Earlier this week we took a quick road trip from Savannah to Atlanta, while the homeowners of our current sit were home for a couple of days. The timing worked out perfectly, as Wednesday was my mom’s birthday. 

 

We drove up on Monday afternoon, and we figured we were on the perfect path to find our favorite road food: boiled peanuts. Our first idea was a fruit stand in South Georgia, called James and the Giant Peach. The good news is that we were able to get a birthday present of truly giant Georgia peaches for my mom. The bad news…they only sell peaches. No peanuts. Onward!

 

Google maps to the rescue! We found a promising listing for Hardy Farms Boiled Peanut Stand in Warner Robins. We were so excited as we drove past the huge OPEN sign…only to find it…NOT open.

 

However, all was not lost. Inside the gas station they had some pretty good peanuts and some pretty good barbecue for Jim. On the way back to the highway we drove past a great looking farm stand that definitely had some homemade boiled peanuts and lots of fresh produce. We’ll hit that one up the next trip!

 

Our days in Atlanta were a whirlwind as usual, with haircuts, doctor appointments, and making a homemade peach cobbler for my mom. I had never made it before and it was surprisingly easy! Here’s the recipe I used. My mom was super excited and considered it her birthday cake. It must have been really good, because she loves birthday cake just about as much as I do.

 

We were really grateful to be able to share my mom’s 74th birthday with her. She was diagnosed with leukemia in May of 2017, and at this time last year she was in the hospital with pneumonia and things weren’t looking so great. The difference a year makes is incredible. She’s on a low dose of chemo that is keeping her in remission and is feeling better every month. She was recently cleared by her doctors to go out to restaurants again (one of her favorite things to do), so we took her to dinner at Bistro Niko, along with her old neighbor and dear friend Carrie (also referred to as my older sister). And earlier in the day, she and I caught a movie, Christoper Robin, which was super cute (I’m a Winnie the Pooh fan for life!).

 

A side note about the main picture at the top of the post: The fox statues are a very cool art installation outside of Bistro Niko – as many of our readers may know, we have a small obsession with foxes (in honor of our foxy girl, Sylvie).

 

We headed back to Savannah early in the morning on Thursday so Sadie wouldn’t have to cross her legs too long. I was reflecting on the significance of this particular date over the past couple of years. Jim’s dad passed over to the spirit world on August 23, 2016. It’s hard to believe that was two years ago. We miss him a lot and think he would really be enjoying following our journey – if not dragging Linda out on similar adventures. On August 23, 2017, we left Atlanta for Stamford – the start of our traveling adventures and my school. I know I was more than a little terrified. Again, it’s amazing the difference a year makes. This time around, we’re at the beginning of an even more exciting traveling adventure, and I’m about to start my second year of seminary. Can’t wait to see what this coming year brings! In the meantime, we plan to enjoy the rest of our summer in the South.