Red Top Mountain State Parks Beach has been recently renovated. It’s in a nice cove that is protected from boat traffic. It’s quite large with a very scenic area and a large beach area. Definitely a great amenity for a park with lots of trails, lots of cabins, and lots of other amenities.
This spot in Atlanta looks abandoned, industrial, and a bit of a wasteland but it is right at the intersection of MARTA and the Southside Beltline. Hopefully, over the next 20 years, it will become a hub of commercial activity and affordable housing.
The Summer Shade Festival is one of the largest neighborhood festivals in Atlanta. It takes place in Grant Park in August every year. It’s always fun and well attended and very, very hot.
Atlanta has a new largest city park at Westside Park. It surrounds a quarry which doubles as our emergency water supply.
The best looking front yards have butterflies in them.
This view of one of Atlanta’s oldest factories is like a time machine in an otherwise fast-changing city.
East Cowpen Trail affords some of the best views of the interior of the Cohutta Wilderness.
Atlanta’s city fabric is, to this day, defined by transportation systems. I love coming across views where multiple systems all cross each other. This picture is from Oakland Cemetery with a CSX rail line and MARTA rapid rail in the background.
Muscadines are highly underrated. They are really the only native grape to North America. I love that they grow so well in The South. They grow freely and everywhere in the forest, but they’re also cultivated like on this farm in middle Georgia.
Ube is a fun cooking starch that’s popular in Southeast Asia. It is naturally purple and has excellent texture. I found an Indonesian brand at the Buford Highway Farmers Market outside of Atlanta in Doraville. The mix is a little bit rich, but it makes a really fun pancake.
I miss Turner Field, bu the view of Truist Park is still incredible, especially when the home team wins.
Rabun Bald is the second highest point in the state of Georgia. It’s also one of the wettest spots east of the Mississippi River. I also love it because unlike Brasstown Bald, which has a parking lot, a paved trail, and a visitor center on top, Rabun Bald has only the remains of a fire tower.
My cows are fascinating. They are such huge, docile animals. I now really understand why they were domesticated and are so valuable all around the world.
One aspect about Mount Rainier National Park that I think gets taken for granted is that, because it is in such a remote, rugged area that the natural resources did not really get exploited by European settlers before it was named a national park.
I had to fly through Amsterdam Schaipole Airport on my way to India. and on approach you can clearly see how symmetrically the Dutch have divided up their country.
This photo is from June, and it’s amazing to me that there is still snow on mountains in Washington and around Mount Rainier at that time of year. The landscape is just the perfect stereotype of mountains, sky, trees. It’s all so epic with big sky and big views.
Kurobata Park is a public city park in the southeastern side of the city of Seattle. It absolutely blew me away with how well curated and maintained it was, in addition to its sheer size.
The Longmire Trail is a very family-friendly beautiful trail that winds around the Longmire Farm area. It goes past old cabins, wetlands, hot springs and has incredible views of both the Ramparts and Mount Rainier itself.
These flowers looked like some sort of azalea that surprised me when we got to visit Seattle. These were throughout the Japanese gardens at Kubota Park.
Ruby Beach is an absolute gem (pun!) in Olympic National Park. It is a beach for sure, but it’s also a beach that does not want humans around. It is incredibly rugged, blustery, and powerful. There’s no swimming, but just being on the beach around the massive beach logs, rocky outcrops, and sea spray is invigorating.
I love this view – even though it’s hard to truly capture without a lens on a proper camera.
The views coming off Mount Rainier in Mount Rainier National Park are almost absurd because they are so beautiful. It almost looks like a painting but it’s all real life.
Watson Mill State Park is a small but lovely and underrated Georgia State Park in northeast Georgia. The river feeds into the Broad River system, and the shoals always make for a great place for kids to explore and have fun.
Longmire Meadows is a very scenic, low elevation area in Mount Rainier National Park.
Florida’s Pine Flatwoods are a beautiful and serene landscape…but an absolute pain to hike in. They are definitely not welcoming to humans. But – when you have a nice boardwalk, they are a joy to walk through and observe.
On my trip to General Coffee State Park in south Georgia, I got to visit the largest Eastern Redcedar in the United States. It’s in an isolated church graveyard…and is quite a big guy. The tree has witnessed a lot of history since 1802.
Some parts of Olympic National Park look like they are straight out of a Disney movie set. I love all the mosses.
Cottonwood Patch Campground is a Forest Service Campground in far north Georgia in the Chattahoochee National Forest.
Sometimes hiking in the southern Appalachians can get brambly and overgrown, but I love spots where several forest communities are living close together. At this spot, there is dry, upland pine in the background and shaded, wet fernbank in the foreground.
The Chattahoochee River is one of the (if not *the*) most important river in Georgia. It starts far up in the Chattahoochee National Forest in the southern Appalachians. This photo is a few miles south of its source where it’s gathering the flow of Henson Creek.
Murray’s Lake is a small recreational lake in the Chattahoochee National Forest near the Conasauga River and near the Lake Conasauga Campground.
