Oh dear!  The productivity level on the blog has been a little lower than usual so my apologies for my lack of attention.  In my defense however, it has just been an extraordinarily busy time for me.  Within two hours of arriving back from Panama City Beach in Florida I was eating Tim Tams, Mint Slice and Freddo Frogs.  I had no choice in the matter!  Morally, I am duty bound as an Australian girl to do so and the above three things are items I have certainly missed since leaving Australia.  Ditto on vegemite too!

After all that, it was then onto Savannah, Papa Buck’s BBQ just off the interstate 16, a visit to Stone Mountain, hanging out in a Dublin boot store, going to a classic car auction, a day at the Ocmulgee Indian Celebration, 18 rounds of mini golf, cocktails etc. etc. etc.

And all that plus more, was packed into a ten day time period.  Why!  Well we had family all the way from Australia visiting.  Mum and Rob arrived from down under to spend some time with us in sunny downtown Warner Robins, Georgia – home to a sea of chain restaurants and all-you-can-eat buffets, two Wal-Mart stores (and yes, as Mum and Rob discovered, the ‘ethereal’ Walmartians really do exist!!), Robins Air Force Base, pecan orchards and cotton fields.

The visit……. 

Stone Mountain:  This is one of Georgia’s most visited attractions.  It is also one of the largest exposed masses of granite in the world.  Native American Indians originally used this mountain and its surroundings as their meeting and ceremonial place.  Now, it has become a major tourist attraction due to the massive ‘Confederate Memorial’ which is carved into the side of the rock.  During our time at Stone Mountain we rode the Summit Skyride to the very top of the mountain, travelled the scenic railway, saw the amazing laser light show in the evening and Mum and Rob got to see their first glimpse of a couple of very cheeky raccoons – little bandits who sleep during the day and play (up) at night.

    

 Tourists

Ditto 🙂  

 Classic Car Auction:  most of the cars at the auction came with an attached sign which read – *runs and drives*!  Well frankly, so do most of my friends!!

 

Savannah:  Just a beautiful part of the world!

    

         

Ocmulgee Indian Celebrations:   Each September, the southeast of Georgia becomes the largest gathering of Native Americans.  This amazing celebration is a joyous sharing of culture, dance, storytelling, singing and history.  If you are ever in Georgia around the third weekend in September then I can very highly recommend this festival to you.

  

More random photos from the visit:

  

  

  

 

  

 

And you know, that’s the funny thing about family.  Sometimes you love them and sometimes you don’t.   Sometimes they make you laugh and sometimes the ones who you think should be the closest and kindest to you make you absolutely miserable.  But be they the blood you are born into or if you are lucky enough, the family you make for yourself, they will always be significant in your amazing life.

Thank you both for a lovely visit and thank you again for the incredible stash of Aussie goodies (which also included ‘snakes’…..Allen’s, not the live scaly kind) you managed to bring over with you.

And just like the demise of this fabulous crab………. that’s all folks  xx