Summer Vacation 2021

I had been wanting to get up to Tennessee to meet the Grand Niece and Nephew since they were born. I finally got to take a week off this Summer and go up and spend time with them and my sister. When I got up there Saturday evening both the babies were there to greet me. They are both so adorable. I also got to meet my dog-niece Stormie, my sister’s new puppy.

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Sunday I woke up with a headache, which seems to happen almost every time I go up there. I am guessing it has to do with the elevation difference. We hung out around the house and watched tv and my niece came over and made us dinner.

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Monday we had a sister day and went into Chattanooga and did some shopping. We ate lunch at Nic and Norman’s which just opened recently as a second location there in Choo Choo Chattanooga. If you didn’t know, this place is created and owned by Norman Reedus and Greg Nicotero from The Walking Dead. The food was so amazing. After lunch we went over to Gate 11 Distillery to get some Gin. I had tried this Gin before and bought a little bottle of it, so I wanted to pick up a big bottle. We did a tasting but I didn’t get a picture before we finished them. My sister wanted to go to this neat plant nursery and ended up buying a few plants. I got a small Lemon Grass plant and a Fiddle Leaf Fig. We headed home and relaxed the rest of the night. I played a little bit of Animal Crossing and I was able to catch the last bug to fill out my critterpedia.

I had been wanting to go to the Georgia Aquarium for a long time. They have whale sharks there and I wanted to see them up close. So Tuesday we headed into Atlanta and went to the Aquarium. I was so amazed by this aquarium. The way it is setup is so different and how it is all in a 2 story building. The other thing that was different is the animals were all so active. Normally you go to an aquarium and the animals are hiding and hard to find most of the time. These animals were moving around and seemed so busy. They also had quite a few creatures that you don’t see in other aquariums like the japanese spider crab, garden eels, and piranhas. The most exciting was seeing the whale sharks. They are just so huge!

After the aquarium we went to one of the malls in downtown Atlanta and did some shopping and ate lunch. My sister had never been to the Cheesecake Factory before. The food was good, but the cheesecake is where it is at!!

Wednesday we stayed at my sister’s house and the kids brought over the babies. So we got to spend the day with them and I did a little photo shoot with them. I got some really good photos of the babies. I would share them but my niece has asked not to share pictures of her baby online and I will respect that! That evening when the kids left, my sister and I went and had dinner at Chicken Salad Chick and did a little shopping at HomeGoods and TJ Maxx.

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On my drive up to Tennessee I noticed a sign for a Sunflower Festival. We decided to drive down to Calhoun, Georgia and check this farm out. It was so pretty and had a bunch of activities to do. We picked some Sunflowers, watched the pig races, and checked out the other animals.

Friday was my last day, and I spent the day with my sister and we had a nice relaxing day. My sister has a friend that owns a Salt Therapy business. We went and sat in the salt cave for thirty minutes, it was so relaxing. After that we headed back to Chattanooga to check out the area some more. We found this little coffee shop called Mean Mug and got Coffee and pastries. We then went to Chattanooga Whiskey and tasted some of their experimental batches. There is a little tea shop next to here and I had been wanting to check it out. It was so interesting, it was almost like a little witchy tea shop. We went back to Gate 11 Distillery because the fiancé wanted me to get him a bottle of their absinthe. We decided to stay for a drink. We then headed to the Chattanooga Mall and had lunch at Red Robin. Then did a little shopping. It was such a good day.

I had such a great time with my sister and being able to see the babies. I miss them all so much! Saturday morning I got up early and headed back home to Florida.

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