If you're looking for a place where time slows down, smiles come easy and the daily comings and goings are mixed in with bits of 18th century history, then you've found what you're looking for. Beaufort is a small, coastal town where locals remember when the air once carried the odiferous smell of Menhaden and money, but now you'll instead catch whiffs of sunblock-covered tourists, The Dock House's sweet and salty shrimp and grits and low tide on Taylor Creek.



I love exploring and playing tourist in the towns within a short drive of my home, and in all my exploring, Beaufort remains one of my favorites. Before I even get there, the drive alone puts me at peace. I turn off of busy Highway 70 and onto NC 101 and soon the four lane traffic and strip malls and fast food restaurants are replaced by a slow, two lane road lined with farms and long-forgotten cottages and a roadside speckled with coastal creeks and tall water grass. We cross the arched bridge of the intercoastal waterway and look down to spot shrimp trawlers and sailboats. At that point, I know we're close.

Beaufort, N.C. - there's just something about walking along the waterfront and spotting wild horses across the channel and million-dollar yachts at the dock parked next to well-worn sailboats and small, family-loved skiffs. Or exploring the Old Burying ground and leaving a gift for the girl in the rum barrel. Or sitting waterside at the Spouter Inn and ordering two or three desserts from their delectable dessert tray - homemade coconut cream pie anyone? Or putting your kayak into Taylor Creek and paddling away to empty beaches and family adventures.

On a sunny, heavy-air day in July, we decided we were overdue for the stress-relieving pace of Beaufort. Our first stop took us inside the Beaufort Welcome Center where we were warmly greeted by ladies dressed in colonial garb, down to the white aprons and mob caps.

We bought three tickets ($10 adults, $5 children) for the bright red double-decker bus tour that looks like it belongs in 1967 London instead of this idyllic southern town.



With our tour guide spewing historical tidbits mixed with witty wisecracks, we took off through the streets of Beaufort. What a great way to learn some of Beaufort's history and get a base for more in-depth exploring later on your own. Now doing this tour in the heat of July might not have been our best decision to date, but the driver was kind enough to stop in the shade when he could, letting us cool off under the wise, old branches of live oaks.



Still, once off that bus, we sped up our slow Beaufort gait and hustled to the shaved ice stand on the corner.


Still in need of some serious cooling off, we headed to one of my five-year-old daughter's favorite Beaufort haunts - the N.C. Maritime Museum. You don't have to re-read that, you had it right the first time - a MUSEUM! How many museums (children's museums don't count) would be a favorite for a five-year-old? This one is, and I'm pretty sure it's because of the scavenger hunt they hand to any kid who walks through the doors of this FREE museum (yep, you read that one right too).



Or maybe it's the pirate lore and the remnants of Blackbeard's ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge. There are cannons and cannonballs and money and the ship's bell and even parts of its toilet.... yep! You can also see some Blackbeard artifacts in the shape they're found in the shipwreck resting on the ocean's floor - they're still encased in their ocean growth.


Heat + walking + keeping up with a five-year-old = mama needs a sugar rush. And what better place than my favorite dessert stop - the Spouter Inn. This place has great lunch and dinner too, but it's my sweet tooth that keeps me coming back. We love to sit on the deck out back and relax to the view of the Rachel Carson Reserve across Taylor Creek. Peaceful scenery + scrumptious sweets means I found a sweet slice of heaven.


The coconut pie is my favorite - I grew up on an island full of coconut trees, so probably no big surprise there. And it takes me right back to the days of finding a screw driver and a hammer and spending an afternoon fighting with, opening and then savoring that sweet coconut taste. The strawberry cake was pretty amazing too. Moist and heavy but not overwhelmingly so - the perfect mix of sweetness, berries and cake.

With full bellies and renewed energy, it one time for one more stop. If you're someone who loves to find a quiet spot and a good book, someone who loves that "book smell" caught within the pages of an old read or if your someone in need of some literacy as you sit in the sand and listen to the gulls and waves, then stop by bright "little red wagon" selling library books that line the shelves no longer. We make the stop EVERY TIME we're in town.


