Hello friends! This weekend was such fun! My sister and I decided to take our mama on a mother/daughter trip instead of buying her a birthday gift for her last birthday. Her birthday is in September, but we just got around to the trip. It was worth the wait! We couldn't decide where to go. Our preference would be to go somewhere none of us have been before, however, that was tough to find within driving distance for a weekend. My manager let me pick a gift certificate for a two night stay somewhere from her stash that was leftover from our Christmas party. There were some good options so it was hard to decide. We settled on Athens, Georgia. We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn Athens Downtown. What a perfect location! It was walking distance to tons of shops and restaurants. My niece Lauren lives close by so my sister suggested inviting her as well. She joined us on Saturday and stayed for the weekend. We enjoyed visiting with her, and since she went to college in Athens, she was the perfect tour guide.
We packed a lot into the long weekend, but it felt like all we did was walk and eat :-). On Saturday morning we browsed in the local shops. Lauren joined us in time for lunch. We went to Last Resort Grill. I definitely recommend this jewel of a restaurant. It has fabulous desserts, and the lunch is great, too! Prices were also good at lunchtime. Four of us ate and one of us got dessert (I won't tell which one), and it was still only around $50 with tip. That afternoon we went to the State Botanical Garden of Georgia. The gardens are free they just have a recommended donation of $2/person so that was an inexpensive way to spend a little time. Since it was winter, there wasn't a ton to see, but it would be a great place for a spring wedding I am sure. That evening Lauren's dad and fiance met us for dinner at DePalma's Italian Cafe downtown. This was another great dining choice. Food was wonderful, and prices were reasonable!
Sunday morning we slept in, and then walked to the Mayflower Restaurant for a late breakfast. From there we drove to Helen, Georgia, for the day just to walk around downtown. We stayed in Helen for a few hours, and headed back to Athens in time for supper ;-)! There were so many good food options in Athens it was difficult to decide where to go. However, we knew that we all wanted dessert tonight so we were on the hunt for a light dinner. We finally decided on Pauley's Original Crepe Bar. Definitely a great choice for lighter/lunch-y type fare. They had desserts that looked great, but I didn't want a crepe for dessert and dinner. We then proceeded to walk all over downtown Athens in search of the PERFECT dessert(s). Tammy mentioned getting tiramisu each day, but she never did. I thought for sure tonight was tiramisu night for her. However, she passed up tiramisu for frozen yogurt from Yoforia. Lauren settled on Yoforia as well, but I couldn't decide. When I couldn't find the perfect dessert, and had almost given up, we happened upon New Orleans 'N Athens. Their dessert special for the evening was bananas foster beignets with icecream. Sign me up! I LOVE bananas foster so this had to be a winning combination. We actually ordered two orders to take to the hotel room. It came with 2 beignets per order so it was the perfect amount to split evenly among the four of us. We each had an icecream and bananas foster topped beignet. OH.MY.YUMMINESS! What a perfect end to our last evening in Athens.
Monday morning we decided to have an early lunch at Blue Willow Inn in Social Circle, Georgia. It was a little out of the way for us, but we wanted to give it a try as we'd heard good things. It was definitely worth the drive! A friend recommended the lemon meringue pie. I was scared I would be too full for dessert so I ate dessert first! Lemon meringue is not usually my favorite dessert, but it did not disappoint! It lived up to her compliments. Blue Willow reminded me very much of the restaurant at the Tarrer Inn in Colquitt, Georgia. Both are equally delicious. After lunch everyone headed back home after what was a very nice weekend. I was excited to make a pit stop in Cordele, Georgia, to see an amazing family! I wasn't sure if I would get to see them or not, but it turned out that I got to see the entire family. This was the icing on the cake for my weekend.
What a wonderful, fun, food-filled weekend. However, I am now home, and it is time to get back on track. No more bananas foster beignets for me for quite a while!
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