Hellur thur.
I wanted to take a sec to recap last weekend’s adventures in Athens, GA!
To start, I just want to THANK ALL OF YOU who reached out via Instagram/Snapchat/Text to recommend restaurants, shops, & such! Y’all were SO clutch, wow.
I’ve had the chance to visit Athens, GA once before, because I seriously considered going to the University of Georgia for college! It’s the only school, other than Texas A&M, that I was considering ( mostly because Athens is so great / UGA is a baller school ).
BUT, my family has been attending Texas A&M for generations, so I went that route.
ANYWAYS, my little sister plays college softball, and she had a tournament in Athens over the holiday weekend, so my family flew out there to watch games and hang out a bit. Naturally, I explored downtown Athens as an excuse to not have to watch sports all weekend. Not my thing.
Otherwise, I was multitasking. Picture me, sitting at a softball game ( in the RAIN, btw ) with my blog notes journal & my to-do list, hunched over my phone sending e-mails for the entirety of the event. Blog is life.
LOLz.
So, here is my Athens, GA travel ‘diary’ via snapchat. It was raining over the weekend, so I had to skip out on some fun places, but I did a lot in my short time there! I made sure to sprinkle a little travel advice/some tips in here along the way!
Friday
I flew into the Atlanta airport on Friday evening. Upon landing, I went straight to get a green juice, a wellness shot, & some healthy snacks.
TIP #1: I try to stay hydrated/eat nutrient-dense meals while traveling to avoid sickness & keep my energy levels up, BTW!
TIP #2: I fly for free because my Dad is a pilot ( lucky bitch, I know ), but when I don’t feel like flying stand-by, I use sites like this one to find the most affordable flights!
After re-energizing, I got super lost/confused in the airport & missed my MF shuttle from Atlanta to Athens…
Like, what a fucking idiot.
When I FINALLY rolled into Athens, my family ( they arrived a day before me! ) was already exhausted from being out all day, so I walked around downtown by myself, scoping out some shops, & finding somewhere to sit/eat/chill.
TIP #3: I typically use AirBnb to rent homes/apartments in different cities, because I like the privacy and it makes me feel like I really live in the place I’m visiting. In Athens, however, we stayed in a hotel. My two favorite hotels in Athens are Hotel Indigo ( stayed in one of these during my last NYC trip! ) & The Graduate. They’re both so cute.
Some of y’all recommended Shokitini, so I stopped in there for some sushi.
I was having the time of my life, eating alone on a Friday night with my headphones in, watching TED Talks on my phone & snapchatting my life away. I think that people felt sorry for me or something, because the sushi chefs kept giving me free food.
Eating/exploring alone is one of my favorite things to do EVER in life. So, I got to sit there enjoying my alone time AND I got free food. Good freakin’ vibes, my friends.
SATURDAY
I woke up early Saturday morning to get a quick run/workout in, & catch up on some studying/work before I started my day.
TIP #4: Scheduling in short exercises in the morning during travel is so KEY. Sometimes, I’ll be active while traveling ( so I don’t have to work out ), but this wasn’t the case in Athens! Running is an easy way to explore a city while also getting your heart rate up! Other exercise ideas include going to a local yoga/pilates/barre studio, working out in the hotel gym (not as fun), or finding body-weight exercises or circuits on Pinterest to do in your hotel room!
My first stop of the day was Grit, a vegetarian restaurant.
I did some blogging ( YES– they have wifi! ) over a perfectly-filling granola breakfast. Grit had a cashew milk option for my granola & for my latte, so they win. I had to wait about 15-20 minutes to sit down, so plan ahead!
I also ordered a side of cheese grits, because a girls gotta live. You can’t go wrong with grits and cheese. It’s hard to mess that one up.
After breakfast, I did some shopping downtown. HOLY SHIZ, my friends, the boutiques/vintage shopping in Athens reallllllly surprised me.
I spent entirely too much money, but it was so SO worth it.
Cheeky Peach: This boutique had trendy clothing/accessory options and really, really affordable prices. I bought a comfy pinstripe jersey tank, the SOFTEST sweater-like top, a badass ring, and a few bandanas to toughen up any outfit. You can shop Cheeky Peach online, btw!
