Let me tell you. It’s been a WHILE since I’ve taken a vacation. Like an actual one. I was the kind of girl who would make sure I took a trip at least once a year and, thanks to the Panini (Panorama, Pandemic, Insert Your Term Here), I’ve been stuck and going stir-crazy not having anything to do. Back in March or April, though, I made the decision that I would go somewhere for a solo trip for a week. While I wasn’t gone for the full week, I did have some much-needed time away, came to a few personal life realizations, and had a number of fun adventures with friends I either haven’t seen in years or was finally able to meet up with in person for the first time. So it’s been a while since I went on this trip in the beginning of June but here we go!

The Plan

Road Trip. Atlanta.
Why Atlanta? My main reason was that for the last 4 or 5 years I had promised one of my best friends from high school that I would come to Atlanta to visit him while he was living there. Well, with his moving to another state for school (again), this was literally the last time I’d be able to. I literally drove back with some of his stuff in my car that he couldn’t bring up earlier so it really worked out well. I also had been wanting to do some activities in Atlanta forever and see some other people so it all factored into my decision. I can hear you all asking, “Why a road trip?” Well that was for a few different reasons. First, I’m still a bit hesitant about flying with the pandemic and some potential health stuff I won’t get into but I also figured it’d be cheaper for me to drive my own car and have a method of leaving and going whenever/wherever I wanted/needed and I wouldn’t have to worry about a rental car.

Day 1

I left for my road trip the Tuesday after Memorial Day around 8:30 in the morning (so the…31st of May) and drove straight down to Atlanta, stopping only for gas, some quick movement/bathroom breaks, and running through the drive-thrus for something to eat when needed. I pulled into my friend’s place around 7:30/8pm so definitely not bad from Cleveland! Went to dinner at one of his favorite Thai restaurants and (sneakily) worked a little bit on one of my freelance projects to finish it up while he had some work to finish up that evening. Yes I also got yelled at by my client/friend for working when she knew I was on vacation.

Day 2

Wednesday, June 1st. First order of business? SLEEP IN. Okay so I definitely didn’t sleep in as long as I normally do on the weekend but I had things to do! I spent the late morning/early afternoon exploring the Atlanta Botanical Gardens and let me tell you this place is STUNNING. Don’t get me wrong. I love my Cleveland Botanical Gardens (it’s one of my favorite places in Cleveland) but Atlanta’s is roughly THREE TIMES the size of Cleveland’s. There’s a whole greenhouse dedicated to orchids. There’s a canopy walk. There’s an edible garden (no you can’t eat the produce) and orangerie. A desert house that I found out that there are over 500 species of aloe. The Cascades Garden with the absolutely stunning and iconic Earth Goddess sculpture. I went into the gardens about 10:30 and the morning and thought I’d have enough time to get through at a leisurely pace and be fine for my next meeting point at 2pm about 20 minutes away. Oh dear was I HUSTLING through the last few sections in order to make sure I got through everything. So make sure you block out like a whole day and, if it’s hot, make sure you have some water! Through mid-October, they also have origami-inspired sculptures installations throughout the gardens and I literally sat and stared at these incredible sculptures for…I don’t even know how long. If you’re in the area I would highly recommend checking it out before it goes away!

Stop Number 2 led me to drum roll Melanated Fabrics! Since they opened last year, I’ve been loving seeing the fabrics Mimi and Brittany have been putting out and it just made sense to go while I was in Atlanta. (Okay, okay I definitely planned it directly into my schedule but if you know, you know!) I was thrilled when Brittani (Untitledthoughts) said she would be up for coming out and getting together for the first time in person so it was 10x more fun shopping with a friend that we could bounce ideas off of each other. I ended up getting a number of fun and colorful fabrics (completely outside of my normal style but I promised myself that I’d do things I normally wouldn’t on this trip) and have them lined up for the sewing list! Now it’ll probably take me a little longer than I had originally hoped for (yay freelancing!!) but I’m still so excited to get working on them! After I thoroughly lightened my bank account and purchased enough fabric to weigh in at the weight of a toddler, we strolled down to Atlanta Dairies and walked through the shops inside (and purchased from one of the small businesses!) before relaxing for a bit at Cold Brew Bar and having some of the best coffees we’ve had. I really need to figure out how to make my drink so I can actually have it again here.

Day 3 - Georgia Aquarium

I’m going to count this as my last true day in Atlanta and, boy, was it jam-packed! I couldn’t wait to head downtown because I was like a kid in a candy store heading to the Georgia Aquarium and World of Coca-Cola.

