Every year my best friend Nicole and I go on a road trip together. This is the third year in a row we’ve packed up our car with maps and snacks and hit the road. This year we went south through the Carolinas and stayed with her family for a few days in Athens, Georgia. We swung wide on the way back and stayed overnight in Johnson City, Tennessee.

We love being in the car, stopping at visitors centers, and seeing cities along the way. This year we had the pleasure of having Skye, Nicole’s dog, with us. She loves the car as much as we do and was content to be curled up in the backseat for hours.

Our goal is to see every state together and drink that state’s most iconic drink in a local bar or restaurant. This year we checked four states off the list, making a total of 11 states and 2 Canadian provinces.

Day 1: Drive from Harrisonburg, VA to Athens, GA

We left Harrisonburg around 9 AM and immediately hit the road. The car stopped once for a bathroom break and then again for lunch in a small town. We ate Sheetz in the parking lot so I could attend my online grad class on their wifi. After class on the road, we made it to Charlotte, NC. One of my photographer friends suggested that we visit Amélie’s Bakery and I’m SO happy she did. It’s the coolest French-inspired bakery with the most delicious treats and amazing décor. We left the bakery with three boxes of goodies, and now I vow to stop there every time I road trip through Charlotte.

North Carolina’s state drink is moonshine. After calling five different bars, the last one finally told us that we’d have to go to a liquor store to get actual moonshine. Instead, we elected to share a flight of local brews instead of finding moonshine, and neither of us were too upset about it.

We made it to Greenville, SC just after sunset and split a burger and the state drink, sweet tea and vodka. I love sweet tea but I do not love liquor, so it wasn’t my favorite drink so far. We arrived in Athens around 10:30 PM, visited for a while, then went straight to bed.

Day 2: Athens, GA

We both had class Thursday morning so we spent all morning working on our laptops and planning the rest of the trip. We went to lunch at a local brewery then drove around the University of Georgia’s campus. It was HUGE. At least that’s what we thought when we only saw a small portion of the campus, not knowing that we had completely missed the main part of campus.

Then we drove to the Georgia State Botanical Gardens and explored the heritage and flower gardens.

We stopped at this little shop on the side of the road on the way back to Nicole’s family’s house and bough a bucket of fresh apples. This cute little chatty cat was a bonus.

We told Nicole’s family that we saw campus and it was beautiful, but said we didn’t see the big stadium. They told us that if we missed the stadium, then we missed most of campus. On our way to dinner, they drove us around and showed us just how big campus really is.

Day 3: Atlanta, GA

We drove to Atlanta for our day of sightseeing. We started at the World of Coca-Cola Museum and experienced the magic of the company, saw the vault of the secret formula and partook in their new exhibit, Scent Discovery. I had no idea that Coca-Cola invented so many things, including the coupon!

For lunch we went to the Mellow Mushroom for pizza and the Georgia state drink, the Georgia Peach. It was a pretty little pink drink and was absolutely delicious.

After lunch, we went to the aquarium. We were super impressed with how they were making it clean and safe, and I especially loved the viewing panels that separated groups of people. This was the first time little kids didn’t push in front of me to get to the glass and I loved every second of it. We enjoyed seeing the only whale sharks on exhibit in North America as well as the manta rays and baby beluga whale.

Day 4: Drive to Johnson City, Tennessee

We hit the road again and drive all the way to Johnson City. We stopped a few times at some scenic overlooks and the Great Smokey Mountains Visitor’s Center. The drive is one of the most beautiful I’ve ever made, especially with the fall foliage starting to hit the mountains.

Skye LOVES the car.

There was a little hike at this overlook and I made Nicole climb the whole thing with me. Although it was paved, it was basically straight up hill and we had to stop a few times to catch our breath haha. The view at the top was definitely worth it though!

We made it to Johnson City just in time to have dinner with my aunt, who is currently working there. We shared Tennessee’s state drink, rum and coke. It’s absolutely the worst state drink so far, we had to force ourselves to finish it haha!

Day 5: Drive back to Harrisonburg

We met up with my aunt to walk around this huge park in the morning before we set off. We took pictures, hugged goodbye, then made the drive home! It took about 5 hours to get back to Harrisonburg and the drive was easy and beautiful.

It was such a great road trip and the perfect way to spend our last week of freedom before Nicole went back to in-person classes and I started the fall photography season.

To see more of my travels, check out my personal tab on the blog!

Have road trip suggestions? Give them to me here!