My daughter always leaves with a book or five to read on the drive home. As an added bonus, the money made through this wagon run by the Friends of the Carteret County Library goes right back to helping fund the library and its programs.

There's a quote attributed to Ghandi that says, "There is more to life than increasing its speed." In the laid-back, scenic town of Beaufort where history greets you at almost every step, I get that. In Beaufort, I slow down enough to enjoy the views and  life's little moments.

For me, the thought of a road trip with my sidekick traveler makes my heart flutter. I spend the days or even weeks leading up to it mapping out our route and finding little stops, moments of fun and memories-to-be-made along the way. The fuller our suitcases become with the essentials, the fuller my excitement grows. And then there's finally that moment where the garage door opens, we back into the driveway and we're off!


This trip in July took my daughter and I from our home in North Carolina to Columbia, SC to Clarkesville, GA to Greensboro, NC and back home. The reason for the trip - to visit my family in Georgia. The life of the trip - to find fun, smiles and adventure every step along the way.

Columbia, SC

Have you ever fed a giraffe? Let me tell you, if you have not, drive fast (don't walk, mosey or saunter) to the nearest place that allows you to do this. We split the drive from NC to GA with an overnight stop in Columbia, SC. We stayed at the Wingate Hotel right off I-20 in Columbia/Lexington after having some issues at midnight finding an available room. This isn't the first time I've had trouble finding an affordable room at a hotel I trust during a late at night hunt in Columbia. So if you're planning a stop while passing through, I would suggest planning ahead and booking a room. But with the little one passed out in her car seat and skipping through dreamland, I finally found a clean and comfortable hotel where we caught some solid sleep. The next morning, after an acceptable chain-hotel breakfast, we set off for our first adventure... the Riverbanks Zoo and Garden.



Thanks for my NC Aquariums membership, we got in for half price - score! My daughter is always sure to make up for it though when we hit the souvenir shop - savings lost. We arrived at the zoo right after opening and before the heat of summer had settled in, so most of the animals were out and active. I have been to zoos in a number of countries, I'm guessing around 30+ zoos, and the Riverbanks Zoo made me remember all over again why I love zoos so much. It is definitely in my top five. There is a reason garden is in the name - it's beautiful everywhere you look. The flowers and bushes and trees make the zoo a pleasant stroll, and you feel at one with nature. Not once did I think the animal enclosures were too small or dirty or that the animals looked sad - thoughts I have had at other zoos. My daughter and I watched the regal lion poised high up on a rock, listened to the chorus from the flamingos as they talked and even tended the eggs on their nests, touched the smooth, soft scales of a snake, and then we rounded a bend and came eye to eye with the giraffes!



So at the Riverbanks Zoo, you can feed the giraffes. I'm hearing more and more zoos now have this option, but this is the first time I've encountered it. And after my experience, I am convinced giraffes are the friendliest, kindest, most-loving creatures on earth (and nope, you can't convince me the fact I was feeding them led to this kindness).



You buy your mix of lettuce and kale ($2) and walk up to this platform that puts you face to muzzle with this tallest of creatures. They stare at you with these big, dark, round, look-straight-into-your-soul kind of eyes and take the leafy greens from your palm. Heart melts.



Did I mention their long, black tongues they stick out to ever so gently pick up the food? Sometimes their velvet soft muzzle will brush your hand. Oh, the smile on my daughter's face (and mine to match). I'm pretty sure we could have stayed there all day.



I would also recommend shelling out the extra $2 to feed the lorikeets. These flying rainbows will hop up to you or fly on over and land on you so they can drink up a nectar-like concoction from a small cup. But try to do this early in the day. We did it twice, once within a half hour of the zoo opening and the lorikeets could not get enough of the juice. They came up to us from all directions.



