I’m having one of my moments.

The kind where even my skin is suffocating me and I want to shake it loose and run away for the weekend/a month/a year/forever.

I want scenery and solitude and most of all I want it cheap. I want something new and I don’t want to have to talk to other humans or spend a lot of loot…just have pretty stuff to look at and pretty/interesting bits to look at while I wander.

It won’t happen this weekend because it’s too late. A bite sized escape will probably happen next weekend followed a month or two later by a bigger, better, badder escape.

For now, I need help with next weekend. Driving somewhere seems the logical choice (if you don’t look at gas prices) but frankly there just aren’t that many places to drive to from Atlanta for a 1/2 day trip that I a) haven’t already been or b) want to go to.

You may suggest somewhere I’ve already been or you may not, but I’d still like your thoughts. Just remember: bargain, pretty, interesting.

I know you’ve been wanting to tell me where to go for some time, now’s your chance.

This post has 22 comments.

  1. bn
    18 Jan 08
    12:47 pm

    I have been craving CABO for a month or so. Warm weather, great food, plenty of drink and some deep sea fishing. Make that your big & bad va-k.

  2. Savannah?

  3. Maigh
    18 Jan 08
    5:47 pm

    Cabo sounds nice, but I think my big one might be Barcelona.

    Savannah – been. WITH YOU!

  4. Kayron
    18 Jan 08
    6:16 pm

    try jekyll island. 5 hour drive. get there before they redevelop it. villas by the sea is secluded…there is a nice driftwood beach just north of it and very very private. they might have a 3 day deal, if you call?

  5. Maigh
    18 Jan 08
    6:32 pm

    LOVE Jekyll – went twice last year. Partially on account of my obsession with turtles…

    Keep throwin’ ‘em out there…

  6. cpow
    18 Jan 08
    6:35 pm

    hmmm, you bout covered everywhere close that is interesting, because i have seen things on your site that i had no idea existed in our fare state!

    but there is camping at cumberland…
    treehouses in south carolina, where you can only reach it by canoe
    http://www.canoesc.com/
    ossabaw island near savannah, never been but im getting info from my friend whit who goes to places in georgia i aint neva heard..
    http://www.ossabawisland.org/index.asp
    how bout the O key fa No key?
    http://www.fws.gov/okefenokee/
    or try the real live choochoo train museum, i saw a sign for it on my way back to atlanta from dalton..
    http://www.srmduluth.org/
    Or go take a break and do a weekday over night to Barnsley gardens and do you some skeet shootin, and get you a massage in between!
    http://www.barnsleyresort.com/
    and my friend whit says to go to sapelo island ga and stay at hog hammock. and learn about the gulla
    http://www.gacoast.com/geecheetours.html
    so there, lemme know if you up and go!

  7. Kayron
    18 Jan 08
    6:36 pm

    balsam mountain inn is quaint. ever been there?
    it’s near silva & the blueridge parkway. don’t know what it’s like this time of year tho.
    http://www.balsammountaininn.com/

  8. cpow
    18 Jan 08
    6:40 pm

    oh! here is a hidden gems site for georgia! lemme know if you find any torquise :-P

    http://www.georgia.org/Travel/Discover/Hidden+Gems/Hog+Hammock.htm

  9. Eater
    18 Jan 08
    6:41 pm

    Vegas. *Always* Vegas.

  10. cpow
    18 Jan 08
    6:46 pm

    looky here! not sure if them bee’s come out in the snow! but if they do, you should take yourself on up to this place tomorrow for a day trip and you can look at the perty snow too! just bring us back some honey! and get you one of them pictures took with the bees all over ya!!

    Beginning Bee-Keeping
    Saturday, Jan 19, 2008 10 AM – 12 PM
    Smithgall Woods Conservation Area and Lodge – Helen, GA
    61 Tsalaki Trl
    Learn about basic bee-keeping and how to start a hive. Berry Wright has been a professional honey producer for 45 years. He will show bee-keeping equipment, how it is assembled, how to install bees into the equipment, and provide resource information. If the weather is good, we’ll go to the apiary and look at the hives. $3 parking. 706-878-3087.

  11. Maigh
    18 Jan 08
    7:09 pm

    wow wow wow

    keep ‘em comin’. Not sure I’ve found the perfect one yet but I *am* a sucker for a treehouse!

    The bees thing is a kick! I was just in Helen in Oct though, no do-overs. :(

    BTW, K – had a private retreat (through work) a few years back at Barnsley…it’s a hella lovely place. My cabin had a clawfoot tub and a wonderful fireplace…

  12. Maigh
    18 Jan 08
    7:23 pm

    Another note about the bigger trip – 99% probability it’ll be something that gets listed here: http://clarkhoward.com/shownotes/category/10/355/#intl

  13. I KNOW – but we did not see ALL of Savannah. And it’s purty.

  14. Maigh
    19 Jan 08
    9:44 am

    That’s true, but I’ve been there a hand full of times since as well. Need new.

  15. Dawsonville, off 400 south of Dahlonega, is the home of The Kangaroo Conservation Center, where 87 acres are hopping with some 50 kangaroos.

  16. J S
    21 Jan 08
    11:11 am

    Black Rock Mountain?

    I haven’t been but how about Cashiers, NC? The other one that I want to go to is Murhpy, NC. Maybe you already been?
    J S

  17. atlkortez
    23 Jan 08
    9:43 am

    Wakulla Springs, florida

  18. [...] had reveled in my solitude and given thanks for the quiet space. It was time I’d desperately needed for reflection, though now, I felt selfish about [...]

  19. [...] trip isn’t a response to my previous jumping-out-of-my-skin post and subsequent comments a go-go, but rather is a trip we’ve had on the books for a few months. Said fabulous sister somehow [...]

  20. Maigh
    05 Feb 08
    3:43 pm

    I still haven’t found a play place, but time isn’t on my side, either.

    I love that ya’ll had so many amazing suggestions for me to look into!

    @ JS – I’ve been to those. :\

    @atlkortez – what’s in Wakulla Springs?

  21. J S
    05 Feb 08
    7:30 pm

    another:
    Hopefully you haven’t been, little grand canyon… west georgia, and then if you have time you can go to Jimmy Carter boyhood home… woohoo.
    J S

  22. Maigh
    05 Feb 08
    9:28 pm

    Actually, I have. Both. :\