Georgia and Tennessee

Wednesday night we stopped over in Orlando and our friend Emily, who runs the Florida School of holistic living, set us up at the school for the night. Thursday morning we visited Emily at her house, had breakfast, and picked up a few herbs at the Homegrown local food co-op before hitting the road to head to the Hostel in the Forest in Brunswick GA.

We arrived at the hostel around 3pm, got a brief tour, and settled in. What a cool place! Chickens, domes, treehouses, gardens, and a cool, clear lake to swim in.

After dropping off a few things in our secluded, screened hut, we headed to the lake for a quick dip. No bathing suits required! We swam out to the floating dock and then spent some time enjoying the beautiful nature all around us.

Following our swim and a snack, we wandered around the grounds, exploring the gardens, walkways, and getting our bearings

A short nap was in order before dinner. The dinner bell rang and we gathered around the common house, although it was still awhile before it was time to eat. We spent the time chatting with other guests and relaxing

Before dinner everyone gathered in a circle around the tables outside, holding hands and one at a time we introduced ourselves and said what we were grateful for. Under the trees, lit by candelight, with the sounds of the forest, it was magical. Dinner was a delicious curry, vegetables and rice with a salad from the garden.

We didn't last much past dinner before we were off to bed.

Despite efforts to get an early start on Friday, we were on the road by around 11am. Our road lunch was a fauna garden cucumber, a few spoonfuls of peanut butter, some boiled peanuts, and later we had some chips and salsa, peaches and bananas

Most of our drive from Brunswick to Nashville was smooth with only a few traffic delays. We arrived in Nashville at my dad's house around 8:30, quickly unloaded, and threw together some pasta, sauce, and tempeh for dinner. We spent some time just catching up with dad for a bit before heading off to bed in his conversion van in the backyard :)

After a leisurely morning, and a stop at Kroger (it's been awhile since I had that experience), we headed to what my dad calls "the country". It's a 60 acre plot of land, owned by dad's best friend, located in a rural area about an hour west of Nashville. Centerville, TN - home of Minnie pearl. :)
Once there we will spend some time camping, swimming in the creek, hiking, 4 wheeling, and even shooting some guns! (Dad is a gun enthusiast but only shoots non living targets). It's basically where dad and his friends go to get away from city life. We are pretty excited and look forward to a fun weekend. I'm enchanted by the lingo we've heard in Nashville, including "warsh" (wash), "fixin to" (getting ready to) and "holler" (valley). Nostalgic and charming :)