Later in the day, before we left, my daughter wanted to feed the birds again. Ok, another $2, but this time, we couldn't give the "nectar" away. The birds were full, and just before giving up, we finally found one that either slept through breakfast or just pitied us. It came over and started drinking, but then every other kid in there desperate to find a hungry lorikeet kept eyeing our bird, so we decided to share by leaving. At this point, the clock and road were joining forces to get us on our way to Georgia. So reluctantly, we left Riverbanks Zoo, but I can promise, we will make this stop again.



North Georgia Mountains

Later that day, the views around us started to change. Hills and lakes and small valleys started popping up as we exited I-85 for the back, two-lane roads of Northeast Georgia. The familiarity of home surrounded me as we drove by a BBQ restaurant whose tables I've put my elbows on and gobbled up pulled pork and Brunswick stew, the big hill where a 16-year-old version of myself put the pedal to the floor to get a 1986 Mustang to hit 70 going downhill, homes of my friends from younger days who I now know only through Facebook, the stretch of road I drove down for years to go home after school but that I now only pass by as the home burned down years ago. Home.

While our time here would be spent making memories with family, I also wanted to hit some spots where my daughter and I could make memories of our own. So on our first full day, we added my two nieces into the mix and headed to Atlanta and the Georgia Aquarium. My NC Aquariums membership came to the rescue again, saving me about $35 on tickets. Just a good reminder to always check for any discounts. And now you can order your tickets online and print them out ahead of time so you can bypass the ticket line - genius! After parking ($10), we walked right up to the aquarium and right in.

We walked into a large, busy room with super-high ceilings, but overall, it's a little underwhelming. There's no floor-to-ceiling aquarium or even any other exhibits to greet you, but head in just about any direction and it gets a whole lot better. You can rush through the aquarium in about an hour - you'll have to miss the shows - or you can take four to five hours (we did) to explore and learn and be amazed by life's colors and beauty and complex simplicity. There are four main galleries - river, ocean, tropical and cold water - and then there's the dolphin show, a 3-D show and aquanaut adventure.



See those looks of wonder on those little girls' faces? Yep, that's why I planned this little day trip. By the way, there's a machine that makes a big wave every few minutes and pushes it out over the reef exhibit behind them - they were fascinated! The aquarium does a great job of adding fun little moments for the kids (and sometimes adults) within the exhibits, like popping your head up into a see-thru "bubble" that puts you IN the penguin enclosure...



... or finding a "bubble" the puts you INTO the fish habitat. (fish photo bomb anyone?)



And there are places to crawl under and crawl through... or even be carried on a moving walkway through the heart of the largest tank in the place and the home of the whale sharks!



The kids loved Deepo's 3-D show upstairs - it's that kind that drops bubbles on you, sprays water on you and REALLY tries to pull you into the movie. And we all got to look like dorks together with those too-big-for-our-faces 3-D glasses! The aquanaut adventure was something the girls wanted to try. Other than my daughter, they got bored quickly, but it had a few neat exhibits and gave us a behind-the-scenes peek at the sea lions that will soon have their own exhibit. (I guess they were still in quarantine or something?) I don't know if I'd rush to do that one again with the iPad map and all, but it's certainly worth a quick walk-through to check it out.

Our last show at the aquarium was well worth the wait. DO NOT leave this aquarium without catching the dolphin show. We missed the day's first show and decided to stick around for the next one three hours later, and I am (we all were) soooo happy we did! (I wish I could show you pictures, but they don't allow you to take them) I had forgotten how much a dolphin dancing on, over and under the water can lighten the soul and make a heart smile. Maybe it doesn't have that effect on everyone, but I've felt those effects since I was a little girl who lived in the islands and hung my feet over the bow of the boat, inches from where dolphins crested as they played in the boat's wake. And I felt it again on this day, and watching my daughter's face, I'm pretty sure she did too. And for the rest of the day, she wanted to grow up to be a dolphin trainer.



