North Carolina

I'm sure everybody in the South was fully aware that we were having a pretty bad drought, after passing by some lakes in N.C.--there was plenty of physical proof. Some of the waterfalls were more like leaky faucets.

































A small train station in Dillard, GA that has now been preserved as a museum. Unfortunately, it was closed the day we were there but we walked around for a few minutes so Flo's dad could check everything out.









This is the old south, I believe there are many people in the U.S. that probably think most of us still live this way, though it isn't uncommon for one to see rusting hardware in some people's yards.











The most important thing to note from this posting is:
I can blow bigger bubbles than Flo.
Quite honestly, he sucks at it (which is the opposite of blowing at it).




I think it needs to be painted....
































This was the view from our charming little B&B in Dillsboro.

World of Coke **

New & Improved
















but not like that unforgivable "New COKE." Situated just across from our famed Aquarium is new World of Coke museum. Isn't that bizarre? A museum dedicated to a single soft drink? Do you think that the majority of our culture is a little off-kilter for celebrating such a thing?













Of course not! Other countries celebrate their wine or beer... we're celebrating the original soft drink. While the museum is a bit overwhelming with all its cheesiness, I still found it quite enjoyable to go to.

















You still get to taste their beverages from around the world. They have 70 available and you can drink as much as you want.


The "Beverly" still reigns king in being the most disgusting.

























Look at them, they're dorks! :-p


** I took most of these pictures with Flo's dad's camera... with the exception of one.

Atlanta Botanical Gardens

Any person that goes to a botanical garden will have at least one picture that makes him/her look like a professional photographer...
























so here are a couple of mine...













Note: This one is especially good because of the bug.

shall I run off to a gallery and put these on display?










I must admit that the Atlanta Botanical Gardens has a really nice exhibit of Orchids.





































Flo is holding that frogs eye-ball.

Manatee Springs **

So named because there are many Manatee sitings here in the early spring and late fall. Since the water is a constant 72 degree Fahrenheit, they find it pleasantly warm in those months.




















I, on the otherhand, find this water unpleasantly FREEZING and found that I need quite a lot of time to adjust to the temperature of the water. Here, Flo, is trying to "help" me to adjust by throwing water on me. Finally, some physical proof that Flo is quite the jack-ass when he's in water.


"DO NOT TOUCH ME!!"




















"Cypress knees" which can't grow to be a tree (this is quite contrary to what my dad was saying)





























** I get to be in the pictures since Flo's dad is the one taking all of them.

Eli's 1st Birthday

This is the kid who stole my limelight!



















Seriously, how could I compete with that?














These are my other nephews and my niece. They tried real hard to distract attention away from this new starlet but to no avail.















He had clearly won the contest once he put the icing in his eye.










This little guy demands plenty of attention and requires many cameras.





In the U.S., we have a tradition of giving a small cake to a baby on his first birthday. Then we all stand around and "oooh" and "aaaah" while he has his first taste of cake. It's all very touching but I feel that this is giving children false expectations. He might expect the same for his second birthday... but will be sadly disappointed. It's all down-hill after you turn one year old.


Sure he's sweet now, but in a few years he'll be demanding a car, iphone, laptop, money for movies...















This one's a keeper.

















I couldn't help but to post this picture. It really captures the real Marc, some things just cannot be put into words.

My 25th

A "Quarter of a Century"...that's pretty old.




















Note: Twenty-five candles can still fit on a six inch cake!

Or so I've been told... many, many times now. I remember thinking that was a pretty funny thing to say to somebody. Well, frankly, it isn't funny at all! :-P


















Since my sister decided to celebrated Eli's birthday on *MY* birthday, I demanded my own cake. If that spoiled kid gets his own cake, I wanted one too!

and to prove that I'm *NOT* old, I decided to smear birthday cake all over my face... just like my one-year old counter-part.















and of course, like any good mother, my mom was worried that I couldn't do this alone and so she decided to help.














That's a look of "that'll teach her" on my face.






















and at this point, I can't really say anything aside from the fact that my mom can be a bit strange at times. For those of you that have met her, I'm sure you've experienced this first hand.

Happy birthday to me!

Cumberland Island

If you're in Georgia and you want to go to a beach, you usually have to go to one of the many barrier islands along the coast. The only way to get this particular island is by a ferry,which leaves from St. Marys (well, you could take your own boat, if you had one). Thankfully, this island was taken over by the National Park Service and preserved. Otherwise, you could look at the picture above and you would see it lined with hotels.

Cumberland Island has wild horses, wild turkeys, and countless other wild animals.




Andrew Carnegie who was the founder of the Carnegie Steel Company, which later became the U.S. Steel Co., had a brother who bought much of this island. As I understand it, the story goes something like this: all the other rich people like Rockefeller and Vanderbildt were going to these coastal islands for vacation. The Carnegie's asked to join them but were told that because they were "new money" they couldn't. So, Carnegie just went out and bought an island. To hell with old money!


These are the ruins of "Dungeoness," the mansion that was built by the Carnegies.







This self-proclaimed tree-hugging vegetarian announced one day that she would eat horse if it were available to be eaten.
Soon thereafter, the day arrived. :-)

As you can see, Emily has a huge mouth... so big, she can fit a whole horse inside it.









The trees are magnificent here. They are oak trees, many of which live to be hundreds of years old. They are usually not very twisty, as they are here, but it has to do with the salt-water that is in the air.
















Unfortunately, this really cute picture is a little blurry... :-/ Sorry!



With the heat index above 120 degrees Farenheit, I must say that this was not the best time of the year to go to Cumberland. My brother-in-law tried to stop us... but we ignored his fatherly advice and went anyway.

Of course, Emily was fine. She is, apparently, numb to the temperature outside as she never seems to complain about whether its too cold or too hot.




















I must apologize for not taking any pictures of the beach. But, honestly, I thought I was going to die when we were walking to it. My main focus was to make it to the beach without passing out in the sand dunes.