Rabun Co Spring Break

Another Rabun Adventure & More of our FAVORITE Spots to Share!
The Rusty Bike is one of our favorite breakfast joints. They have just about everything you can think of for breakfast and my favorite vacation splurge is a big \’ole blueberry pancake. We haven\’t found anything here for breakfast that we haven\’t liked, and my family eats a ton of different foods. The decor is just the cutest and it really is full of the nicest people. 
Pic feat: Mom, Dad, BFF Sarah, Sister Isabel, Josh & I 🙂 
This is the view from the top of the Black Rock Mountain State Park at the Welcome Center. You can see all of Rabun Country from here and even farther on a clear day. It really is breath taking and just a reminder to stand in awe of God\’s beautiful creation. Almost Christmas card worthy, right? There are 4 different trails that you can hike here and we\’ve done all of them. Our favorite is either the Tennessee Rock Trail (highly recommend) or the Black Rock Lake Trail (our favorite EASY hike). 
This is a picture of pup & I walking around Black Rock Lake Trail. This (as I\’ve mentioned before) is one of our favorite places to go with the pup for a nice, relaxing walk after a long hike the day before. 
This beauty is the bottom of Panther Creek Falls. I think I talked about this hike before, but let me give you the quick down low. The first time we hiked this trail, we had just gotten to town and didn\’t have the pup yet. We left on the trail with a bottle of soda, one of Gatorade, and only one bottle of water since this is what we had left from our travels. We had only eaten granola bars for breakfast and didn\’t pack many snacks. We knew this was about 7 miles round trip, but for some reason we thought this was a good idea. ANYWAYS – we turned around about half way through – or about 2.5 miles in we found out this time around. We wish we didn\’t, but we needed to do it at that moment. THIS TIME THOUGH, we had the pup and came prepared and it was such a great hike. Pup took it like a total champ, but it was pretty tough. There was lots of steep hikes and a few times that we had to climb on all fours to get down towards the actual falls at the end. This is still our longest hike to date, but one of our favorites (not that we would necessarily try it again)! :p
If you didn\’t already know, Clarkesville Lanes does bowling for $1 per game on Tuesdays (plus $2.50 for shoes)! This is a MUST on our family list when we go there. We rarely ever bowl at home, but we have a blast bowling here. They also have hand dipped ice cream and bar food that you can enjoy while bowling. This time, we stuck around and I kicked Josh\’s booty in a few games of darts! They have billiards tables too! It\’s a fun way to spend a night out for super cheap. 
This is my absolute favorite place to be during all of the winter months. Cuddled up with some cozy slippers, a small space heater, and a warm blanket with a good book in hand. You\’ll find me here in the coming months. 
Enjoy the cooler weather,
Hilary & Josh

Detroit Wedding Weekend

So we were literally in Detroit for less than 48 hours for this quick trip up for my cousins wedding. We left out of Ft. Lauderdale at 7:30 Saturday morning and headed back home from Detroit on 6:00 Sunday night. So when I say quick trip – I mean it. Can you tell by our photo above that we have sleepy eyes when we were boarding our flight to Detroit that morning? We also hate to pay for carry ons so we all packed in backpacks for our quick flight on Spirit. 
There were two quick things that I wanted to share with you about this trip. First is about our favorite Saturday morning downtown stop at the Eastern Market. We made our way across the street to the Detroit vs. Everybody store because we just love it (and I love all the graffiti – peep the pic above). Also across from the Eastern Market was the little store you can see in the background of Josh\’s picture. They were grilling food right out front of their store and it smelled absolutely delicious. It was served by a big sweaty chef and we just couldn\’t pass it up. Josh got the ribs and said that they were some of the best he\’s ever had. We never shy away from street food. {Not pictured: me stuffing my face with beignets because they are the best ever!} 
 
We spent lots of quick stops with family as we tried to visit everyone in the short time that we were there. Saturday night we went to my cousins wedding. We cleaned up pretty nice for being up since 3am, did we not? On a total side note, they got married at Wolcott Mill Metropark and it was seriously gorgeous. If you are ever in the area, definitely check it out – especially in the fall – I heard they have awesome activities! 
 
