Southern Byways

 Travel and Leisure Magazine teamed up with CNN Headline News and surveyed over 125,000 travelers. These travelers ranked 25 cities in 45 categories from restaurants and nightlife to the weather and the people. Here’s a list of some of the cities in the south and the top reasons why people visit these particular cities.
Washington D.C.

#1 cultural getaway
Historical sites/ monuments
Museums and galleries
Diversity of People
Public transportation and pedestrian friendliness

Atlanta

Affordability
Late night/club scene
Weather
Luxury Boutiques

Charleston

Great place to go for Thanksgiving
Friendly people
Noteworthy neighborhoods
Peace and quiet
Great antique stores

Orlando

#1 place to go for a family vacation
Great for an active/adventure vacation
Nice weather
Perfect place to go for Thanksgiving or Christmas

Comments Off

Are you looking for new travel gadgets to take on your trip? or something to make your life easier? I came across this site earlier of some random travel gadgets that I found to be useful, clever and made me chuckle? Here are some of my favorites:

Bluetooth Laser Keyboard: How’s this for a keyboard and getting away from heavy keyboard keys to more of a virtual reality?
Stashcard: Looking for a perfect way to hide cash and credit cards? The stashcard stashes your valuables into the unused slot in your PC.
Solar Powered Backpack: This trendy backpack offers 1850 cubic inches …read more

Comments Off

Thousands of protesters gathered in Jena, Louisiana, Thursday to show support for the “Jena 6,” six black teens charged in the beating of a white classmate.
Tour buses were pulled over to the side of Louisiana Route 49 more than 20 miles from Jena as authorities in the town of 3,000 people controlled access to avoid gridlock.
In Jena, some parking lots were full by 8 a.m. ET.
Thursday was the day Mychal Bell expected to find out his punishment for his alleged role in the school beating.
“This is a march for justice. This is not a march …read more

Comments Off

We might have dodged Hurricane Dean, but the south is still suffering. Here’s the latest…
“Two more persons in Memphis, Tennessee, were killed by the two-week heat wave, bringing the number of heat wave victims in Southeast and Midwest of the United Sates to at least 49, according to media reports Monday.
In Memphis, Tennessee, the heat-related death toll in nine days has reached to 12. Most victims were elderly and living in homes without air-conditioning.”
Here’s hoping that this year won’t match last year’s heat wave. It has to be unbearable. So, …read more

Comments Off

“Packing 125 mph winds, Hurricane Dean hits Fort de France, Martinique, early Friday.”
I vacationed in Martinique a few years ago and I’m really worried about this tiny island. It simply will have a VERY hard time dealing with these weather conditions. Already, they are reporting landslides and I’m not in the least surprised. We took a tour of the island and from what I can remember, it simply doesn’t stand a chance. And many of the buildings inland have roofs made of corrugated metal. It will be terrifying for the local people.
I hope the worst of it is …read more

Comments Off

Just found this little tidbit in the Port Charlotte Sun Newspaper.
“An orange tarantula with venomous fangs was rescued today after its owner said he could no longer care for it.
This is the kind of spider that nightmares are made of,” said Roy Gross, chief of the Suffolk County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.”
I’m just hoping that no one in Florida decides to bring one of these spiders home as a pet. If he ever escaped, he might never be seen again. And then we could have zillions of little baby tarantulas running around the state.  …read more

Comments Off

I’m keeping my eye on this one. We still have 105 days left until the end of the hurricane season, and this tropical storm isn’t looking so good at the moment.
“Tropical Storm Dean, continues to move quickly west in the Atlantic.
Dean is forecast to become a hurricane by Thursday night or early Friday, and should be threatening the Lesser Antilles by early Saturday.
This system could threaten some parts of the U.S. mainland by the middle of next week.”
And obviously, everyone is hoping that this tropical storm will fizzle out, but everything that I have been reading this …read more

Comments Off

“Cities simmered with triple-digit temperatures Monday, toppling records in a heat wave blamed for deaths in at least five states.Thermometers hit over 100 degrees in parts of Alabama, Arkansas, Texas, Nebraska, Kansas and the western tip of Tennessee, where Memphis hit a record 105 degrees, the National Weather Service said.”
And it couldn’t have come at a worse time. It’s Elvis Week in Memphis and zillions of fans are visiting from around the world to to mark the 30th anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley. Here’s hoping that everyone down there is finding ways to stay …read more

Comments Off

If you thought that the manufacturing of moonshine was something from the distant past in the south, you would be wrong. Apparently it is still a popular pastime.

Four charged in North Georgia moonshine case

One of the men charged in a federal moonshine bust said Saturday he’s quit drinking the high-octane, illegal liquor known as “white lightning.” But when he was a steady customer for more than 50 years, he preferred moonshine made in Georgia over the kind made in his native South Carolina.
 
It seems that Kelly Standridge, simply thinks that it tastes a lot …read more

1 Comment

I can remember getting ready to go back to school and how exciting it was to stock up on a new wardrobe. Unfortunately, in those days, we weren’t treated to sales tax holidays, so we really missed out. But you can take full advantage of the offerings. I was amazed to see just how many items were on the list!
“G.S. 105-164.13C provides an exemption for certain items of tangible personal property sold between 12:01 A.M. on the first Friday in August and 11:59 P.M. the following Sunday. For 2007, the dates are Friday, August 3rd through Sunday, …read more

2 Comments