Athens, GA

To celebrate our anniversary, Aaron and I took our first solo getaway since Juniper was born. While she had a slumber party with Cheryl, Jason, and Violet, we went to nearby Athens for a day and a half. We had a great time enjoying Athens and enjoying each other's company for over 24 uninterrupted, child-free hours.




Toodling around downtown Athens, we saw the all bars and eclectic shops you expect to see in any college town. This particular shop has everything from a wide selection of comics to 50's pulp sci-fi and bodice ripper romance novels to unopened Saved by the Bell trading cards to librarian action figures. UGA itself was lovely in the sort of old, southern college way that reminded Aaron of UVA and reminded me of UNC, and somehow was so familiar to both of us that it didn't seem to merit photographic attention.




Hipper people than us would have gone to Athens with a plan for hearing live music. We attempted to fulfill all stereotypes of parents by pooping out after dinner, coming back to our hotel around 9:00, hanging out for a while, and then snuggling up in bed to watch The Incredibles on TV. However, we did have a plan to eat well while we were there, and it was a very successful plan indeed! We had lunch at The Grit, a longstanding local vegetarian favorite, and dinner at the delicious Five & Ten restaurant, pictured above.




And Sunday morning we sampled what are purported to be the best doughnuts in Athens.




We also enjoyed a visit to the State Botanical Garden of Georgia, which is located on the outskirts of Athens. In addition to the conservatory and formal gardens that we expected, there are also several miles of trails through the woods and lots of wildlife.