it tasted like a very watered down Arnold Palmer.  It tasted more like an even ratio of lemonade, tea, and water.  I'd opt for a water next time, save more room for the heavenly burger and fries.  And that ShackSauce...oh that ShackSauce...

A perfect shake consistency, and a plane jane fifty/fifty