August is Vacation Time!
August is my and my husband’s anniversary month. Every year we try and take a trip big or small to commemorate, celebrate and connect. This year we went to St. Simons Island in Georgia, then up to Highlands, NC. Beach to mountains in one trip! Personally, I am not a beach person. The sound and view, I freely admit being very relaxing, but the SAND is a nightmare to me. Oh, did I mention the HEAT? Shopping and food were the draw for me. St. Simons did not disappoint on the food. Seafood was abundant and fresh. My favorite place was Fiddler’s. They have bowls with coconut rice and seafood that is take on Japanese in a southern way. It was delish. My lunch became my supper as I had leftovers. They also made a mean margarita. Check them out if you are ever in the area. (https://fiddlersat410arnold.com/) Shopping was about what you would expect of a beach town with all the t-shirts and towels. We found two shops that I just loved. Simons on Mallery had the best home décor items. Viola’s Market, https://www.violasmarket.com/, was a treasure of home décor and outdoor items. They had the most beautiful birds I have ever seen, think colors of a parrot but in a small Finch size. Here I found an wrought iron, sturdy rain gauge for the yard which I have already gotten to use. St. Simons Island obviously has a golf course, but the water and marsh views are outstanding. The lighthouse is a must check out even if you cannot make it up the 129 steps to the top. The history of the lighthouse was enlightening. Have you ever heard of using cabbage as a gas to burn a clean, bright light? Well for a time they did. It was expensive and the local farmers did not want to grow the crop. Cotton was king. If you want some history, take a trip over to Jekyll Island. At one time in the past, the island was the summer home to the whose who in rich society, like the Vanderbilts and Carnegie. These families built their summer cottages here. These cottages are still in existence and are available for rental. Their clubhouse is now a hotel. The south side of the island has a beautiful park that offers some great sunset views. From St. Simons, we headed to the Highlands, NC for some cooler weather and it did not disappoint with highs in the lower 80’s upper 70’s. We have been all over the Smoky Mountains and had never heard of the Highlands. We did not know what we were missing out on. The Highlands boost some great gift and specialty shopping and some majorly good food. Some of our best meals of the trip were here. Check out The Primary, https://primaryhnc.com/ , for lunch or dinner. First class margarita and delicious food. We stayed at an old motel called the Skyline Lodge, https://skyline-lodge.com/ . This hotel was designed by an apprentice of Frank Lloyd Wright. This is a family friendly, girl’s weekend, wedding place. Hotel rooms on each side with a center courtyard for fire pit and smores, with corn hole as well. This area is capped off with The Oak Room restaurant in the Lodge at the end. To learn more, click the link. https://www.oaksteakhouserestaurant.com/location/oak-steakhouse-highlands/ From Highlands, we headed home via Knoxville through the Tail of the Dragon. The Tail of the Dragon is a stretch of road through the smokies that has about 300 curves(turns) in 11 miles. What a ride. (https://tailofthedragon.com/smoky-mountain-loop/) If you get car sick, this is not the drive for you. We stopped and had lunch at the Tapoco Tavern, https://tapoco.com/dining/ . Loved the blue cheese chips. After surviving the dragon, we headed to Knoxville to pick up our new family member. More on that next month!
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