My Southern Summer

School started a month ago but I wanted to write a little bit about my Summer because I had such a blast.

Naturally, I spent a lot of time in the water and in the woods. I spent as much time as I could with friends, exploring new places and never wasting sunny days. Did a lot of hiking, swimming, and went camping and kayaking a few times as well!

I work four nights a week and would cram as much into the time in between as I possibly could. One time, my friend Lacey and I left on a Tuesday morning, drove over nine hours down to Destin Florida, stayed there for three nights, and then drove back up on Friday in time for our shift (we made it with about five minutes to spare.) Growing up on the beach, I still feel such a strong connection to it and was overjoyed by the gorgeous, clear waters and white sands of the Florida coast. We had so much fun and we stayed at the SWEETEST lady’s AirBnB. We did not expect to spend so much time getting to know our host, nor did we expect that we would end up loving her so much.

A couple of times, I used my in-between-work days to visit my parents down in Savannah, Georgia. It is so lovely there. I instantly adored the downtown area, with all of the winding oak trees and historical buildings, as well as the riverfront. There is so much art and creativity everywhere you go. Of course, we would drive over to Tybee Island to enjoy the beach there as well. There is nothing quite like the beautiful and childish feeling of playing in the waves with my parents, being thrown around by the salty waters. I was charmed by the abundance of sea oats around the beaches, as well as the flocks of pelicans that would fly over and dive into the water.

Staying in my parents’ house has a special type of relaxation to it and I sleep better there than anywhere else in the world, including my own bed.

I did take a couple of weekends off of work. One was to see one of my dear YWAM friends get married (as well as to be reunited with another) in Minneapolis. The other was to visit my oldest friend, Lexi, in Boise Idaho. She’s been my girl since the second grade or so and even though we hadn’t seen each other in a year and a half (which is crazy) she still felt like home to me and she always does, as does her family. I had no idea; however, how fun Boise Idaho would be. The downtown area is adorable. I was especially fond of “Freak Alley,” an alleyway of ever-evolving artwork in the form of murals. I also loved several of the little shops and the historical Hyde Street. There were a lot of nice little bars and beer gardens around and there is the Boise River that runs through the whole area. We rode bikes around it and floated down it as well, enjoying some good chats.

We also stayed with her family for a night in McCall, a lovely lake town. We enjoyed a day on the lake and exploring around, watching the sunset over the scene of the docks, with a new golden retriever friend we had made, live music playing in the background. Now, as soon as the sun did set, we were interrupted by the sound of CRIME, but that’s another story (luckily nobody was hurt.)

I discovered this Summer that I love Asheville (of course, it is basically Santa Cruz just with forest hippies instead of beach hippies) and intend to go more often. I first went with my friend Josie to go zip lining just outside of Asheville, then we found an awesome vegan café with a kombucha bar and we walked around town for a while. I fell in love instantly.

For the first time in my life, I set off fireworks on the fourth of July, at 2 in the morning, in a field with my friend. It’s a thing that so many people do growing up but I couldn’t because of where I lived. Sometimes missing out on certain things as a kid has an upside, though. You get to experience fun things for the very first time as an adult and that’s honestly special in its own way.

I saw a lot of waterfalls and my two favorites had to be Rainbow Falls at Gorges State Park in NC, where I went camping with Josie, and Burgess Falls, the foot of which Lacey and I kayaked to after paddling in the wrong direction for quite a long time but it’s okay we very much enjoyed ourselves.

This area has a lot of gorgeous flowers that bloom in the Summer, as well as a ton of big, vibrant butterflies! I swear, I have never seen so many butterflies at one spot in my life as I did when hiking through the Devil’s Bathtub in Virginia. It was unreal.

Going back to school I felt content and confident that I had done the absolute most with my summer that I could have, topping it all off with a visit to the county fair with a couple of friends, eating my first deep-fried Oreo in seven years.

Thanks for reading!

-- Emily Kathey