I’m not gonna lie, I was a little bummed with the Aquarium but ONLY because I really wanted to do the penguin and beluga encounters but I couldn’t. Oh well - I’m over it! It was amazing. I was so excited, though, because I was finally able to see whale sharks in person for the first time (spoiler - one of my absolute favorite animals) and since the Georgia Aquarium is the only aquarium in the US where you can see them? Yep I was going. When I walked into the aquarium it definitely was overwhelming but in a good way! With two floors and a huge atrium, I knew I was in for a good day (also shout out to the employee who handed me the whale shark postcard when I walked in because she made my day even better).

I started off heading to the shark exhibit where you can see hammerheads, tiger sharks, and more! It was so incredibly cool to see all of the heavy education stations as you walked through the exhibit and it was particularly fun to see an under view of a shark’s fin cutting through the surface of the water (yes I’m a nerd).

Next up was River Scout (I skipped the sea lions after having seen them countless times during trips to San Francisco) where you could see pufferfish, piranhas, otters, and more! It was also really cool to look up and see the gators hanging out in the water. (You could see them in person on the second floor which I did later on in the day.) Then I bounced over to Dolphin Coast to watch them swim around after they had just finished a show.

Then was one of my favorite stops on the tour: Cold Water Quest. Home to a number of different starfish and fish species, my own personal highlights for this section were seeing the (creepy) Japanese spider crabs, the starfish, puffins, the penguins, and the belugas. Seeing the puffins took me back to the animated movie The Swan Princess (where are y’all at??). While watching the penguins it was fun to see someone turn their phone around and record a penguin eyeing themself in the reflection of the phone and moving its head along with the position of the phone. Then, since belugas are another fan-favorite of mine (and my sister in law!), I spent a good amount of time watching them and appreciating the larger male that I identified with.

Next up, I knew I had to start moving and raced up to the second floor to run through River Scout to see the albino Alligators. I also went to go in the Aquanaut area but, honestly, was discouraged by the long walk, not knowing what would be there, and knowing I was already on a time crunch so I doubled back and went by the touch pool where I summoned my courage and touched a stingray for the first time! I was always terrified of trying it when I was growing up by I really stuck with my “do something unusual” mantra for the trip and can now say I’ve done something just about every 7 year old has done.

I knew that my last stop had to be Ocean Voyager so I walked through Tropical Diver relatively quickly but saw some eels, fish and coral, jellies, and seahorses!

Finally, it was time. It was such an incredible experience going through the tunnel and seeing all of the different fish swimming around. It was then that I first got my first glimpse at the whale sharks and manta rays. After going through the tunnel (you can choose either to walk through on your own or step on the slow moving sidewalk so you can just focus on the surroundings), you head into the huge viewing auditorium with an acrylic window measuring 23’ tall by 61’ wide. I grabbed my spot on the “risers” and literally sat there in awe and calm for probably 20-30 minutes. It was absolutely incredible to see it all when I didn’t have to get scuba certified and could actually see all of these animals in the same place. And, yes, my eyes found the whale sharks every time they swam by. It was a perfect way to end the experience.

Day 3 (continued) - World of Coca-Cola

I finished up just in time to head outside on the plaza and relax a little bit before (finally!) meeting up with Aaronica (aaronicabcole, needleandthebelle, acmedia) and the kiddos to head over to World of Coca-Cola! If you’ve ever met me, I’ve always loved myself some Coca-Cola. I literally convinced my dad that my 7th grade science project would be about soda carbonization and Coca-Cola simply because I wanted the excuse to get the drink (yes, it was my pride and joy that got me to State). So I really wanted to see what this place was all about.

When we got there, we actually had a little taste of a slushie from (I believe?) Thailand [please don’t quote me on that] that was melon-flavored as you head through the checking-in process. As you first enter, there’s a waiting room you stay in until they usher you into the second waiting room (the Artifact Room as I call it) where you can see almost 200 different Coca-Cola artifacts since the beginning of this worldwide-favorite drink. After talking a bit with the host, you’re then moved into the theatre where you watch a quick film. Then you’re released for a self-led tour throughout the facility. The first thing to catch our eyes (after seeing a couple in the first waiting room) were the massive decorated Coca-Cola bottle statues that were scattered throughout the atrium.

