JOY of 2021: A Recap

Embrace every ounce of JOY in life! That is the biggest and best lesson I learned from the past year. How do YOU embrace life’s joy? Here is a summary of how I did it…my way!

New and vibrant mural in Florence, Alabama…so joyful !!
This delightful artwork in Fayetteville, NC makes me smile !
“Mother Goose” in Columbus, MS sang and discussed her passion for literacy.
This sweet potato cheesecake in Florence, South Carolina is beyond bliss !

As a travel writer, I embrace road trips in the southeastern United States in a huge way. In 2021 I visited towns in seven states. This included two Bucket List towns…Florence, Alabama https://www.visitflorenceal.com/ and Fayetteville, North Carolina https://www.visitfayettevillenc.com/ . I met “Mother Goose” in Columbus, Mississippi http://www.visitcolumbusms.org/, and ate so much amazing food on the Pecan Trail in Florence, South Carolina https://visitflo.com/.

The total number of interviews for the year topped 80! (DANG, Y’ALL… I love travel and photography and interviewing fine, fun, fascinating folks!) These included two Bucket List interviews. The first was Stephanie Stuckey who is bringing back the iconic Stuckey’s business that adds so much fun to road trips https://stuckeys.com/. The other was Nick Murray who gave up a successful corporate job to return to the land and become a goat farmer in Georgia https://www.gratefulhillfarm.com/. He and his beautiful family are quite inspiring.

Chef Leon brings fresh & exciting food to Florida.

Two fun local Florida interviews were with attorney Dana Brooks https://www.fasigbrooks.com/attorneys/dana-brooks/ and rising young chef Leon Brunson https://leoncbrunson.com/ .

Making new friends is such a pleasure. I met several fellow travel writers including Melody Pittman https://www.whereverimayroamblog.com/, the deeply awe-inspiring Penny Zibula https://sixlegswilltravel.com/, Anna Cook https://stuckonthego.com/, and the duo Brandi and Dori https://backroadsandburgers.com/. I highly encourage y’all to enjoy their sites.

Two of the sweetest and most brilliant business owners I got to know were Heather Thomas of The Willis Park Hotel in Georgia https://www.thewillisparkhotel.com/ and Kyle Hardee of Tubb’s Shrimp & Fish in South Carolina https://tubbsseafood.com/.

Kyle at Tubb’s is a pure JOY to interview !

The Facebook Group that I started a year ago is a work in progress that is coming along nicely https://www.facebook.com/groups/embracesouthernstates. Dang, y’all, I sure hope YOU are part of that.   I am also slowly learning how to do more technology, including Instagram https://www.instagram.com/embracesouthernstates/. If YOU know anyone who could help me improve my website…and “grow” it…please let me know.

One last thing: I deeply and sincerely appreciate every person who takes the time to read and enjoy EmbraceSouthernStates…if YOU enjoy it…PLEASE take time to leave COMMENTS!!! Thank you, and MAY 2022 EMBRACE YOU with a joy of travel!!!

6 thoughts on “JOY of 2021: A Recap”

Comments are closed.

Verified by MonsterInsights