After a stop at the gift shop (which the kids think is mandatory for some reason), we headed out of the aquarium and across the street to Centennial Olympic Park. I haven't been here in years, but I did go to a number of events during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. So I figured the kids and I needed to check it out. I'd also forgotten how much there is to do is this little corner of downtown Atlanta - it's all within easy walking distance. There's the Georgia Aquarium, the Coca-Cola Museum, the Atlanta Children's Museum, Centennial Olympic Park and much more. Just goes to show you never vacation near where you live. So back to the park where you are instantly immersed in the melting pot of America. We heard a number of foreign tongues, saw all kinds of dress, a rainbow of races, poor people, rich people, every level of middle class in between, people sporting wrinkles, kids with fresh freckled faces - it's a great place to just grab an Italian ice (and they have the good ones scooped fresh here) and then grab a bench or a fountain ledge or a patch of grass and just sit and watch the world go by. We enjoyed out Italian ice - raspberry blue lips and all.



Then we were on a mission! I had almost forgotten I have a brick in the park. A quick search of the brick finder, and there I was - section #132. Yep, the one right under whatever liquid some klutz spilled on it.



By now, the girls were practically bouncing with excitement to try out the playgrounds we passed by when we entered the park. And once we walked back to the land of running, laughing, screaming, jumping, hanging, sliding kids, well, I could see why. As far as playgrounds go, these were pretty nifty!



On our way from the big city to the little mountains (if you've ever been to the North Georgia "mountains," you know what I mean), we made one last stop - the Dwarf House.



No, this is not some bad joke or slam at our smaller brethren. If you haven't been there of heard of it, I'm here to tell you it's a place full of salty and crisp chicken, sweet and tart lemonade, and thick creamy milkshakes. It's a Chick-fil-A based on the original opened in Georgia in 1946. It's a Chick-fil-A with waitresses and a few things on the menu you can't find at the fast food version. Since my daughter loves Chick-fil-A, we just had to make a stop.

Next day, next adventure. We headed north to the few mountains in Georgia that might actually qualify as mountains in my book (like I have a book on mountains or something). Brasstown Bald is the highest point in the Peach State at 4,784 feet above sea level. The walk to the top is not too steep and is full of Georgia mountain beauty - rhododendrons that curve and form into rustic arches over the path, always damp rocks sporting the latest green moss fashions, and birds hopping from perch to perch in the branches above.



So we start walking up the PAVED trail to the summit, a trail which is 95% SHADED and ONLY .6 of a mile long, and two minutes into it, you'd think these young whipper-snappers were going to drop of exhaustion. When did I start having more energy than three kids all 10 and younger? Even as a teenager and young adult, I loved a brisk walk up this trail and back down. I quickly morphed from trail guide into cheerleader just to get these three to the top. But when we reached the summit...



... I think they all agreed the view was worth it! They were amazed we could see North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee from up there. (If you're ever in this area in the fall, the colorful view is spectacular!) There is also an interpretive center that walks you through the history of the area. The girls were a little creeped out by the animatronic forestry worker (if you see him, you'll understand), but they actually took the time to read through and maybe learn from some of the exhibits.

For the trek down the summit, we did something I've NEVER done before... we rode the shuttle.



Greensboro, NC

We said our goodbyes to the state of Georgia and our family and headed north in the direction of home. I'm not fond of doing the entire 8+ hour drive in one day, so after four hours and three states, we stopped just outside Greensboro, NC for the night. Aquarium membership making dollar signs dance in my head again because it gets us 50% off tickets at the Greensboro Science Center, so of course we had to make a stop the next morning!

Prepare to be entertained by an aquarium mixed with a zoo blended with science experiments whipped up with a museum with a dash of a big dome movie theater on top. This place has a little bit of everything, and we spent a few hours going from room to room to room. Of course, we were there on a weekday, which is apparently summer camp and daycare time, so we were dodging groups of kids all morning. But we still got to do it all... plus... look out, it's a SHARK!!!!



We got to make friends with stingrays in the aquarium (no sharks in the touch tank)...



Feed the goats and pet the sheep in the zoo area...



And check out dinosaurs in the science/museum section...



After five days of the adventure of new places and the exploration of old ones, we headed home. Am I the only one whose heart drops a little when the car's front tires hit home's driveway? I guess it just means I'll have to start planning our next experience today!