Georgia (State #18)

One exciting event we planned out in advance was to attend the Aerosmith concert on October 11th in Atlanta! My brother, Rich, and his family live in a suburb of Atlanta, so we thought it was a grand opportunity to visit them as well. We talked Rich and his wife, Dulcie, into getting tickets with us and we were all excited.

Then Aerosmith canceled their tour. Steven Tyler has a broken larynx.

Boo.

So, Rich started looking around for tribute bands and hit upon Pandora's Box. They just so happened to have a performance on October 11th. The venue was in the town of Griffin, GA which was only about a 40 minute drive from where we were staying. It was meant to be! We all agreed it would be a fun night no matter what.

The Griffin Opera House: Aerosmith Tribute Band Concert

The lead singer definitely had the look and a close sound to Steven Tyler.

We stayed at an RV park that was only 10 minutes from Rich and Dulcie, so we got to connect with them a bunch of times in our three week stay in the area. Dulcie is a great cook and hosted us multiple times for meals, and we all like to check out local restaurants, so they were gracious to invite us along for some nights out as well!

Chad had work meetings in SLC, so I decided to join him on the visit back. (Thank you to Rich's family for watching our dog, Jazmine, for a few days.) We were able to connect with our kids, attend two plays that had friends/former castmates performing in, check in on our "home base house", and give Carter some projects to work on before the snow falls in Utah! (He did a great job of painting the trim on the front of the house, btw.)

Camp Margaritaville: Lake Lanier

Due to some additional work meetings for Chad, we extended our stay in Georgia, but moved slightly to the north to Buford, GA. We got a beautiful site at Camp Margaritaville RV Resort https://www.margaritavilleresorts.com/camp-margaritaville-rv-resort-lake-lanier.

It was past peak season for them, so it was quiet and "slow" for them. A fun little amenity they offer is a beverage cart that comes around the park in the evenings and you can get your adult beverage of choice! Our first Friday night there we partook in a pair of margaritas while we sat outside by our fire. It was pretty perfect.

The drive into the property was filled with trees (and deer).

We still rep our Minnesota roots and fly the new state flag...or Vikings or the Wild!

The grounds have little "fingers" of campsites that tuck in around the island and it was a great place to get some steps in with lots of elevation changes. We didn't venture outside of the resort property very much. The landscape and vibe was just so relaxing and full of fall foliage that we were content just staying put most of the time here. They also have some big cabins to rent by the water's edge...it would be a great place to host a family reunion. We will have to remember that! One restaurant we visited a couple of times was The 5 Spot Cafe https://www.the5spotcafeandbrewery.com. They had a diverse menu of breakfast/lunch/dinner that you could order any item no matter the time of day. Their brunch offerings were delish and we went back for burgers another time. The owner, Steve, had a grandpa from Elysian, Minnesota and he spent summers there. We chatted with him a bit and he reminisced about his time spent there. Small world!

Prior to us getting to Georgia, Hurricane Helene came through Florida and Hurricane Milton came through shortly after. Thankfully, the family we know in the area did not sustain much damage. Mother Nature has been delivering some strong storms this year. Stay safe out there, everybody!