Blogs from Athens, Georgia, United States, North America

*This post is NOT about football. More properly, though, it’s about what to do when there ISN’T any football in a college town on a football weekend. The football game between the Vanderbilt Commodores and Georgia Bulldogs, scheduled for Saturday at 4:00 PM, was postponed due to Covid issues in the Vanderbilt program. What resulted for this writer was the opportunity to explore the treasures that Athens, GA, has to offer to a visitor, or even a native, when football leaves a big hole in your plans for the weekend. Spoiler Alert: It involves lots of good food and pleasant strolls in the crisp December weather. Friday 6:00 PM. Enjoy a quiet meal at one of Athens’s premiere restaurants, DePalma’s Italian Café on Broad Street. It’s right across from the big University of Georgia sign on ... read more

Geo: 33.9581, -83.3733After a nice breakfast that Benji fixed for us (cinnamon rolls), we left for Bill and Bev's Church. It was mission sunday, so we heard 5 different missionary couples speak about their work in Africa and Mexico.We left at 10:15 after the service and drove towards Athens. It took us an hour to get to the city, and we found a Starbucks so I could do some much needed computer work.I filled out my Travelpod/blog.Then we met up with Scott and Lilliana McAndrews at the On the Border. Glenn and I shared a fajita dinner for one. It was interesting to learn how Scott and Lilliana met - through Christian Mingle, an Internet dating site. She is from Guatemala. Her father works at TGNA radio station. So, she knows most of the CAM missionaries, ... read more

Geo: 33.9581, -83.3733After a nice breakfast that Benji fixed for us (cinnamon rolls), we left for Bill and Bev's Church. It was mission sunday, so we heard 5 different missionary couples speak about their work in Africa and Mexico.We left at 10:15 after the service and drove towards Athens. It took us an hour to get to the city, and we found a Starbucks so I could do some much needed computer work.I filled out my Travelpod/blog.Then we met up with Scott and Lilliana McAndrews at the On the Border. Glenn and I shared a fajita dinner for one. It was interesting to learn how Scott and Lilliana met - through Christian Mingle, an Internet dating site. She is from Guatemala. Her father works at TGNA radio station. So, she knows most of the CAM missionaries, ... read more

This entry is just to let people know that I'm hitting the road again in a couple of days. I'll be heading out on Sunday morning (July 17th) and don't plan on returning until Thursday, August 4th. I realized last month that it had been over a year since I last left America, and with the way things are going in my native land, I felt like getting out of it again. Since flying is something I avoid if possible, and I also try to be thrifty, a road trip to Canada seemed the best fit for this time of year. Plus, it gets me out of this miserable Georgia heat for a while. This trip really has two themes: Canada, and American Presidents. I want to spend as much time in Canada as I can, ... read more

I'm almost on the home stretch - 1 week until I'm boarding a plane in ATL!!! I couldn't help but take note of the plane that skidded all over the runway at LaGuardia Airport this morning. Guess where my first flight on this big adventure lands - LGA! Maybe the snow and ice will be gone by then... One of my last non-packing preparations for this trip was a a visit to the dentist this morning. No cavities! Now my teeth are all shiny and clean, and I can drink and eat whatever I feel like. They asked me if I drank coffee, because the only issues were some stains from dark liquids on the backs of my front teeth. Alas, I don't drink coffee, but I am addicted to sweet tea. And at that moment, ... read more

I'm down to 2 weeks. In exactly 14 days from now, I'll be on my way to the airport. I've been anticipating this trip for so long, and today is really the first time I've gotten the jitters when thinking about it. Huzzah! All my lodging is booked. All my flights have been purchased. This is becoming more real... I tend to get ready for this trip in short spurts, like a fixation for a few hours, and then go back to doing my normal thing for a few days. Yesterday was one of those short spurts. I booked a couple of my ground transports. The first was a shuttle from LGA to JFK. I've got 6 hours between flights in NYC, so I figure that's plenty of time. The second was my AndorraBus from BCN ... read more