July 2009 Vacation

We just finished one of the greatest vacations we have ever experienced. It was a 10 day trek through Atlanta and the Carolina's. We have always wanted to go near the East Coast and we finally got to fulfill a part of that wish. We started in Atlanta and had a busy two days sight seeing in the area and watching a Braves game one night. We toured the CNN News Center, the Coca-Cola museum, and the Atlanta Aquarium on the first day. We also drove around Atlanta a lot the two days we were there and it was interesting to see the old buildings and how well they were kept. The downtown area was very nice and we spent some time walking around the sight of the 1996 Olympics in Centennial Park. The second night, we went to the Braves game. It was a thrill for me because back in the day when television started to expand, the Atlanta Super Station was the first to broadcast baseball games nationally on a regular basis. It seemed like that created many Braves fans across the country. The game was especially interesting because they retired Greg Maddox's jersey that night. I watched him a lot in the 80's and he was a 4 time Cy Young Award winner. The Braves must have been inspired also because they beat the Mets that night 11-0. After the game, they had a firework show that was very entertaining.

We made the long drive to North Carolina the next day. It was a great drive though because we saw things we have never seen. Do you know that Kudzu just grows everywhere? It was actually very pretty the way it just grew up on the trees and made everything look like it had an outer layer. Halfway through the drive, we stopped in Spartanburg and had lunch with Alisa's brother. It was nice to visit with Holt for a while since we hadn't seen him since the wedding. We arrived in North Carolina just in time to visit UNC. We saw where the reigning National Champs play basketball. We got there too late to tour the building on a Saturday afternoon but we did get some good pictures of the area. We did a lot more sight seeing in the area on Sunday including seeing Duke University. We got to take a lot of pictures of the area and it was probably the most beautiful campus I have ever seen. The buildings were immaculate and the entire area was just beautiful. We also got to see the Sarah Duke Gardens near the campus and walked around the beautiful scenery withing the Gardens. We had several opportunities to experience some good old down south cooking while we were in the area. The highlight had to be at Mama Dip's Restaurant. It was recommended by Dean Smith on line and it did not disappoint. If you ever need some good old fried pork chips or fried liver with cabbage, black eyed peas and grits, Mama Dip's is the place to go in Chapel Hill. She is a legend in the area. She was actually at the restaurant while we were there but had departed before we finished our meal. I was going to try to get a picture of her with us.

The next day took us to our extended portion of our visit. We headed south through Myrtle Beach and on to Hilton Head Island where we stayed for five nights. Everything they say about the place is true. It is very beautiful and the golf courses were ample and beautiful. I played golf at Jack Nicklaus' Golden Bear course, the Seaside Plantation's Heron Point course, and at the Old South Golf Links. All three courses were incredible in their own way with great scenery and the golf was great. (Just missed a 10 foot eagle putt at Old South, settled for the birdie.) Alisa went with me every day and she took most of the golf pictures.

We stayed about 2 blocks from the Atlantic Ocean at the Courtside Villas. It was a nice place. It was actually nothing more than an apartment complex they had converted into vacation villas. But, it was very clean and quiet. It was a two story villa that had a great view out the back of Palmetto trees and landscaping. We could see the swimming pool off to the left of us on the balcony. There were two bedrooms and two baths upstairs and the living room, kitchen and a half bath was downstairs. It provided a great place to stay even though we were mainly there only during the evenings. We were pretty much running around the rest of the time.

We spent a lot of time on Hilton Head in the Seaside Plantation. There were a lot of small shops and they had shows every night in the area. The picture of the red and white tower is a landmark for the sight. It is where they play the AT&T National PGA Golf Tournament every year. I could have played that course but you had to walk and hire a caddy or carry your own bag. I settled for the sister course at Heron Point. Golf carts are the only way to go.

Hilton Head is very family friendly. All over the island, families rent bicycles and ride them on the many trails going around the place. It looked like a great way to sight see and I am sure the exercise was great for all. We also took an alligator excursion one day. It was a one hour boat ride around the area. We saw many Egrets and Herons while on the trip but I think the alligators were on vacation also. We actually saw one small one just before we were finished. When we were driving out though, we drove along the water and saw several larger alligators in the water. Others who were on the tour with us had stopped also along the road to take pictures of the larger gators.

Of course, no East Coast vacation would be complete without eating seafood. We had small lunches every day usually consisting of crab cakes or other fried fish sandwiches. At night time, we splurged and tried out many of the local favorites. I will have great memories of the Old Oyster House, Sea Trawler Restaurant, Frankie Bones, The Salty Dog Cafe (great shark sandwich), and others. Frankie Bones was a setting based on the life of Frank Sinatra. There was a lot of Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr, and Dean Martin memorabilia all over the walls.

We planned to go to Charleston, SC one day but opted to go to Savannah, GA instead. We came through Charleston on the way down so we saw a little of it at that time. It would have been a four hour round trip to Charleston as opposed to a one hour round trip to Savannah. I think we made a good decision because we saw a lot of history in Savannah. I wish we had more time to spend there because it was a beautiful city. We looked up Paula Dean's place while we were there but it was raining lightly when we got there and we didn't have reservations and decided not to stand out in the rain as many were doing. We decided instead to go to one of her sister restaurants out on an island next to Savannah. It was appropriately called Uncle Bubba's Oyster House. We had a great meal there and sat outside next to the marshlands. They had a trio singing that night and we had a very good time there.

Well, we finally came back to Atlanta on Saturday and spent the last night there. We detoured along the way to go through Augusta, GA. I had heard that you actually could not go onto the grounds at the Master's at Augusta National but I tried anyway. We did find the gate which was a challenge because there wasn't anything in the area that even mentioned the Master's. I talked to the guard and he told me that even members couldn't play the course until October because they completely redo the course after the tournament in April. So anyway, we did get to make a U turn into the grounds before we headed out. The pictures of the green building and the Gate 6 were from the Master's grounds. Heading on into Atlanta, we saw a lot of sights along the way and didn't do much that last night except drive around the city some more and eating at a local restaurant. One of the best things I did was take my vacation through Monday. I really needed this day to rest up before heading back to the real world Tuesday.

All in all though, it was a tremendous vacation. We need to all rent a house on the Atlantic one year and split the cost. It would be a great vacation for everyone as there are plenty of things to do for the entire family.