Until next time, I leave you with this studly photo. 
-JH

Fishing Charter – Sanibel Island

Every year our school hosts a fishing tournament as a fundraiser for our athletic department. This year, my husband, two sisters and I decided to charter a boat and fish in the tournament. We ended up chartering a boat from M. E. Fishing Charters and had Captain Gary Jenkins and he was so awesome. He kept us laughing the whole time, while helping us catch great fish.
For the tournament, we needed to weigh in two reds and a trout – so that is what we set out to get. We met at Punta Rassa Boat Ramp at 7:30 AM (bright and early to start our adventure). Above is us about to take off – sleepy eyes and all (just in case you were curious, we were at a football game the night before until almost midnight so the morning came real early).
Anyways, if you are a fisherman by nature, you might know how a day on the water goes already, but if not, let me brief you. First we went to two different locations for bait fish. You have to catch bait fish to use to catch real fish (like trout and reds). We caught little minnows and then lucked out (apparently) and caught some lady fish (which our captain chopped up to use as bait! – ew, gross!)
Then after a 30 minute boat ride, we were to where we would park for the day to catch those red fish. Our captain was out the whole day before scouting and had seen some redfish here. We hadn\’t had our poles in the water for 5 minutes, when we got a bite on not only one of our hooks, but two. These fish are fighters and both my sister, Bri, and Josh successfully reeled those suckers into the boat. Bri’s weighed in at 5 lbs 9 oz and Josh’s weighed in at 3 lbs 14 oz. We sat on that same spot for another 1.5 hours and only caught 10 catfish, 1 snook, and 2 trout (about 1 pound each). We ate some lunch while we waited, then tried another spot for redfish for about an hour, hoping to catch some. No such luck.
We were happy though because we caught all 3 of the fish that we needed, so we counted the day a success and headed in to weigh in at the beach. The ride was crazy bumpy and we laughed the whole time as waves splashed all over us as we drove.
And honestly, who wouldn\’t want to look at this stud all day?! (insert heart eye emoji)
Here\’s a photo of the red that Josh caught & the one sis caught! Seriously, y’all, fishing is kind of fun.
And one more team picture of us with our Captain.

P.S. We LOVE our Qalo rings. They literally let us do anything that we want to do without worrying about losing our real wedding rings. They come in so many different shapes and colors and we seriously own 3-4 each. I probably almost wear them more than I wear my real wedding bands (sorry, but they are just seriously so comfortable!)

If you’ve never been fishing before, definitely go out on the water one day! And if you use Captain Gary Jenkins, tell him that we sent you by telling him “Look at me. I am the captain now.”
-Josh & Hil

Epcot in a Day

Who says it takes 80 days to travel around the world?
We did it in 8 hours.
This was Josh\’s first time at Epcot and we really enjoyed tasting our way around the countries and exploring each one. Of course, we got chills when we heard the choir singing the National Anthem and the Military songs in the American building, because how can you not have pride in such a great nation?!
Josh’s Favorite:
Test Track because it doesn’t have drops like the normal roller coasters, but it goes wicked fast. I also love that I got to create my own car and run it again all of the other people in our car. I like a little competition so I enjoyed this. You better believe our car won best overall.
Hil’s Favorite:
Soarin’ – above and beyond any other – I absolutely love this ride. I love how you never even leave that warehouse, but you feel like you’re flying through the air. I was always one of those kids who wanted to know what it would be like to play in the clouds and this gives me a taste of that. While you’re there, definitely take the Living With The Land ride because you’ll see some really cool foods and some really huge watermelons.
Helpful Hint:
These pictures are worth it. Sometimes the lines seem long, but if you are not frequent Disney goers, stop and take the picture with the characters ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE KIDS. My parents went to Disney for their honeymoon and dad still has the picture of mom and Minnie hanging about his work bench in the garage. I have a picture of my sister and I with Minnie Moues from when we were 5 that still brings back all the memories from that trip. They are ideal Disney memories and the characters are so sweet and always make us laugh.
Photo Ops:
One at each country’s landmark –
The Moroccoan Pavillion, The Eiffel Tower, The Chinese Temple, The Japanese Tori Gate, etc.
Space Ship Earth (The Giant Golf Ball)
 
See ya real soon, Mickey!
-Josh & Hil

Magic Kingdom in a Day!

