Traditions of Christmas in Dixie
The Christmas season is once again upon us. It’s a time to love, a time to give, and a time to spread good cheer. Because it’s the most wonderful time of the year, It’s only fitting that I pay homage to America’s most beloved of holidays. In doing so, I’ve set my sights on a region of the United States that has a distinct culture all of it’s very own. Y’all know the place I’m referring to… Oh, I wish I was in the land of cotton, Old times there are not forgotten, Look away, look away, look away Dixie Land!
That’s right boys and girls, I’m talking about the South. Home of antebellum plantations, bluegrass music, shrimp and grits, and mason jars full of sweet iced-tea! If you find yourself this holiday season restless and going south of the Mason-Dixon line, then allow me to point you to a few of my favorite places for Christmas in Dixie. You’re fixin’ to have a real swell time down South! Spend some time in any one of these spots and you’re certain to discover that good old-fashioned yuletide cheer!
Question: What do the Alps of Germany have in common with the southern state of Georgia? Well absolutely nothing, unless you’re talking about the town of Helen. This charming village, with a population of roughly 500 people, is hidden deep within the shadows of the Chattahoochee National Forest. In 1828, this Blue Ridge Mountain community sprang up out of the glittering dust of the Great Georgia Gold Rush. When gold fever finally ran its course, the town became a hub for an emerging timber industry. Unfortunately, the people there had more saws than they did trees and in the 1960s the town nearly shut down. It wasn’t until 1968, when businessmen bumped heads with a local artist, that they came up with a unique solution to revitalize the town. Helen, Georgia would be given a Bavarian facelift; and slowly over the following years, the entire town was recreated to look just like a German alpine village. There are German-styled restaurants, German-themed gift shops, German traditional festivals, and one of my favorites -cold German beer! With all that Old World appeal, this place is just brewing with adventure! When you throw in Santa, horse-drawn carriages, and some holiday lights into the picture, than Helen becomes a place that easily populates the top of my list for spending Christmas in Dixie.
Go to Helen, GA for a wonderful Christmas in Dixie with real Bavarian charm. (more…)
Posted in Adventurous Places, North America and tagged christmas in dixie by Big John with no comments yet.
Riviera Mayan Adventure on the Reef Playacar
When Rebecca first mentioned going to the Mexican Riviera I was leery. Mexico? At the time, the only thing I knew about our southern neighbor was what the US Army taught me years before. That hard lesson was learned in 1998 while doing a short stint at Fort Bliss. For those of you unfamiliar with Fort Bliss, it’s a 1,700 square mile playground reserved exclusively for Uncle Sam. It’s the US Army’s second largest installation, home of the 1st Armored Division, and situated in the picturesque desert city of El Paso, TX. Any soldier who’s ever spent more than a day at Ft. Bliss knows the kind of world that exists once you leave El Paso and cross into that southern border town. Juarez, Mexico – the home of crooked cops, drug cartels, and a perfect place to get raped, robbed, or murdered. It’s not exactly the type of place you would take the kids to get t-shirts, postcards, or ice cream. Anyhow, you can see why I was so apprehensive about taking a vacation there.
As it turns out, all Mexican towns and cities do not rank the same. To make a comparison between Juarez and some of Mexico’s more popular tourist destinations is like trying to compare Detroit, Michigan with Cary, North Carolina. There just isn’t any comparison. So putting all reservations aside, Rebecca and I purchased a flight and headed out into Mexico’s lush Riviera Maya.
Following this truck, I knew I had to be heading in the right direction.
The Riviera Maya is truly a magnificent place. The entire area is a tropical paradise located on the Yucatan Peninsula. The region is famous for its Caribbean beaches, beautiful jungles, and warm tropical climate. There’s no shortage of sights to see, things to do, or places to explore here in this neck of the woods! (more…)
Posted in Adventurous Places, Great Dining, South America and tagged mayan riviera, mexico, reef playacar by Big John with 2 comments.