There aren’t that many independent garden shops around. But GardenHood is one that is a hidden gem on the east side of Atlanta. For such a small space, they have a great selection of plants, trees, and shrubs. Their space is always fun to meander through, even you have no plans to purchase that day.
There’s nothing like Minor League Baseball.
Cumberland Island is one of Georgia’s natural treasures. Most of the Georgia coast is protected, but Cumberland Island is not only *completely* protected, it’s also huge and intact.
The Oconee National Forest does not have the mountains of the Chattahoochee National Forest, its northern partner, but it does have plenty of scenery and diverse flora & fauna.
Around Murray’s Lake in the Chattahoochee National Forest, the beavers have completely taken over. The wetlands upstream from the (man-made) lake have a series of dams with old lodges and lots of fallen trees. It’s so cool to see in person.
I love how zinnia flowers are ridiculously easy to plant and enjoy throughout the summer. We got this packet from Southern Seed Exchange.
Baseball is so much anytime, but is especially fun at night.
Atlanta is, curiously, the headwaters of two major river systems (Flint & Ocmulgee). The Flint starts underneath the airport runways. This spot is one source of Intrenchment Creek, which flows to the South River, to the Ocmulgee, to the Altamaha, to the Atlantic. It’s also a lovely spot to enjoy historic landscape architecture.
The Appalachian Trail is such an incredible achievement in construction, planning, coordination, and *maintenance* – props to the many volunteers and Forest Service land managers who keep this trail wide open and wonderful.
I never notice Redbuds until the Spring, when they really show out.
The Hickory Ridge Trail in the Cohutta Wilderness in the Chattahoochee National Forest is a favorite interior trail of mine.
Ruby Beach is beautiful, rugged, and powerful.
The Gulf of Mexico is often calmer than many lakes.
The erosion that formed Providence Canyon just keeps on going.
Kudzu is the iconic invasive plant of the American South.
The PATH Foundation has been building out an entire network of protected trails around Metro Atlanta.
The Cohutta mountains in Georgia’s section of the Appalachians are not especially high, but their topography is unique enough to generate their own weather.
Looking over the pond at Kubota Garden in Seattle, Washington
So lovely, peaceful, but full of energy, but also not the place to sunbathe.
Mt. Rainier has too much beauty for one place.
The Longmire settled the land around Mt. Rainier in cabins that still exist today.
Why hello Atlanta!
Mother Nature doesn’t want you goofing off on the Pacific Coast beaches.
Walking around Atlanta where there’s constantly changes coming.
Some of the creeks in Olympic NP look like are from a storybook.
Mt. Rainier is one of those rare places that’s truly difficult to overhype.
At Florence Marina State Park, the Chattahoochee River pools into the Walter F. George Reservoir (aka Lake Eufaula).
Watson Mill Bridge is a small, classic State Park with a huge covered bridge.
There are so many angles in Piedmont Park to frame Atlanta’s Midtown Skyline.
I had no idea that this is what the main entrance to Mammoth Cave looked like. It’s so insane.
One of the best views in Georgia. The tower platform is locked, but you can climb the steps to check…
This picture is my last visit to see the panda bears in Zoo Atlanta. They were recalled to China where they will live out their lives there. It’s a little bittersweet.
Raven Cliffs Wilderness is one of the best hikes in Georgia.
Rice Creek is a lovely and surprisingly strong stream flowing through the rolling hills in Victoria Bryant State Park.
I was blown away at the beauty above ground at Mammoth Cave National Park.
One of Georgia’s most impressive land forms. It’s always worth a trip.
Chicago is one of my favorite cities. And wow, does Chicago know how to do a skyline. It’s really impressive.
Crooked River State Park is one of the most underrated State Parks in Georgia. And the Georgia coast is one…
Alaska is so huge that I had a hard time even trying to capture it with my camera. This is…
On my way back from Acadia National Park, we got to stop in Bangor, ME, which strikes me as a…
One of the best short day hikes in Georgia is up to Cowrock Mountain from Tesnatee Gap. However, the hike…
I love old cemeteries in the South. Bonaventure in Savannah and Oakland in Atlanta are obviously the best. But there…
The southern side of the Okefenokee is surprisingly open with few trees. It’s a water “prairie”.
The Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge is one of Georgia’s hidden public land gems. Allison Lake is an incredible place for…
The bees know Spring is here in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
My favorite part of Spring in Georgia.
While visiting Boston, I got to walk up to Bunker Hill (i.e., the one battle that every American kid learns…
Atlanta United is one of the best sports experiences that I’ve ever been to. Fun team, great stadium, amazing atmosphere.
On the bank of the Chattooga River in the Ellicott Rock Wilderness, Georgia.
I love how symmetrical The Netherlands are. They have truly put every inch of space to use.
An actually functional truck, as seen in the neighborhood. For context, Americans are buying ridiculously massive trucks that don’t even…
The Atlanta BeltLine’s Southside section is under full-on construction! It is crazy to see how many utilities beyond just a…
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