Everything is better with friends & Disney is no different. This past year we rocked Magic Kingdom with two of our favorite couples!
Here’s this photo just because Disney ears are EVERYTHING.
Check out our favorite Magic Kingdom moments below.
Josh’s Favorite:
Not the crowds, in case you were wondering 🙂 I actually really enjoyed Splash Mountain. It was a pretty warm day, and it felt good to get a little splash in.
Hil’s Favorite:
Buzz Lightyear\’s Space Ranger Spin because I beat Josh every time! My close second favorite is the Haunted Mansion because every time I go, I try to get one of the employees to smile! You should try too – but good luck! I’ve only had one smile at me. I also really enjoy Tom Sawyer Island and the Swiss Family Robinson Tree house because it’s honestly just fun to explore.
Helpful Hint:
Share a meal & pack snacks. Did you know that you can bring any food or drink that you want into the park with you? Seriously. You can. We even packed a small lunchbox with an ice pack so we could bring some fresh fruit and a few sodas for Josh. Yes, you have to wait in the long check bag line to get in, but just think of all the time (and calories) you’ll save. Instead of spending $70 on lunch to feed your family sub-par fast food, let them each pick their own treat after eating a real lunch! We typically pack deli meat in our cooler and bring bread to make sandwiches or we will just make pb&j. We pack lots of snacks and bring plenty of drinks. Most places at Disney will also give you cups of water for free so don’t be afraid to ask (better yet, bring your own water bottle to fill up with the water from the restaurants so you can take it with you). If you are at the park for the whole day though and doing all that walking, it is hard for me to pack enough snacks in a backpack to keep Josh fed and happy, so we recommend sharing a meal. A $12 meal shared between two people isn’t that bad and it keeps you full long enough to get you through to your hotel room that night (or back home in our case).
Photo Ops:
Cinderella\’s Castle (either head on or from the tomorrow land entrance)
Somewhere with the Haunted Mansion in the background
In front of the Magic Kingdom sign
 
Did you even go to Magic Kingdom if you don’t get a picture in front of the castle?
-J&H

Hollywood Studios in a Day

Here we are rocking a selfie in front of Rock \’n\’ Roller Coaster WHICH I drug Josh on against his will. He actually said that it wasn\’t as bad as he thought it would be (I might just make a roller coaster lover out of him yet). For this trip, we left our home in Fort Myers around 5 am, grabbed gas & donuts at the gas station and hit the road. Our very first fast pass was for Rock \’n\’ Roller Coaster, but luckily we got there a little bit before I thought we would and we caught the Beauty & The Beast show and it was fabulous. Such a timeless tale. 
Of course we had to wait in line at Star Wars Launch Bay to get our picture taken with Chewbacca. Josh loves Star Wars and pretty much fan boyed through this entire thing. Isn\’t it fun to watch someone you love get excited about something they love?
Josh\’s Favorite:
As stated above – Star Wars Bay Launch – ALL OF IT. We also caught part of March of the First Order and it was totally awesome. I think if I went into the wrong career. When we saw them again waiting on the Star Tours ride, I even got one of them close enough to me to take a selfie. I don\’t think he was smiling though…
Hil\’s Favorite:
I\’m going to give the typical answer on this one – Rock \’n\’ Roller Coaster is my absolute favorite. It was even better this time because we rode it when it was raining outside. I also really enjoyed the Great Movie Ride (and am really sad that they closed it down). If you\’re looking for a nice indoor activity, though, check out the Frozen Sing Along! It was super cute. 
Helpful Hint:

As you probably know, you can get 3 Fast Passes at a time. Did you know, though, that if you use those 3 passes, that you can go back and get more one at a time? This actually rocks because sometimes you can fast pass something fabulous that you didn\’t get to earlier because it was sold out and some family thought they would have more stamina than they did and so they cancelled their fast passes and now they can be YOURS! Josh told me I was actually crazy because most of the day I was checking to see if I could get a better ride fast passed or if I could get a ride fast passed that was closer to the actual time, then I could use another one later in the day. I was a fast pass addict (Hi, I\’m Hilary and I am an addict), but really, who wants to wait in lines all day?


Photo Ops:
The Star Wars Speeder Bike 
Tower of Terror in the Background
The Hollywood Studios Arch
With a Classic Car on Sunset Blvd.

