Georgia and North Carolina on our Minds

 Aloha all,

it has been only two weeks since we left Maui, but we already had such a wide variety of experiences in Atlanta and retracing our steps from last year on the Blue Ridge Parkway: 

Met friends,
Raced cars, 
Saw a King’s home,

Toured a capitol,

Learnt about Jimmy,

Saw whale sharks,

Saw two plays

Picked up Joy,

Camped on lakes,

Played stick and disc golf,

Went underground, 

Found gold, 

Visited a German town,

Were on the top of Georgia, 

Climbed the Devil’s Courthouse, 

Returned to a Happy Place,

Saw a bear,

Hiked Chimney Rock and 

Toured America's Largest Home. 

There, that’s it! Who says I write long blog posts? Two weeks in just about 100 words! Sorry for those of you who actually enjoy a more detailed travelogue, maybe you want to read the descriptions under the pictures below. 

Good to be on the road again,

Chris, Sandra & Joy

We join our friends for the "Porsche Experience".
They just happened to pick up their new car in Atlanta when we flew there to pick up Joy. When you pick up your Porsche here, they don't just hand you the keys; you visit a little museum, they do the big reveal, give you a detailed introduction, you can race around the race track with a professional driver and then they feed you a yummy lunch...luckily in that order. 

Captivating tour of Martin Luther King's birthplace and childhood home in Atlanta.
There's also a museum and a memorial for him. Can't help but wonder what he would think about the progress we have made and haven't made since his death.

The Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta was our 30th.
Very impressive like most of them and we were lucky yet again and got a private tour.
We're looking forward to the remaining 20 state capitol tours!

17 years ago in Okinawa we got to scuba dive with Whale Sharks.
Unfortunately, we don't have any photographic evidence of that experience. But at least we got to take pictures with whale sharks at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, with 6.3 million gallons of water the largest Aquarium in the world!

At the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library. I have now visited 11 out of the 13 officially Presidential Libraries. We always plan to get to them first thing in the morning since it takes all day to visit. Jimmy's was no exception. Beautiful setting, very interesting exhibits. No matter what you think of his politics, you got to like Jimmy!

ReJoycing in Atlanta, this time with a catalytic converter!

We love the campgrounds from the
Army Crops of Engineers! 

We got to play disc and stick golf already,

the Road Trip Pickle Ball premier will have to wait. 

We came to Dahlonega for the free overnight parking,
but then we found gold in the liquid and solid form and stayed a day.

Dahlonega was the site of the first gold rush in America,
two decades before California.

We found gold!
We must be the luckiest tourists...
 ...since the ones before us.

Helen, Georgia is the most fake German town we've been to in the US.
But I always say: I prefer fake pretty over real ugly any day.
Plus the food was delicious, the beer was cold and they played some German songs we had not heard in 30 years!

The Pisgah Inn on the Blue Ridge Parkway is one of our Happy Places.
Third time we've been here and it was just as magical as before. We're not really sure why we like it so much here, as Kelly would say: There's really nothing to see but scenery.

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Joy in front of Mount Pisgah. Jeff called her "sexy" and I can't really disagree;-)

Pooh strolling on the side of the road just outside Asheville.
Our favorite way to see a bear: Close, but safe.

Chimney Rock State Park.
Enough trails and views to keep us busy for a day.

Immersive "Monet & Friends" exhibition at the Biltmore estate.
From the same guys as the Van Gogh exhibit and just as fun.

The Biltmore in Asheville - "America's Largest Home" as they humbly call themselves.
We had not gone there last year because it was too expensive. Now they raised their prices, so we changed our mind. How's that for logical Germans? But between the Monet exhibit, the house tour and the gardens, we spent a full day here and got our money's worth.

That's the main dining hall at the Biltmore. The whole place is just as crazy over the top opulent and just as pretty as any European castle. I'm not really jealous, I think I rather tour than own a home like that. We wouldn’t mind being invited for dinner though...until then, we're happy to tour a few of the smaller homes around the country.