Why I May Never Quit My Job to Travel the World
So you’ve read the title and you’re no doubt probably wondering, why? Why is it that I may never quit my job to travel the world? Since I’m fairly new to this whole blogging thing, I decided to kick it around in a few other travel-adventure blog sites this weekend to see what my competitors are up to. In doing so I learned two important things about my own site.
First, I learned that I need to invest in a better camera… probably one that doesn’t come attached to a cell phone plan. Taking a course in photography couldn’t hurt either. There are some amazing photographs out there! The second thing I learned, and perhaps the one thing that really sets me apart from all the others, is that I’m the ONLY travel blogger who hasn’t quit my job to travel the world!
Don’t just take my word for it! Go to one of those (less-entertaining) sites and see for yourself. You’ll usually find the piece published as the author’s feature article and it will read something like this: I live with no regrets, so I quit my office job sitting at a cubicle and decided to travel the world!
The front page of every other travel blogger’s title page
There are so many things I find wrong with that statement that I really don’t know where to begin. First of all, what does that mean to live with no regrets? I have regrets everyday! I regret eating that sushi I bought last night from the Gas-n-Go. I regret asking my cellmate at the county jail last week if he could please hurry up with his phone call; and I regret making out with that girl named Pork Chop in the eleventh grade! (more…)
Posted in Scattered Thoughts and tagged quit my job and travel, quit my job to travel by Big John with 1 comment.
The Lost Prince of Death Valley
It happened in Death Valley, although I can’t confirm the contents of this story to be entirely true. Time has a sneaky way of covering up details with a filmy layer of haze. Over the years, my gaps in memory become all too susceptible to excesses of an overactive imagination. As a result, history becomes not so much about a record of actual circumstance; but rather a daisy-chain of fractured fairy tales linked together with real-life events. In any case, I will tell things the way in which I remember them. The reader can make any necessary distinctions separating facts from fiction.
Death Valley, Nevada (Photo courtesy of wiseGEEK)
It was the late summer of 1984, we had entered just Death Valley and we were two hours into our drive outside of Vegas. I was just eleven years old then. Christian was twelve; Shannah was nine; and Aaron was at the tender but mischievous age of six. We had spent the entire summer with our dad in Anaheim, California and we were heading back to Iowa in one of those Malibu Classic wood-paneled station wagons. (more…)
Posted in North America, Tall Tales and Big Fish Stories and tagged death valley, Nevada by Big John with 12 comments.
In My Rover Near the Cliffs of Dover- A Love Story
She was brilliant. She was beautiful. She was my most faithful of companions and her name was Rover. Now as I peered out through the fogged-up glass, it seemed I was losing her for good. I remember that fateful day I first brought her home with me. Everything about her seemed so pure, clean and new. I loved the way she looked… the way she smelled… that certain style that only she possessed.
They say you can’t buy love, but the 500 quid I paid for her never felt so right, nor so good. At first, I planned on only using her for awhile. You know, merely as a cheap means to get around. But then things got much more serious. I became attached and I didn’t want to lose her. I seriously considered even bringing her back to the States with me; and I probably would’ve if everything hadn’t just sort of fallen apart.
She had been mine for only a month when I first began noticing her condition starting to deteriorate. It all happened as we were returning from a romantic drive from the White Cliffs of Dover. to my home in Godmanchester, Cambridgeshire. First it was merely a hiccup or sputter and but nothing to really warrant too much concern.
White Cliffs of Dover
When she started getting worse I took her to get checked out. Surprisingly they said she was still in good condition for her age. Her prognosis was really quite favorable and they expected her to last several more years. Oh, they couldn’t have been more wrong! It wasn’t but two weeks later that she really took a turn for the worse. She began overheating, discharging milky fluids, and then… (more…)
Posted in Adventurous Places, Europe and tagged cliffs of dover, England, Rover 45 by Big John with 1 comment.