Next up on the tour, we went in The Vault (Mini’s choice!) where you can see some of the history of Coca-Cola and, eventually, the vault holding the Coca-Cola formula. After finishing that up, we bounced over to the Milestones section where we saw even more of Coca-Cola’s history and artifacts and some of the many, many pop culture signs and bottles throughout the years. Next up was seeing how Coca-Cola is bottled and processed. There were also some taste testings for some flavored sparkling waters in the atrium and on the patio that we obviously took advantage of!

Once we were finished on that first floor, we went up to the second and took a look at the Scent Discovery area where you can smell and try to identify different scents (Spoiler Alert: Honey and Star Anise). I also popped into the Pop Culture to see some more great artwork and other pop culture features since the kiddos were beelining for the tasting room before we convinced them to try and see about the 3D theatre. I will say this definitely wasn’t my favorite area as something felt wrong with my glasses and I was getting dizzy and nauseous from the video. Final leg of the journey was going through the Tasting Room (and Gift Shop)! We had an absolute blast trying all of the Coca-Cola products from around the world but, I’ll be honest, I was definitely bummed with the gift shop.

Being at the headquarters of Coca-Cola I sort of expected being able to purchase some of the drinks we had just tasted in the Tasting Room but was sadly disappointed when that wasn’t the case. I also was let down with the merchandise available. I found a couple of glasses that I liked and bought but was severely disappointed with the garment options for someone over an XL (also no Coca-Cola Zero products?! Get it together.). Guess I’ll have to make my own…

Anyways, I had so much fun with Aaronica and the kids!

I finished off my day by heading to Nina & Rafi in the Old Fourth Ward to pick up some incredible Detroit-style (another first for me!) Margherita pizza and rice balls on my back to Jacob’s place.

Day 4

This is why I claim that Day 3 was my last official day in Atlanta. I was so exhausted from everything that I spent all day in bed and eating my Thai leftovers from Day 1 and drinking the wine we had picked up from the grocery store. I also knew we had to head out early the next morning so we also finished straightening up the apartment, packing up his things, and then finished off the trip by heading to one of Jacob’s favorite local Mexican places for dinner.

Day 5

The journey home begins. Jacob and I didn’t actually go to bed till like 2 in the morning so it was rough when we were waking up at 5/6 am to get things together to head out.

He took an Uber to the airport while I got in my car and went up to spend the day in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. I definitely wasn’t expecting to get into this turn and originally considered just driving back to Ohio but I really wanted to meet up with my friend Nancy from college who lives in Knoxville so I figured I’d make a day of it!

I pulled into town and made the quick detour specifically to drive in front of Dollywood (because I wanted a sign photo dangit) before swinging around to Old Town Pigeon Forge where I walked around downtown for a bit and stopped into Old Forge Distillery for a little moonshine and the Old Mill Candy Kitchen, and watched a little metal smithing as well. Since it was a littler earlier than I had expected before my scheduled appointment, I couldn’t pass up going to Guy Fieri’s Downtown Flavortown for an early lunch.

Now Guy Fieri is one of my favorite chefs and personalities (I watch his shows on Food Network religiously) and, actually, some of my first dates with B was watching DDD or GGG and eating takeout since it was mid-pandemic. So I couldn’t pass this up. I had the Morgan veggie burger and the staff was absolutely incredible in making sure everyone knew my dietary restrictions and assuring me that my allergen wouldn’t come anywhere near me or my food. The food was great and the Donkey Sauce was bomb. I’ll be mocking that up at home for sure. It was a fun Dave & Busters-esque atmosphere with games and a mini bowling alley! Some of the other fun little details like the neon signs in the restroom and the famous DDD Camaro really added the perfect touches. On my way out, I made sure to snag B and myself matching t-shirts (the only thing we’ll actually match on) and Funko pops because of our collection.

After lunch, I drove down the way to my appointment: A tour of the Titanic Museum. When I was growing up I was super Into the Titanic (as most young women and girls around the time Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet graced our screens to the tune of Celine Dion. I had heard about the experience plenty of times in the past and, up until the night before, I honestly forgot that the museum was stationed in Pigeon Forge so I instantly booked my ticket (tours are timed entry since Covid). As you wait you’re handed a “boarding pass” with the name and information of a passenger who was on the ship that you’ll be able to see whether or not he/she survived the sinking as well as your audio guide since it’s a self-led tour. So say hello to third-class passenger Norah Murphy.

