Pay It Forward Friday

  Come & fill your glass right here..

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Gratitude Habitat                                                                                         Wish Hunt

   

You Better Preach                                                                            Paying It forward..One Day at a Time

‎"Mindfulness is paying attention on purpose non-judgmentally in the present moment as if your life depended on it." ~ Jon Kabat-Zinn    Random Acts of Kindness

  

Wings...Learn, Lead, Live                                                Source unknown

Georgia on a Dare

Dare: verb -  to be sufficiently courageous to; to have the courage to contend against, venture or try

On August 15th 2012 I officially started the "601 City Challenge"!

Hi my is Vicki and I live in Georgia. I'm a wife & mother and I am daring myself to visit each & every city in the state of Georgia and there's 601 of them. Out of the 601 cities in Georgia I have probably only been to about 30 and I've traveled through another 100 or so to get to any given destination. In the 24 years that I've lived in this state I've just recently seen a little over 10% of the entire State. 

In that realization, I created the"601 City Challenge". It's a dare to travel to all of the cities in Georgia keeping 5 key points in mind:

1. I love being a tourist 

2. Find options for my tween daughter 

3. Have unique, new experiences

4. I can be as creative as I want

5. I Need to keep it affordable 

(This is the county breakdown)

The state of Georgia has boundless options (at least 601) that will get my family (and yours) out of house for the next 138 months or 11.5 years. I will also write about it online (blog). All of this will require me to be focused & determined, well actually that requires a whole set of dares on its on. But any who,

In order for the "601 City Challenge & Blog" to work I am daring to consciously:

*CHOOSE a location & HAVE a flexible schedule

*WRITE consistently, everyday. WRITE some type of content 

*RESEARCH where I visit

*ENGAGE with the community 

*THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX when it comes to being affordable and  location  

*REMEMBER how important this is to me even when negativity from other people rain on my parade

 TAKE & POST pictures of the experiences

*SEE the heart of each city, not just the fancy frills but the pieces that make it who it is

This post was prompted by "A Year of Blogging & Journaling Ideas" by Cynthia Louden.This is a free ebook that has 365 writing prompts, enough for an entire year. You can choose in any order and start & stop when you want. A couple of times a week I will  choose idea prompts that will allow me to be reflective the "601 City Challenge". So with that being said the very first prompt in the series is: "Daring Myself......", I thought this was apropos for this particular day. So I started writing and a couple of hours later I have Georgia on a Dare.

Next city: Suwanee, GA (Gwinnett County)

Cobb County, Mableton Georgia #2

Cobb County, 30126

Located in the southern tip of Cobb County, Georgia is an area voted one of the top 100 best places to live in. Mableton was awarded this honor in both 2007 & 2008 by CNN Money. Mableton, Georgia is located in Metro Atlanta but it is not a city. It's actually  considered a census designated place (CDP) in Cobb County. In 1912, Mableton was incorporated as a town on August 19th but on August 17th, 1916 it was unincorporated by the votes of its citizens in an attempt to avoid paying rising taxes. Mableton borders Austell and in recent years has been included as part of the Vinings area where Veterans Memorial & Fontaine Rd meet.

                                 

*That as of the 2010 census, Mableton had a population of 37,115.

*This South Cobb city is rich in history and is in the midst of growth in grass roots organizations & entrepreneurs.

*Mableton, Georgia was named after Robert Mable (1803-1885) who purchased 300 acres of land on September 11, 1843.

*In 1882 there was a train station in Mableton owned by Southern Railway.

*Metro Atlanta is home to a set of one of kind american civil war artifacts. Located in Mableton is located 1 of 9 "shoupades" site. Shoupades were the only arrowhead shaped forts used in the american civil war. They were built in 1864 and only 9 out of the original 36 are left. These relics link the American Civil War to this small area of Cobb County.

*Georgia's very own Martin's Restaurant is Headquartered is here

*The Mable House Barnes Amphitheatre is the only mid sized outdoor seating venue in metro Atlanta and it's located in Mableton, Georgia.

*Part of the Silver Comet Trail runs through South Cobb County, right through Mableton. This trail starts in Atlanta and moves west to the Georgia / Alabama state line and it's over 61 miles long. The Silver Comet Depot is the only bike shop along this trail and it's located in this city Census Designated Place.

Cobb County is located in the northwest corner of Georgia and in the southwest corner of Cobb County is  Mableton. It measures only 20.8 square miles out of a total of 344.51 square miles that Cobb County holds. In 2010 it's first business group was the founded, The Mableton Business Exchange. It has one of Metro Atlanta's best known secrets, the Mable House Art Gallery that's curated by the South Cobb Arts Alliance. Mableton has its own farmer's market on Thursday mornings in the Spring/Summer from 8:30a-12:30 thanks to the Mableton Improvement Coaliation (MIC).

Mableton is a stones throw from my house so I literally drive through it at least 1x a day. Until I did the research for this city I had no idea of how much history and progress is right underneath my nose. This is WHY I'm doing this challenge!  "Vicki Travels Georgia....601 cities, 1 girl & a Blog " because it it took me writing this post to appreciate Mableton, Georgia for its part in history.



The Mable House Art Gallery



A home linked to have been American Civil War hospital




The Silver Comet Trail Map *(star) is Floyd Rd, Mableton Parking & The Come Depot

 

Water Fountain @ The Comet Depot

  

Mable House Complex



 

Cobb County, Austell, Georgia #1

Cobb County: 30106, 30168

1. Austell was originally known as Salt Springs, GA because of a natural spring located near a salt lick that was believed to have medicinal properties.

2. It was a known resort destination for its therapeutic healing.

3. Glen Owen (G.O.) Mozley owned 240 acres of what is now Austell. He auctioned plots and laid down plans that included streets.

4. It was also called Glendale, Cincinatti Junction & Irvine until in 1885 it was incorporated as a city and its current name was finalized.

5. Austell is named after General Alfred Austell (1814-1881) who played an instrumental role in bringing major railways to the South.

6. Georgia Pacific Railway used Austell as a station depot that connected trains to either Birmingham or Chattanooga.

Austell is my home and I've lived here roughly 9 years. My parents & I moved here after my high school graduation. In 2006, My husband & I bought our 1st house less than 2 miles away. Austell is a small city that a lot of people in North Georgia have never heard of but guess what? It's home to the biggest amusement park in the whole state. It's also home to 1 of only 5 public golf courses in the county.


Highlights

Vicki Travels Georgia

Georgia has:

* 159 counties
* 954 zip codes
*601 cities/municipal corporations
*58 census designated places
*several (no way of knowing now) unincorporated areas that are NOT designated.

So with all of that information, I've put out a challenge for myself. To travel the whole state of Georgia. To visit each AND every community whether its a city, designated place or unincorporated area. Whether the population is over 400,000 or under 50, I will travel there. I will travel from Abba to Zebulon (in no particular order) and blog about each & every stop along the way.

I'm originally from Michigan but I've lived in Georgia for over 24 years so I consider myself a "Georgia Peach." I lived briefly in Fulton County, a little over a year in Gwinnett County but most of my has been spent in Cobb County. I live in Cobb, work in Cobb & stay in Cobb! This challenge is exactly what I need to get out(side) of Cobb.

My travels will be in no particular order. Sometimes I'll travel to cities that I've already been to but most importantly I'll visit a lot of cities that I've only heard of. This blog is my documentation of where I'm going, why & what I did once I got there.
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