Downtown ATL... at least we tried

For my hordes of followers, don't worry, I know the last two posts have been about trips to cities. We haven't lost sight of the wilderness though. Winter weather isn't quite gone yet, so before we take our first spring backpacking trip, we're gonna give the weather time to warm up a little bit more. In the meantime, we decided to give Atlanta a try. I've been to Atlanta a handful of times, but those trips all revolved around a single event; a Braves game, a basketball game, my triathlon two years ago, a stop at R.E.I. on the way to the mountains. This time we decided to spend a couple of days being tourists.

We got there Saturday afternoon and after checking in at the hotel we headed down the street to R.E.I. to see about getting Laura a new bicycle. Last year we went to Wal-Mart and spent bare minimum money on mountain bikes for each of us to use to ride around town on, but in the case of her bike, we got what we paid for. The brakes didn't work, the gears were terrible, it just wasn't a good fit. With Christmas and tax-return money still in her pocket, she decided to make the investment in a nice hybrid from R.E.I. Two hours later, after settling on a nice Cannondale, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for a biking trip in downtown on Sunday.

Gabriel woke us up late that night with his stomach bug. We got him back to sleep after cleaning up the mess, and luckily he slept in Sunday morning. When I woke up, however, the stomach bug had claimed a new victim. Laura had been up hugging the toilet during the night. I slept right through it. So she was officially out for our downtown trip. This meant I had to get Gabriel, my bicycle, and a backpack with a day's worth of diapers, wipes and food, onto the MARTA, which I was completely unfamilar with, all by myself.

I succeeded for the most part, but the beginning was a struggle. Gabriel was fully aware that he was riding on a train and loved it, so at least there were no screaming baby fits for that part. We enjoyed our ride around Atlanta's Piedmont Park, and stopped at a few playgrounds along the way. We rode over to a little Mexican grill for some tacos and called it a day.

When we got back, Laura was still feeling down, but the extra rest helped out. That night we had even more Mexican food at Uncle Julio's. This was far and away the best Mexican food I have had outside of Texas. Every single thing was delicious, from the rice to the chicken enchiladas.

Monday was Zoo Day. We headed over to the south side of Atlanta after checking out of the hotel. The zoo was absolutely packed. Even with the crowds, it was still a nice experience. The weather was spot on. Nothing about this zoo was particularly amazing, although the gorilla exhibit was quite impressive. They had more than a dozen gorillas roaming a really large, wide-open space. As with the Greenville Zoo last week, I'll let the pictures do the talking.

After the zoo we headed home. It didn't exactly go the way we planned, but we still had a great time. It's hard to call any weekend where I get to spend 2 hours at R.E.I a disappointment.

Downtown Greenville

Greenville, SC. If you live within 3 hours of this city, and have never been, you're missing out. Here's my recommendation: Pick either a spring or fall weekend, when the high won't exceed 85. Pack up your favorite picnic meal. If you have a bicycle, load it up, and head downtown to Reedy Falls Park. The bike trails take you through a network of connected parks from Reedy Falls all the way over to the Greenville Zoo and beyond. You can even link up with the Swamp Rabbit Trail and pedal over to Traveler's Rest, if you're looking to experience something a little more rural (if you do take this option, be sure and stop by Sun Rift Outfitters. It's an awesome outfitter store locally owned and operated). To really appreciate it, take some time and look up this history of Reedy Falls Park AFTER you go. The "before & after" stories will amaze you!



Usually when we are in Greenville, we are spending a night or two at the Dennis House, using it as a basecamp for hiking trips. This time, we made it a point to go hang out and NOT hit the trails. All of our visits usually end with a quick trip to the park in town. Everytime we go we end up wishing we had spent more time in town. So that's exactly what we did this weekend. After church, we swung by Greenville Tech and picked up Yosry, the Egyptian exchange student the Dennis's are hosting, and headed to Reedy Falls Park downtown to meet up with Pat and Jack, some local friends of theirs. The weather was perfect: low 70s, a light breeze, and not a cloud in the sky. We snacked on some sandwiches and spent a couple hours just lounging. The place was actually quite crowded with families enjoying 2011's first true spring-like weekend. I think this only added to the atmosphere. Kids were running around having a great time with other kids they had never met while the parents kicked back.



Gabriel found some other kids to play with, and ran around non-stop for about 3 hours. Finally, at around 4, we packed up and headed back to the Dennis House so Gabriel could take his nap. I treated our hosts to a steak dinner for Valentine's day, and we ended the day watching "Date Night". The next morning we woke up and headed off for the zoo. Now, Greenville Zoo isn't exactly going to knock your socks off, but its a charming little zoo nonetheless. It's also not going to hurt your wallet as much as other zoos might. $6 for adults seems pretty fair, considering Zoo Atlanta runs you $21.99. There are a series of playgrounds just outside tailored to kids of all age groups. And as mentioned before, it's connected with all the other Greenville parks with a nicely maintained bike path.



I could list out all the major attractions, but I'll just post the pictures. Not pictured, but worth mentioning, is a decent reptile/amphibian exhibit, and an alligator/alligator turtle exhibit. There was a special little surprise for us waiting right at one of the first exhibits. One of the monkeys had just had a baby in January, and the newborn was clinging to her swinging around in the cage.



















(As you can tell, some animals warmed up to the camera a little more than others)

And after a big scare where I thought I lost my wallet, we packed up hit the road. A quick stop at Chipotle to spend a Christmas gift card that had been burning a hole in my wallet, and the trip was complete. If you're looking for a family friendly city in the Southeast, trust me, Greenville will not disappoint you.