Cocktober

With my second Fall in Atlanta quickly approaching, I decided I needed a little time with my sweeties. So, I ventured towards the Queen City!

First stop on the 3-day adventure--The Peculiar Rabbit, where we enjoyed pumpkin brews and gorgeous views!

 

Saturday, we headed to Ice House to watch the Gamecocks take on the Commodores. Once again, the Cardiac Cocks succeeded in raising our blood pressure, but we came away with the win! I even had the pleasure of visiting with one of my oldest and dearest, Mr. Bates!

 

And later, at RiRa, more reunions with fellow Gamecocks.

 

 

Love these ladies!

 

 

A couple weeks later it was time to head North to watch the Gamecocks take over Knoxville! First, a quick stop in Asheville for what else? Beers with the “hoppiest” couple I know!

 

Saturday morning, we were up before the birds to get a headstart cheering on our birds! It was much colder than anticipated, making 8 a.m. beer drinking a bit rough, but not as rough as the loss we acquired in Neyland Stadium, or the horrendous fashion choices by the locals.

 

 

What would Joan Rivers and the Fashion Police have to say about this?

But, you can’t keep the Gamecocks down for long. We regrouped and headed to downtown Knoxville for burgers and bourbon at Stock & Barrel. And despite the Vol’s win, we had quite a joyous time watching that other orange team suffer an excruciating loss in Death Valley.

 

Sunday called for some serious brunch therapy. We decided to get out of Volunteer Country and enjoy a hearty helping of carbs at Biscuit Head in Asheville. Pulled pork biscuit—nothing like it!

 

We decided to take the scenic route home to enjoy the changing colors and quirky mountain towns. Dillsboro, NC was the perfect place to stop for afternoon treats. Mocha pecan ice cream and peach Nehi—nothing better!

Now, Fall has officially landed in the South, and I’m gearing up for a roadtrip to Williams Brice. And with a miraculous win in the other Columbia under our belts, it looks the Cocks may be visiting me in ATL in December. Fingers crossed, and GO COCKS!

The Summer Finale

With Summer coming to a quick end, I have been frolicking around Georgia and SC like always! Here's a quick recap of the last month or so!

 

Kenny Chesney at Philips Arena

 

We had a blast jamming out to Eli Young Band, Zac Brown Band and of course, my main man, Kenny. His tunes always bring me back to the good ol' days in Clinton!

 

Mr. Dove turns 23!

 

And he receives a wonderful (hand crafted) gift!

 

 

Celebrations included ice cream cake and a highly-anticipated trip to the World of Coca-Cola.

 

 

 

 

End of Summer adventures in the Lowcountry

 

 And no trip to Charleston would be complete without the following:

 

• Ritas and Mexican food on Sullivan's with my favorite little firecracker and fellow Senior Semester survivor, Ms. Jenna!

 

• A visit to **Ms. Rutkowski's kindergarten classroom. So proud of her!

 

• Quality time with my BFF's. 

 

• And so many memories and laughs that, sadly, are not blog appropriate!

It's time for Carolina football!

 

Then there was my first Carolina football game of the season, and although we didn't secure another win, we had a blast in Athens. Besides, we're Gamecock fans...we can always handle a little defeat. Now let's beat those Commodores!

 

Go Cocks, and check back next week for a recap from yet another reunion with my college roomies and sweeties for life!  

 

How the ((Mid))West was won

With our speedy 24-hour adventure in Chicago behind us, we hopped on a train to the land of wheat fields, cheese curds, famous brews and.... Northwestern Mutual. We made it to Milwaukee around lunchtime, so first things first, lunch and a beverage of course!

Without knowing where to go, we stumbled in to Buck Bradley's, which, like most of Milwaukee, looked (and smelled) as if it hadn't been redecorated since the early 70's. To toast the beginning of our stay in "The Cream City," I ordered a Cream City Pale Ale, from Lakefront Brewery, right out of Milwaukee. Apparently, most of Milwaukee was originally constructed with cream-colored-bricks, hence the nickname.

 

 

We hit the sheets a little earlier than we would any other night, so we could rest up for the annual Roots and Wings race.

 

Suited up in our "Northwestern Mutual blue," we took to the streets of Milwaukee for a beautiful run along Lake Michigan. The weather (mid 70's and no humidity) made the run much easier than it would've been down South! Heck, I even survived my first race!

 

To reward ourselves that afternoon, we headed to Old German Beer Hall for $6 liters, yes, liters, of authentic German brews. One thing Milwaukee has that ATL doesn't--affordable drinks!

 

As the only patrons in the bar (which is understandable at 2 p.m. on a Sunday), we were able to easily take over. We were also able to take full advantage of "Hammerschlagen," which is an authentic German game where players compete to see who can hammer their nail into a stump first.

 

Sounds easy, but the nail is flat (picture a miniature railroad spike), and with liters of beer priced at $6, the task of hammering a nail got progressively more difficult. Loser was supposed to finish their beer. Guess who lost?....Guess who refused to finish her beer...? It was a liter, for goodness sakes!

Also enjoyed at the Beer Hall--shotskis!

 

When we were finally ready to leave the bar, we were greeted with a monsoon. It was nothing we haven't grown accustomed to in Atlanta, but it certainly put a "damper" on our plans to attend the garden party at the Milwaukee Zoo.

Against our will (well, mostly my will), we headed to the zoo anyway, where we enjoyed music from the Love Monkeys of Milwaukee, WI and even some entertainment from our very own Whitney Wilson. She was a hit, until she yelled, "Go Dawgs," which didn't receive the same reaction it might down here in Georgia.

 

On our third night in Milwaukee, we decided to make our way to the hotel bar to sample the infamous blueberry mojitos. Mmm Mmm!

 

 

Next we headed to Rock Bottom for a little "newbie" ritual. Every first-year attendee was forced to stand on a chair in the middle of the party and perform a "talent." It was a lot like fraternity rush, but with less screaming and scare tactics. Talents included, limbo, karaoke, stand-up comedy (aka me making fun of co-workers) and even peacock impressions. I'll keep the pics and videos to myself...wouldn't want to embarrass anyone, but let's just say, we work with an eclectic group of folks.

 

Our last night of the trip was one for major celebrations. First, we celebrated Tara on her 23rd birthday!

 

Then, we celebrated Tim McGraw's signature cowboy hat, tight jeans and bulging muscles. Even though Tim won't be winning "Don't Forget the Lyrics," any time soon, we sang our hearts out to all the classics--"Something Like That," "Just to See You Smile," and "I Like It, I Love It." We happily filled in the gaps when Tim couldn't seem to remember the words to his own songs...Oh, Tim....

 

And, on our way to celebrate Tara some more, I ran into some old faces from the Columbia office. Great to see these guys!

But we didn't forget about the birthday! Party bus rides and lap dances from strangers helped Tara start her 23rd year off just right! And it gave us a good laugh to end our very long, very tiring, but VERY entertaining work vacation.

Hitting the office that next day was quite difficult, but, as always, it was great to be back in the South!