This time of year it's easy to just sit around the house and bitch about how hot it is. Really, it's so easy. I do it all the dang time! But one can't live on work and Netflix alone, can one? Nope! In order to combat what I call the 'dirty old summer blues' I've created a short list of things to bring out the adventurer in me. Nothing too crazy since a) we're on a strict budget til Brady's work situation settles and b) no long distance traveling til I get my own car (WAHOOOO!) but just some fun, inexpensive things that I think would be a nice way to combat my desire to just sit around and hug the air-conditioner.
Movie Matinee Mondays
The first day of every week is now slated for a cheap trip to the movies with some of my friends. When it's 102 degrees, muggy and buggy, sitting in an air-conditioned theater and suspending belief by getting lost in the big screen is the only way to go. We've seen a few since this newish tradition began about 3 weeks ago - Cool Hand Luke (at our local small theater), Raiders Of The Lost Ark (classic cinema repeat at a larger cinema) and The Conjuring 2 (which I think I saw about 1/2 of since I kept my face covered most of the time). I'm wanting to go see so many movies I don't even know if I'll have enough time/money to do it all!
Here's a short list of what I'm planning to view:
Captain Fantastic
Ghostbusters (I'm getting a lot of flack for this from friends but whatevs!)
Star Trek Beyond
Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie (JAYSUS! I cannot wait to see this!)
Lobster
Swiss Army Man
Georgia Ghost Town Road Trips
I posted about that already and have already gone to my first ghost town! So take a gander at the original post here and the first ghost town here.
Tubing In Asheville
I now have several friends that live in Asheville so I'm trying to get up there on the regular to visit them and to explore. The end of this month, right before Brady's birthday, I'll be there for about 3 days for a small getaway treat with my lady friends. I want to really get going on the rocks and crystals in the area, drink some tea, do some yoga, eat some food and go tubing! I can't really believe that last one since we went to Helen a few years back and had the worst tubing experience ever - crowded, river too low, floating in dirty water runoff from downtown. Ugggghhhhh. But I've been hearing about great tubing experiences from everyone I know so I'm going to give it another shot and hope that it'll wipe away those bad memories! If you have suggestions then I'm all ears.
Become A Master (Or At Least A-Ok) At Cooking Indian Food
Years ago I made a vegan Saag Aloo but I haven't really cooked anything else like that since. Which a downright shame because I loooooove anything and everything with those classic spices. So good for my sometimes-still-weird-and-finicky gut and for my taste buds too! I have about a gazillion Pinterest recipes saved but I'm going to focus on those using a crockpot (not traditional, no, but necessary in Georgia summers) and try to veganize/vegetarian them up. Since work has an Indian Feast every Thursday night I'm also hoping that our specials chef will give me some secret pointers on his naan bread because his is so, so, so good.
Go To At Least One Summer Festival
Peaches. Tomatoes. Ice Cream. Butterflies. Peanuts. Bluegrass. BBQ. Art. Cars. Races.
What do all of these things have in common? They are all festival features in Georgia this summer! While I'm not into big groups of people (I recently went to industry night at our local brewery and absolutely couldn't handle the 100's of folks milling around) I am into almost everything on that line above. Maybe not BBQ (smells better than it tastes), Bluegrass (nope) and cars (to drive, sure, but not gawk at really) but a big yes to peanuts and butterflies and the rest. So I'll have to take my pick, take a deep breath and go mingle.
Explore Atlanta
Our capital is about an hour or so away (depending on the absolutely terrible traffic around there/here) but I haven't spent much time visiting it since moving to northern Georgia. I've been to the food mecca that is Buford Highway, to the DeKalb County Farmers Market, to Decatur, to the main cemetery and a few other places but there is much more to Atlanta that I'd like to see. Still want to go to the puppetry museum for sure. The botanical gardens. The parks. The beltline. Just explore on a whim.
Lots of road trips on this list but, hey, it's what I love to do! And I'm sure I'll add a few more to the list as they pop into my brain.
How about you? Any goals or adventure plans for the summer?
So excited to take my kiddo to see Ghostbusters! She's been literally counting the days for months.
ReplyDeleteIf you do go to the Puppetry Museum, don't forget to check out some passes from the library, they should get you in for free and I think also discounts on some special programs :D
Thanks for the heads up on the library passes! I really wanted to see their Bowie tribute awhile back but it sold out so fast. :/
DeleteWhat did you think about Ghostbusters?!?!
There's nothing better than a cool movie theatre on a hot day! We spend a lot of time at the movies in summer :) You have a lovely summer list going on there too. We're all bundled up here still in the southern hemisphere so mine will have to wait :D
ReplyDeleteEnjoy that cold for me, eh? It's been so hot here that I've had to crumb layer cakes in the walk-in freezer at work. Sheesh.
DeleteDo you have any movie wishlists for the rest of the year?
Yep - I'm a horror movie buff so we're going to see Lights out this weekend (eep), Love and Friendship, Ab Fab (yes!) and Jason Bourne, also likely Star Trek. Stay cool!
DeleteStar Trek for us tomorrow! Ab Fab on Monday. Lights Out maaaaaaaybe at some point. The preview scared me to bits. But I'm working on handling that stuff better? Slowly. :)
Deletei can't wait for star trek beyond!! we are going on Thursday and I have a spock costume ready to go! Our local indie theater is also finally reopening (they have been remodeling since christmas) and so many good movies are coming! have you seen the trailed for Tickled? I seriously can't wait for that either. And I want to see Hunt for the Wilder People again.
ReplyDeletewe went tubing in Asheville and loved it. we did zen tubing, and chose the one that is further out of town. I will say a year ago, the water was really low and a few times we had to stand up and move our tubes, but it was still awesome.
AND the puppetry museum rules! travis and I went before the henson wing was added and loved it, and I hear its even better now!
For the rest of the summer I want to take a few more trips to rock island, see lots of movies, go to at least one more outdoor movie (jaws in august!) and make time to visit the snoball truck a few times a week. I love summer!
I saw your Spock dress on Instagram! Uh-May-Zing! You look so freakin' cute.
DeleteTickled looks intriguing. Not how I expected that trailer to pan out. Fingers crossed that our local will carry it.
Thanks for the tubing suggestion in ol' Asheville. We are in a drought in north Georgia so the water is really only ankle deep in large sections of the tubing rivers. It might be the same in Asheville too. As long as the water isn't being contaminated with stale beer and restaurant runoff (really, that part of Helen is *nasty*) then I'll be happy to slog around in a trickle!
Also, we watched Jaws the other night while floating in my Mom's pool. Even at my advanced age of 40somethingmumblemuble I still got a bit spooked. I will say that the fashion in that movie was pretty fantastic. The suit jacket with anchors? Look for it. FAB!
If Athens had a snoball truck then I just might like summer a bit better, for sure. :)