Hey there, Georgia Girl!

Last week Craig and I traveled to Georgia with his mom, sister and brother-in-law. We were going for several reasons: to meet family we'd never met before; to visit friends we hadn't seen in 34 years, to soak up a little warm weather, and to rest and relax. I am happy to say that we accomplished all these things! Let me share a few pictures with you:

 Here's the house we rented for the week. There were three bedrooms, 2 and 1/2 baths, beautiful granite counter tops and all log and pine interior walls. The cars in front were our rentals. (We drove the maroon one - a Nissan Altima. It got great gas mileage!)

 We were greeted with all kinds of wonderful fall decorations. Marcy (Craig's mom) has two sisters that live in Georgia - Diane and Carol. Diane had come over the day before we arrived and decorated the whole house for Thanksgiving. Later in the week we went to Carol's house, and she had decorated her whole house for Christmas - in our honor. So we celebrated both holidays with them.

 The Red Minnow is Diane's restaurant. It was the first place we went after we got there. We met our new family members for the first time. You see, Marcy didn't know until just a couple of years ago that she had sisters. Since they found each other, they have become very close. We could see the love they have for each other, and why Marcy loves going to Georgia to visit them.
We enjoyed several meals with our new family at the "Fish House" and we had them come over to our log house a couple of times.

A creek ran past the Red Minnow, and Craig thought this bridge over the creek was really cool.

We visited Hartwell, a town not too far away. The town was having a scarecrow contest. Almost every business had one or more scarecrows out in front, and the scarecrows usually had something to do with the business.

 This hibiscus is growing in Diane's garden. Diane loved to garden and it showed. Her gardens were beautiful. Even though it was October, there were still lots of flowers blooming in Georgia. The leaves on the trees were just beginning to turn colors.

Here I am with Marcy and Lynn under a huge magnolia. The tree was pretty, but messy too. See all the leaves and seed pods on the ground? We saw lots of magnolias there, and large stands of bamboo too.

 The magnolia was located in a veteran's memorial park where this monument was located. Don't these two guys look cool in their dark shades?

This is an old mansion in Anderson, SC. It was built in 1926 and has been restored. There's a gift shop in it now. Craig and I spent a day exploring Anderson - it had some wonderful antique shops, and a historic downtown area.

Here are our friends. Even though we hadn't seen them for 34 years, it didn't matter. I think part of it was because they are Christians. There's a special bond between believers that erases the years. We had a wonderful evening going out for dinner, sitting and talking for hours. We appreciated their hospitality as they invited us to stay overnight. I wish we could have had more time together. I sure hope they come up north to visit us!

As you can see, we had a great time in Georgia. So even though I'm back home where the leaves are off the trees, and I have to get up before the sun to go to work, I will cherish the memories of this fall vacation in the south.