Again, to prove we were actually there – here\’s our photo!
– J&H 

Disney Springs & Cirque du Soleil

For our  FIRST anniversary, my grandparents bought us tickets to see Cirque du Soleil at Disney Springs. We were planning to be at Disney anyways for our anniversary, so this was a special treat. Something that is really cool – my grandparents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on the day of our Rehearsal Dinner. So our anniversary is 50 years and one day apart. Sooo we decided that we will do some fun trips together with them for our anniversary sometimes. Isn\’t it great to have a couple who is such a wonderful display of marriage to be around? 
Josh & I decided that we wanted to do dinner at Disney Springs before we took on Cirque du Soleil, so we searched for a restaurant with our favorite food – PIZZA! We went to Blaze Pizza for the first time – loved it (as you can see below) so much that we went back and ate it again after the show (Judge if you must). We also walked around some shops, got cupcakes from the Sprinkles ATM (yes – it is a machine that dispenses cupcakes) and had some exotic Coke flavors at the Coca-Cola Store.
We HIGHLY recommend Cirque de Coleil or any of their other performances if they come to a city near you. The show was riveting and completely captivating and we seriously loved every moment of it. There were a few times when I looked over at Josh and his jaw was just dropped. 
After the show (and more Blaze Pizza) we went over the Port Orleans Riverside and went to see Bob (this is actually a picture from another trip when we went to see Bob, but I wanted you to see him so here it is). Make sure you get there a little bit before his show to watch him, but it is really a great show and HONESTLY, what else at Disney is free? You can drive and use your lodging pass to get in for free at the gate, or you can take a bus from a park or Disney Springs to get here. Right next to his show room is a cafeteria where you can get warm homemade desserts, a nice meal, or some ice cream. He also performs in a bar of sorts where waitresses will serve you any drink of your choosing. Get ready for an interactive show where you will be laughing and dancing with everyone in the room.
Isn\’t Disney just the best? 
Until next time,
JH 

Animal Kingdom in a Day

For our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY, we decided to go to Disney. We went on a cruise for our honeymoon, but we got a decent deal on a 4 day (one park) pass as Florida Residents, so we went for it. We did one day at each park and this one we conquered with my Grandparents while wearing our Happily Ever After pins.
I am definitely no Disney expert, nor do I claim to be, but I do know how to make good use of a fast pass and I can boogie around the park with the best of them. For this trip we did go at the beginning of February (yes, I am playing catch up on my blog) so it wasn’t quite as busy as during peak season. Unfortunately (poor planning on my part), we went right before Pandora opened so we did miss that part of this park.
For each of our Disney parks posts, I’m just going to tell you what each of us enjoyed the most at that park and share any helpful tips I have learned through my years at the Disney parks.
 
Josh’s Favorite:
I don’t actually like roller coasters. At all. So for those of you that are like me, I will tell you that Expedition Everest was NOT THAT BAD (although I still don’t love roller coasters). My favorite part, though, was for sure the Dinosaur ride. I am an avid dinosaur lover, so this was a total win for me, especially since it is more simulator than ride. I also have to mention that I really enjoyed the Wildlife Express Train & Kilimanjaro Safari and checking out all of the animals.
Hil’s Favorite:
I just love that Expedition Everest has that backwards drop. There isn’t much better than that flop in your stomach during that part of the ride! Beyond that, though, I just loved walking and seeing all the animals. Take time to talk to the tour guides. They have some really great information about some of the animals. I wanted to see every single animals that the papers said I could see (and I did!).
Helpful Hint:
One thing that we love is that you can actually ask any employee there (especially the ones with cameras) to take your picture. Obviously they will take it on their really nice camera, but they will also take it on your phone for you too. They really have the best idea for what you want in the background of your pictures (since their job is to take pictures of guests all day) so before you ask a random park guest, try to look for these guys to take your pictures if you really want ones to capture the moments.
Photo Ops:
In front of the Tree of Life
One with Expedition Everest in the Background
Here is our clique picture in front of the Tree of Life to prove that we were in fact actually at Animal Kingdom!
-J & H

Summer in Rabun Co

Off we headed again to one of our favorite vacation spots. Pup was all in (as you can tell from the photo) and if you look carefully, you will see that we actually transported another friend with us this time (peep Beckett on the right). They were literally awesome the whole trip. We love traveling with our pup(s). 
One of the things that we love most about Rabun County (have I mentioned this before?) is the simple way of life. We literally love being lazy while we are there. We typically sleep in, cook a big breakfast (eggs, bacon & oatmeal anyone?), pack a simple lunch for our hike and then spend the afternoon hiking. We typically get back early afternoon, shower, cook a big (early) dinner, then binge watch every Netflix movie that has come out since the last time we were at the cabin. No joke. We were here for 5 days and watched 17 Netflix movies. (You do the math!) 
We tried some new hikes out this trip, and I just wanted to share them with you! 
Alright, I am not sure if this one is new or not, but one of our all time favorite trails to take pup on is this Black Rock Lake Trail at Black Rock Mountain State Park. It is less than a mile, but winds and curves back around the lake. We love that it is flat and that it is easy for pup to walk. Cincy loves the fact that it is near water, because he is quite the swimmer. It is rarely crowded and the terrain is still decent, even on rainy days! 