American Threads: I’ve followed American Threads on Instagram for awhile now, because I freaking LOVE their aesthetic and product. I bought a For Love & Lemons-esque black dress & black concho necklace ( that I will be sharing a whole post on soon ), and a vegan leather bucket bag that costs under $40. Mostly everything is affordable at American Threads, though they do carry brands like For Love & Lemons and Show Me Your Mumu. You can shop this boutique online, too!
Dynamite Vintage: OMG. Let me preface this with: I am OBSESSED WITH and SO PARTICULAR ABOUT sunglasses. I HATE cheap lenses, as they can distort objects and mess with your ability to see things as they are (poetic), so they tend to make me a little nauseous. I bought FOUR pairs of $12 sunglasses at this vintage shop, and they are the most amazing quality cheap shades I’ve EVER seen. Really tho, highlight of my day. Also, the guy working in Dynamite was so nice, helpful, & had some great taste in music.
Atomic Vintage: This is more of your typical vintage shop with cool clothing finds that span across decades. I picked up a few more of my favorite thin graphic/vintage tees from this place… because I totally need more of those ( NOT ).
Community: I stopped into this little, unassuming shop at the very end of my shopping spree. They sell locally made items from food & beauty products to clothing & home decor. I bought the Strawberry & Raspberry Piedmont Provisions jams ( both have habanero pepper to add a surprising kick! ) & some spicy hot cocoa mix, as well as all-natural, stress-relieving hand lotion. Locally made products are kind of my shit, so I was happy to bring back some authentic Athens goodness home to Texas!
TIP #5: ALWAYS do a little research before traveling! I found many of the locations in this post via reader suggestions & as a result of Pinterest searching. Pinterest is GREAT for travel research and planning!
Saturday night, after softball game shenanigans ( aka: after I sat in the car/out of the rain for 3 hours WAITING for the game to end ), we ate at Last Resort Grill per y’alls’ recommendations!
Seriously…. I had 3904583 of you tell me that Last Resort was the shit.
Y’all were 100% right.
I ordered a glass of cabernet and my family shared the Potato Onion Pancake to start. The bacon vinaigrette in this small plate is SO interesting/delish.
For dinner, I had the Blackened Catfish ( that comes on a bed of GRITS, which is pretty much the only reason I ordered it ). My mom ordered the Salmon & Grits and that was also so freakin’ good.
Because my family HIGHLY values dessert ( after every meal… thanks for that habit, Mom ), we got three desserts to share. I ordered the white chocolate cheesecake ( because… cheesecake-addict ) & the rest of the family split two big slices of decadent layer cake.
I was fighting away forks like a heathen. Don’t fucking touch my cheesecake. IDGAF if you’re family, I will kill you.
TIP #6: You have to let yourself indulge while traveling! I usually only indulge in meals/foods that the waiter/waitress or someone else claims as special or specific to that restaurant or location. I’m down for that. You won’t catch me with a McDonalds McFlurry ( most of the time ) while traveling because that isn’t worth it to me!
SUNDAY
Sunday was Easter, so we had a quick holiday brunch at Five Bar before heading to the airport. I like Five Bar because the brunch menu is short & sweet.
I had my eye on the Chicken & Waffles, but gluten-free life just won’t allow that, so I got the Frittata instead. It was SO filling and clean-feeling, so I was happy that I made that choice, in retrospect.
…. even though I was originally day-dreaming about sleeping on a bed made of fluffy waffles, spooning with fried chicken under a blanket of maple syrup.
That mental image could be straight out of a Miley Cyrus music video, actually. #Inspired.
My little brother & my dad ( the PICKIEST eaters of all time ) both got the Breakfast Burrito, and they BOTH gave it a thumbs up. And that’s really saying something. 2 out of 2.
Athens, you killed it. Thumbs up, nice job, *insert 100 emoji here.*
Again, thank you all so much for going out of your way to help a girl out! Y’alls’ recs were on point ( & I never use that term! ) because y’all just get it. You understand me, wiener girls.
Ugh, y’all are so damn cool.
Lemme know if this guide was helpful to you in some way or if you have some other suggestions! I love the feedback, beebs.
I hope some of my noted travel tips were helpful! Also lemme know if y’all would want to see a whole post about staying slightly healthy while traveling. I’m no expert, but I do have a few tricks up my sleeve.
Talk soon. xx
Payton
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