Day 8

On Saturday we ventured out into the Georgia mountains to see the infamous Amicalola Falls. Just a little information for you first...the Amicalola Falls are 729 feet drop in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The Cherokee named the falls Amicalola, meaning "tumbling waters." We began our journey at the top of the falls:

We had a fun time fishing at the Reflection pool:

After driving to the bottom of the Falls, we decided to make the trek up to see the big drop by foot. Beautiful scenery greeted us along the way:

The view of the top of the Falls looking up:

We started making the 175 step climb to have the best view, but a huge rain storm started and we had to start heading back to shelter. This is the closest view we had before heading back:

On the way down we actually walked by a rattlesnake =0 But we walked slowly and came away unharmed. As Mark put it: "You wanted to see the wilderness, honey!" We enjoyed the views and even with all the rain, this terrain was simply beautiful!

We left Georgia Saturday afternoon, and started our drive northward. We drove through Tennessee again, a little bit of Kentucky and Illinois before settling into our hotel in St. Louis, MO for the evening.

Sunday we are officially on the "road to home", whether we are ready or not =)

Day 7

Friday we headed out of the Atlanta city life, and went north to Amicalola Falls, part of Georgia's Blue Ridge mountains. We stayed at the Amicalola Falls lodge:

The views inside were incredible!

We were on the top floor, in a loft room. The kids absolutely loved it because they could climb a ladder to go upstairs.

This was the view from our room...stunning!


After checking out our room, we explored the lodge. We went on a "loop trail" that was a 0.25 mile. Then we had dinner in the lodge restaurant, and ended our evening with a nice relaxing view from the patio.

While we were up in the mountains we did not have reception with our cell phones, and no access to Internet (hence the late entry). Saturday we went on another nature walk-this one a little more interesting...

Day 6

On Thursday we spent a good portion of our day at the Georgia Aquarium. If any picture could sum this trip up, it would be this one....very big!

The Georgia Aquarium is the world's largest aquarium with more than 100,000 animals and 500 different species.

They also feature a whale shark in these waters!

Jelly fish! First time we had ever seen one of these!

No, your eyes are not playing tricks on you-they are really that large!

Caleb, Katelynn what are you doing in the water?! =)

Friday we will be leaving the Atlanta area to head north to Amicalola Falls, GA. We are very excited to see the Blue Ridge mountains and enjoy some hiking!!

Day 5

We spent Wednesday in the Atlanta area. I had no idea how big this city was!! We meandered around Decatur, Tucker, Marietta, and Roswell (where our hotel is). We also drove through the city of Atlanta and spent time in a beautiful place called Piedmont park:

In comparison, it was a day of relaxation and we enjoyed the beautiful views. It was nice to come back to the same hotel and get a good nights sleep.

Thursday we're planning on going to the Georgia Aquarium and maybe getting in a little shopping =)

Day 4

Savannah and Tybee Island visit:
Today we spent our day in Savannah and Tybee Island. Savannah was absolutely amazing! We spent the morning at the River Street marketplace looking at the incoming boats and doing some shopping.

After our Savannah "touristing" we went to Tybee Island, and it was a beautiful day! The sun was shining and we all had a great time enjoying the beach!

Tybee Island had a lot of charm, and we loved the scenery as well as the beach houses.

For dinner we ate at Paula Deen's famous "The Lady and Son's" restaurant. There is a reason it is so famous-the food was delicious!! The restaurant was full of character and charm, they even rang a dinner bell at the front door while they had us yell "come and get it," for dinner promptly at 5 o'clock.

We arrived in Roswell, GA (a suburb of Atlanta) late, late this evening. Unfortunately, with the route we took we weren't able to see the city of Atlanta, (lights, etc). We were happy to get into our hotel room and get the kids down for the evening. They were such troopers today, and were worn out from the day's activities (as well as Mommy and Daddy). Tomorrow we will be enjoying the city of Atlanta and the surrounding area. Hope everyone has a good night-I know we will be enjoying every minute of sleep after today's events!