Part of our trip fell over the 4th of July (because everyone loves a holiday weekend getaway)! One of our favorite places to watch the fireworks is on the hill of the Rabun Gap School. Although parking is sometimes hard to come by, they put on a great show! I\’ve also heard that there are some fabulous fireworks on the lake, but we\’ve never made it down there.

This new hike was a super fun one. We went into Moccasin Creek State Park is not far from our cabin, so we headed that way. There is a one mile wildlife trail that loops through some forest. There are a few cool photo ops, and one little fort that you can climb up and see over the landscape. We enjoyed this walk because it was not crowded and easy to follow. Hemlock Falls was the second hike (after about a .75 mile walk) right past the entrance of the Wildlife Trail. There is also a street that you can drive down to park at the trail head, but you know us – always trying to get our miles in. Hemlock falls was a beautiful two-mile hike that is not too hard. There was some elevation, but the falls were so fun. Instead of a tall waterfall like you normally see, these are a little shorter, but oh so strong coming down. What is fun, though, is that you can basically just swim at the base of the falls (which you know that pup loved).

After you walk these trails, make sure you take a few minutes to check out the Burton Trout Hatchery. There are thousands of fish there from super tiny, to big trout. It is really cool to walk around and see how they grow them. The only downside is that pups aren\’t allowed, so we did a quick walk through to check it out (while we left pup in the car with the air on to cool down after our nice walk).

Another new adventure was to Anna Ruby Falls and Unicoi State Park. We did two different hikes this day. The second one was actually the hike to Anna Ruby falls (after a short drive through Unicoi State Park). The hike isn\’t too bad, but it is steep so make sure you wear decent shoes. We liked that it was short (less than a mile) and that it was paved! This helped since it had rained our entire trip to the park. The only bummer with this trail is that is does cost $3 a person to enter the Anna Ruby Rec Area. 
Y\’all. This picture doesn\’t nearly do it justice. The views are stellar and completely breathtaking. 
P.S. If you are wondering why I am wearing hats in all of our pictures…it was tick season and Josh said, \”I\’m tired of picking ticks out of your mane.\” So there it is. 
This is where you can find me during any daylight hours when we are home at the cabin (typically with a book in hand)! 
❤ ❤ <3, 
Hilary & Josh

Rabun County (November 2016)

I like to make every trip an adventure. I always try and convince Josh to get off an exit and drive miles off a beaten path to find something that I want to do. He usually goes along with it just fine and with a smile on his face. This particular trip, we had to take a detour due to crazy Atlanta traffic at Thanksgiving and Josh spotted this GORGEOUS walking trail and pulled over. After 12 hours in the car with Cincy, we were all ready for a walking break. This trail was called Panola Shoals Trailhead and it was a perfect walk if you are driving through the Atlanta area and need a gorgeous walking path.

Our Thanksgiving Break basically consisted of hiking, morning walks with Cincy, and more hiking (and some turkey too!). Another one of our favorite hikes this trip was Angel Falls. This trail will forever be memorable to us because Cincy decided to run away and for a good 10 minutes, I was convinced he was lost forever. Luckily Josh & my dad tracked him down when he went for a swim in the creek, but man was it a scare. If you are heading out here, make sure that you study the directions ahead of time as there isn\’t any cell phone service in the area.

A note on Angel Falls – it isn\’t nearly as pretty when GA is in the middle of a drought 🙂 Will definitely be coming here again to see the falls when they are full steam ahead.

Another great trail that we hiked was part of the Tallulah Gorge State Park – the Shortline Trail. It was a nice paved little walking trail that was super enjoyable for Cincy. He loves to play in the water so that was an added bonus of this trail. Definitely worth checking out if you aren\’t into walking 300+ stairs and hiking the gorge itself.

Since it was Thanksgiving Break, we decided to take a little adventure up to North Carolina to cut down our first Christmas tree together. It was an adventure and the options were so much more plentiful than you local Lowe\’s. After about 2 hours at the tree farm, we did finally settle on the perfect tree. If you haven\’t ever cut down your own tree, you definitely need to try it at least once in your lifetime. It is an adventure worth taking. If you\’re in the GA/NC area, definitely check out Osage Tree Farms. Their prices are super reasonable, and their trees are beautiful.

Until our next adventure,
Hilary & Josh