We only spent two nights in Atlanta for our getaway- Calib had flown to the airport (thanks for the ride, Teresa!) and Hayden was on their own. We wanted to stay longer, and even go up to the Blue Ridge Mountain area- but we didn't want to leave Hayden too long, so we decided we'd just do Atlanta and back this trip. We woke up to our free breakfast (pro tip, if you aren't going to spend time at your hotel- go with a Hampton Inn, they're the best for a homebase).
It doesn't hurt that we get the Hilton friends and family discount (thanks, Jake!) But, it was a good location, an awesome price, a clean room, a comfy bed, and free breakfast. All excellent selling points for me.
We did decide to take our time getting home, since we were already cutting vacation a bit short. I decided we could spend the morning heading on over to the MLK Jr. Memorial. I had never been before, and after working on our Black History project (though we never "finished" it because Hayden left me for college), I really wanted to go check it out. It does not disappoint.
Parking is a little tricky, but once we figured it out, it was free which was nice. It's a little different from many historical parks you'll visit in that it's right in the middle of a normal neighborhood and very spread out throughout that neighborhood. Where we parked, we were first greeted by the footprints of some of the people who helped advance the civil rights movement.
We first passed the museum and decided we'd come back for that, and headed across the street to the King Center.
Behind the King Center is where you will find the reflecting pool and the graves of both Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King. I have been to a lot of prominent people's gravesites, but this is probably one of the most powerful ones I've ever been to. The area surrounding it is beautiful, but the King Center is constantly broadcasting MLK's voice over the loud speakers.. and it is... just, wow. I highly recommend it.
That whole area sits off behind the King Center, but also right next to Ebenezer Baptist Church where MLK was Baptizer and became a Minister. A whole lot of history started in this building.
Back across the gardens, we were headed back inside to the museum section.
This museum is small, but an excellent stop. Again, it's done so well and is really powerful, impactful and impressive.
I would have spent all day in the museum, but we had somewhere to be, so we hopped in the car and headed south.
We had a stop we wanted to make along the way, at Grits Cafe in Forsyth, GA on the way home. This place is open for brunch, closes mid-day and opens back up for dinner. It did not disappoint. In fact, some of the food was the best we ever had. I will dream of my meatloaf sandwich until I have it again. The sangria was on point as well, and Asa thought his shrimp and grits was the best he ever had.
And then there was nutella bread pudding. SO good. Seriously, this place is going to go on our must stop list.
Forsyth is really cute too. There's not just the cafe, but a cute little ice cream/coffee shop just across the square. We were sufficiently full, but we were happy to get coffee and score some 'retro' candy for the trip home.
It's a cute little 'downtown' area, full of surprises, including a nice officer we made friends with (ok, Asa made friends with, in an effort to find me a forsyth magnet, because you know, charisma). Anyway, the officer told us about this peach orchard we needed to go to, so we added that to our list for things to do on the way home.
It is a small town in Georgia, though, so you know...
We weren't too far from Buc-ees at that point, so we did a fill up and got ourselves some snacks for the rest of the way back, since obviously we weren't hungry now. So we grabbed things like drinks, beefjerky, and cinnamon almonds to eat later.
Turns out the orchard the nice officer told us to go to was pretty well advertised as well, lots of billboards pointed you towards Lanes. I wanted to be hungry to try some of their peach cobbler, but I just wasn't. It did remind me a bit of Parksdale- there was a counter to order food and a market component to it, we picked up some peach syrup that is on point and a bag of peaches (which were only $6!). I love me some Georgia peaches.
And then we continued on our way- Hayden kept calling to ask when we'd be home, and we kept telling them we weren't too sure. It all depended on when we hit Gainsville (because we had something time sensitive we wanted to do there). Turns out the neighbors were plotting to throw a pizza party at my house and send us messages about it- but we through a wrench in it by being non-committal.
We also finally stopped Carroll's Sausage and Country Store. This one is also heavily advertised, so I talked Asa into finally stopping!
And he was all about it. We got mustards and hot sauce, and sausage and bacon all to bring home!
And that about did that for our Georgia trip, because we made it back to the Florida state line! Obligatory Florida Welcome Center photo op incoming!
Now here's the deal with the Gainsville thing- on the campus of the University of Florida there are these bat houses. I know, that's a weird thing to note- but I've heard about this for years and I've always wanted to go. But, you need to go at sunset. Because, every day about 10 minutes after sunset the bats come out of these houses. And I've heard it is a sight to be seen.
Of course, we were there about 40 minutes before sunset, so we had some time to kill- we nosed around the gardens over there as well, all open to the public. You can also check out the lake across the street while you wait.
And there is a "preshow" of sorts- and one I wasn't a super big fan of. Hawks also know that these bats come out at sunset every night and will wait for the first couple to come out, and they go after them hoping to get a snack. A couple did just that- it was a very IRL Planet Earth moment I didn't love.
So we sat, and waited, seeing a bat come out and rooting for their survival along with the crowd.
And then like clockwork, about 10 minutes after sunset, bats began POURING out of the houses. Literally hundreds of thousands of bats. It's impossible to get a good picture of the event, so I barely tried. Then I just took it in. For nearly 15 minutes a heavy stream of bats flew out of both houses- one stream of them flying just over our heads. It was one of the coolest nature based things I've ever seen. It was SO worth the stop, and honestly might have even been worth the drive from home if we had just gone there and back. It's a stop a highly recommend. Just, no words.
After our awesome experience at the bat houses, it was time to get back in the car..
..and head home. But it was finally time to break out those Buc-ees snacks!
Asa did cash in on his one 'south of Atlanta' Tech N9ne song as we got into the neighborhood.
We arrived home at about 10:30 and Hayden was there to welcome us back. They did an awesome job holding down the fort. The house was clean, the dogs were happy, and no parties were had.
Next up: August. Ugh. August.
