Holiday road ...

Eat your heart out, Griswolds!!

A harsh reality of life in MG is that whilst we love the house and neighbourhood we're living in, and the locals are friendly, there's not much of interest - culturally, gastronomically or intellectually.

Over Mazzie's nearly five week stay with us, I've tried to break up the humdrum of our domestic routine with a few day trips (within school hours!!) to Juliette (Whistle Stop Cafe), Perry, and the Massee Gardens (home of the American Camellia Society). 

Fried green tomatoes - guess where?!

Juliette

Whistle Stop local

Massee Gardens a.k.a. American Camellia Society 

Pitcher plants

Japanese Garden with giant koi

The roses were in bloom and quite stunning ... Camellias had peaked in February

We've also enjoyed a couple of weekends away: to Savannah and Hilton Head Island, South Carolina; and to Virginia Highlands neighbourhood of Atlanta.

Our weekend in Savannah was full on ... after all, who wants to leave a place wishing you'd done more?! It was our second time there, but we'd enjoyed the trolley tour so did that again with Mazzie, and she kindly shouted us a paddlesteamer ride, which was fun, and offered a different perspective of this beautiful city.

We ate crab overlooking the river, saw dolphins arcing in and out of the water, and marvelled at the beauty of the place, all over again!

Another trolley tour of Savannah

Hotel reading matter ... Actually, Deliverance was mine and quite a nice counter-balance to the other material on offer

Crossing the Savannah River, heading towards South Carolina and Hilton Head

Sea Pine Wildlife Preserve, Hilton Head Island

As we'd been to Tybee Island on our last trip, we thought we'd  explore Hilton Head, South Carolina, on the Sunday, which is an hour north of Savannah. Hilton Head is a beautiful, lush island with a number of beachfront resorts dominating the landscape, with a very narrow public entrance to the beach. We only discovered this after a fair bit of driving up and down looking for somewhere to park where we wouldn't be towed away! Apart from the beach, there's an amazing nature reserve - or "preserve" as they're called here.

We enjoyed a picnic lunch overlooking a lake teeming with turtles and alligators!! The bird life and wildflowers were also incredible. We went for a short walk and even spotted a pretty little snake, though Isabella was terrified. Daniel, on the other hand, was quite curious and agreed that it was "very cute".

Cute!

Enjoying a short break

He seemed as curious about us as we were about him!

Investigating an Indian Shell Ring

Wildflowers

Someone fell flat on their face 5 minutes after sunscreen application, hence the grimy visage

The world's a stage!

Turtle and crane piggy backing on a rock

We'd promised the kids a swim so off to the beach ...

Note Daniel in the background - he'd hijacked a couple of tweenies' sandcastle and moat! 

Isabella actually got herself fully submerged after about an hour, but Daniel preferred to play chicken with the waves ... until the waves won!

Making sure Mazzie's entertained

By the time we left Hilton Head, it was after 6pm and we had more than a three-hour drive home with a couple of very tired chillins!

Next installment, Virginia Highlands, Atlanta ...