Read more about the article Quarantine Quest – Sweetwater Creek State Park, GA
Sweetwater Creek State Park

Quarantine Quest – Sweetwater Creek State Park, GA

One of my favorite state parks close to Atlanta is Sweetwater Creek. I’ve written about it for RootsRated, the now-defunct Touring Bird and here on this blog. Now that traveling has stopped due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we’ve ventured to several nearby outdoor spots for early morning hiking.

Fees & Parking

Although Georgia’s state parks remained open during the shelter-in-place order, we waited until the restrictions lifted in May to venture 30 minutes to the park located west of Atlanta, just a few miles off of  I-20.  The visitor center is still temporarily closed, but bathroom facilities are open. Fees are $5 per car which can be purchased online to avoid dealing with cash at the pay stations. 

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Read more about the article Quarantine Quest – Red Top Mountain State Park, GA

Quarantine Quest – Red Top Mountain State Park, GA

Life was going along smoothly with several college visits planned during the spring of 2020. In mid-March, the Covid-19 pandemic put a stop to all travel plans as shelter in place orders dominated the global landscape. Seven weeks later, the state of Georgia is opening up and we’re slowly venturing outdoors to enjoy hiking near the Atlanta area. 

Located about 45 minutes northwest of Atlanta, Red Top Mountain State Park had fallen off of our radar. Before having children, we took our dogs on frequent hikes there with a dog hikers group. For whatever reason, we hadn’t been to the park in many years and felt this was the best time to explore the area. 

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Read more about the article One Day in Ketchikan

One Day in Ketchikan

Ketchikan was my favorite port of call in Alaska and if you’re looking for Native American totem poles, this is the place. Additionally, the Tongass National Forest surrounds the town that is only 6 square miles.

The town is also famous for the millions of adult salmon returning upstream to spawn during the summer months. King, Silver, Sockeye, Chum and Pink Salmon arrive during the annual salmon run to the delight of fishermen who have dubbed the town as “The Salmon Capital of the World.”

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Read more about the article One Day in Juneau

One Day in Juneau

Our next Port of Call on the Disney Alaskan cruise was the capital city of Juneau. Surprisingly, only 32,000 people live in Alaska’s second-largest city.

I remember visiting here with my parents. We took a small plane to explore the glaciers. As we took off, the window opened a few inches and my mom screamed. That’s all I remember – nothing else.

Since we hadn’t researched anything until the trip, we quickly decided to visit Mendenhall Glacier, which is 13 miles away. After looking up shore excursion and shuttle costs, we found renting a van with my brother-in-law’s family was the most cost-effective option.

I realized we’ve gotten spoiled in our larger metropolitan cities with choices of car rentals – and cars for that matter. Although the rental center didn’t look like much, a clean minivan awaited us.

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