Not much time was spent in Atlanta just because Holly and I have visited there before. We were able to stop long enough to have dinner with good friends Matt and Daisy and go for a spin in Daisy’s new Mini Cooper, “Gary.” We ate some fashionable Mexican food paired with a shaker full of margarita that, if I’m not mistaken, was a tad bigger than the Mini.

Even briefer was our visit to Helen. This town was your average, ordinary little town until the 1960s when the residents decided transforming it into a mock Swiss-German mountain village would attract tourists. It’s complete with cobblestone roads and chalet-style facades. Both amusing and odd, it makes you feel like you’ve walked onto a movie set. Although I couldn’t get past the fact that there’s no good reason for this town to be a Bavarian look-alike, I didn’t let that diminish my affinity for the apple strudel we got at the local bakery.

If we had to live in Georgia, we’d choose Athens. It’s a super-cool little college town with lots of music shops, cafes, coffee shops, book stores, bars and clubs. The nightlife is vibrant and it has a world-renowned music scene, although I didn’t know that before getting here. Groups like REM, Widespread Panic and B-52s all got their start here. As luck would have it, one of our favorite musicians, Badly Drawn Boy, was performing at the 40 Watt Club while we were in town. After a tasty little meal at the Clocked Diner down the street, Holly and I caught his performance. He puts on the sort of marvelous show that you just can’t translate to words—if you ever get the chance to see him, do yourself a favor and buy a ticket.

Savannah is wonderful too, with a much different feel. The Old South ambiance emanates from its tree-lined streets and pristine old homes that are accented with black wrought iron and Spanish moss. These antebellum homes were built during Savannah’s heyday as a wealthy shipping center and were fortunately spared by General Sherman’s city-burning stint through the south. Over a thousand of ‘em have been restored to their original luster. Holly and I spent a day walking through the city, hopping from town square to town square. There are over twenty of these shady squares scattered throughout. Then we headed to Bonaventure Cemetery to see the equally old and beautiful headstones. One is of a little girl sculpted in marble whose ghost is frequently seen haunting the cemetery. Another is of a young woman whose apparition appears from time to time above nearby St. Augustine Creek, where her dead body was found. The only chilling thing we saw that evening was the form of a large guard who appeared at closing time to boot us out.