The first floor is a bit more about the technicality about Titanic and history in the building process, ship design, etc. and, unfortunately, you’re unable to take photos on the floor. It was super interesting reading more background about the men behind the famed ship and super cool to see some artifacts and photos that were saved and preserved from the wreckage. Once you get through the first floor, you walk into the replica of the Grand Staircase where everyone’s cameras as snapping away! It’s just as stunning in person as in the film!

Next stop on the tour was the replica of Isador and Ida Straus (one of the co-founders of Macy’s) which was breathtaking with all of its detailed woodwork. There are also plenty of photos and plaques around the room so you can easily spend like 10 minutes in this room alone! The next room was a special one. One of the great things about the museum is that this specific room always changes to highlight a certain group of passengers that was aboard the Titanic. This installation was all about the Jewish passengers (and there were other references and information surrounding them here and there in the previous rooms) and it was great to read about the individuals.

The final stretch was a bit more interactive as you walked through replicas of the corridors on the ship that eventually led into the mock-up of the wheelhouse that you can look around before heading out to the iceburg. Obviously it’s not a real iceburg but this is where you can touch 28*F water - the temperature of the water during the sinking. When I put my hand in, my initial thought was that it wasn’t that cold but then I happened to think and lowered my arm down to my elbow when the actual shock of how cold it was hit me. I could’ve stood like that for a little bit but I can definitely see how one freezes to death in water that cold. Next on the journey was a room dedicated to the children aboard the Titanic. While obviously there wasn’t as much information (seeing as children’s information - even then - were a bit more private), it was a nice little tribute to them. I also stood and gawked at this little girl’s blouse recovered from the wreckage.

Finally, things got a lot more interactive in the second-to-last room. There were interactive computer screens where you could type Morse Code, ramps showing you the different inclinations as the ship went down (the 45-degree incline is so hard to stand on - I definitely would’ve fallen off the ship and died), a couple other activities, and (the tour group’s personal favorite) a “kid-friendly” interaction where you try to steer the ship enough to pass the iceburg. It’s recommended for (I believe) 10 and under. Nobody 10 and under had the chance to try with us around. Also, if it was up to any of us everyone would’ve lived.

The final sendoff was seeing the world’s largest Titanic ship built with LEGOs, built by a 10-year-old, some more information about the recovery and sinking, and the Passenger and Crew walls where you can see if the person on your boarding pass survived. Remember Norah? I had sent a Snap off to my sister and friends and said that I was positive I was dead the second I received my assignment. Turned out Norah survived while her partner didn’t. She boarded the final lifeboat prior to the sinking from what I could tell in my post-museum Google search.

After I finished up at the Museum, I finished my day off with an evening in Knoxville with my friend Nancy from college. We had a great time relaxing and catching up on a riverboat tour (after we had to RACE to the dock) and having drinks at my hotel’s rooftop bar. It was such a perfect way to “finish” off the trip.

Day 6

Time to go home! I started off around 11am because I wanted to take full advantage of my comfy hotel bed and started the trip back to Cleveland. I had two quick stops I wanted to make but even including those, I was set to pull in around 8/9pm.

The first stop was the Kentucky Artisan Center that’s right off 75 in Berea, Kentucky. I saw it on my way down to Atlanta and wanted to stop in to see if there were any local artisans I could support. The space is great - light any airy and perfect for a road trip pit stop to get out and stretch your legs! There are plenty of makers showcased in the space ranging from quilts to jewelry, books, and more! Unfortunately, I just didn’t see anything I needed but it still was the perfect pausing point to get out and stretch my legs!

The second (and final) stop was a southern favorite, Buc-ee’s. This was another stop that I saw on my way down that I thought I would try and see what it was all about since there were SO MANY cars there. turns out it’s a gas station. Now I get it. I have Sheetz that I run into now and then for some made-to-order food but when I walked in this place, I was definitely overwhelmed. This place is like Sheetz meets Cracker Barrel on steroids. All of the different merch and decor, soda fountains, slushies, fudge, made-to-order food, pre-made food and snacks… and not even mentioning how many people were around. I just grabbed a few snack-y things for myself and the fam (and a couple of funny merch things for my bestie) but I was definitely surprised with how much I enjoyed what I snagged so on those trips down south I can definitely see stopping to pick up some more of those!

All in all, the trip was just what I needed. Some time away, some relaxation, some adventure, and plenty of love with friends. Now that I’ve rattled on enough, make sure to let me know if you liked reading this recap and if you do I’m happy to do more of them (probably more succinct) in the future!

Also! If you want to see some of my Reels from the trip, make sure you head over to my Instagram!