So, We Spent a Day in Atlanta....

The beginning of June brought us back to Colorado, my new other-second-home-away-from-home.  Mr. Deep lived there for many years before returning prodigal son-like to the South, so he has a lot of friends out there (and now I do, too!). You can read about last year's trip here, which started in Albuquerque, NM.  We were quite excited to get out to that beautiful state and visit friends, see a couple of them get married (Congratulation Shannon and Alex!!!), enjoy beer, and SHOP FOR YARN! Okay, that last one may have been just me.

But first, a word about our travel out there.  I really am sad I didn't take pics of this side trip for the blog, but I hope my Pultizer-worthy narrative will suffice....

Do to the ridiculous cost of flying these days, we decided to Megabus it from Columbia, SC to Atlanta, GA and fly from there.  If you are new to Megabus, know that we only spent ONE DOLLAR each way per person for a 5-hour trip.  It was a comfortable ride all things considered, and much more pleasant than the plane ride (I will not be flying Frontier again anytime soon).  The downside is that it left Columbia at 3am.  That was a little gnarly, I admit. However, we got to Atlanta at 8am and, though some weird travel alchemy that happens in such situations, we had tons of energy, and since our flight didn't take off for 10 hours, we had all day to play in the city.

We wandered around pretty aimlessly for about an hour, finding a great cup of coffee on a tree-lined street and having an impromptu picnic in Centennial Olympic Park. We couldn't find exactly what we wanted for breakfast, and we had all of our snacks we bout for the bus ride, so it was a pleasant, cheap alternative to a restaurant. Then we headed off to Little Five Points which, if you've never been, is a fantastic enclave of artsy Bohemia populated by those who would probably hate to be called artsy or Bohemian. There we explored a coffee house, a couple of pubs (practice for Colorado, you know) and a lovely Indian restaurant called Planet Bombay featuring a craveable tandoori chicken and very entertaining Bollywood videos.

Our favorite pub was The Porter Beer Pub, where we experienced amazing service and were introduced to Orpheus, a brewery new in the Atlanta area.  My favorite was a Double IPA called "transmigration of Souls". Beautiful.

After we were well fed and beered, it was time to get on MARTA and head to the airport. And away we went!

~~~~TO BE CONTINUED~~~

A Weekend Getaway

Last weekend, Mr. Deep and I took a mini vacation to Folly Beach and Charleston.  When we got back Sunday, we had somehow accumulated a week's worth of sunburns and hangovers in 36 hours, but it was sooooo worth it.  Below are some highlights.  I don't have pictures for everything, but there is the obligatory couples selfie at the bottom.

I found this little cairn so mysterious and unexpected on this overcast and nearly empty beach.  Mr. Deep said it looks huge in the photo, but it's only about 8" high.

The morning started off as overcast, but it was perfect for keeping the heat down and the glare out of our eyes.  The water was cool and jellyfish-free.  The sun did come out after a few hours and we quickly realized we had forgotten our sunscreen, which made it time for a beer...

The Surf Bar at Folly Beach felt like a little Caribbean getaway.  Set a block off the main drag, it was populated at this hour primarily by locals and one sweet yellow dog.  I couldn't believe we were only two hours away from home. 

Mr. Deep, handsome as always.

A perfect hibiscus.

After walking through the shops of questionable souvenirs, we decided it wouldn't be a true beach vacation with a cocktail in hotel beach bar.  Mr. Deep observed that we must have wandered onto the set of an MTV reality show.  The deck was packed with deeply tanned phone-loving college kids who looked like they were drinking their way through last night's hangover on the last weekend of the summer.  It was awesomely entertaining!  Mr. Deep found it the perfect  opportunity to grab a macro-brew and enter it on his Untappd app. (If you are a beer drinker, you should check it out, btw!)  I ended up with some really wonderful concoction made of hibiscus vodka and ginger beer.  Truly lovely.  Afterwards, we took a walk on the pier and saw a pod of dolphins!  It made the souvenir I bought seem downright prophetic.

Here is a Bud Light with the newest addition to my corny keepsake collection (which will be another post altogether someday).

For some reason, all desire to snap photos left me once we were changed and headed to dinner in Charleston.  That said, I have to mention my favorite moments in town:

• Dinner at Amen Street.  There was spicy shrimp ceviche and a beautifully tender calamari.  I can't wait to go back because I didn't get any oysters (at a raw bar, no less!), and you have to love a place with champagne specials.  

• After dinner, Mr. Deep led me on what I thought was a goose chase for dessert.  But he had a plan.  He landed us at Charleston Grill, a place he knew I had been to years ago and loved.  We sat in the newly remodeled lounge and listened to jazz.  Our dessert was the spectacular Lemon Meringue Baked Alaska with blueberry sauce.  Oh. My. Heck.  I'll be dreaming about it for months.

• Our last stop before leaving for home Sunday was to Christophe Artisan Chocolatier.  This is becoming one our rituals when in Charleston.  Their truffles and handpainted chocolates in subtle flavors like blue cheese, earl gray, and lavender caramel are something to behold.  They also have more traditional fare like vanilla bean and raspberry, but they are far from what anybody could call ordinary. 

It was, needless to say, a wonderful trip.  We got to visit with friends we don't see nearly enough and get some summer sand in our hair.  We'll be going back very, very soon.  Oh!  And just so this post continues with the yarny theme of my life, here is a picture of the toe of the sock I made during the drive...

And, of course, the aforementioned selfies (couldn't pick just one)....