After falling in love with the first AT thru-hiker town by Woods Hole, we followed the recommendation of a friend to visit Hot Springs, NC too.  It’s a pretty darn romantic place with 108 degree hot springs and secret sidewalks lined with magnolias.  NC was a much needed break for us where we could cheat and follow the GPS, eat out at a local BBQ (I couldn’t pass the opportunity to have southern fried green tomatoes), and stay at Laughing Heart Hostel.  It’s past the season for the AT, so the only noise was coming from us watching cartoons on the hammock (like traveling could keep us from Korra!).

The second night we camped alongside Santeetlah Lake, which so far has been the ideal spot besides the fact that we were next to Woot Boys all night (seriously, don’t go camping and go ‘woot’ all night like a couple of giggly school girls).  Locke has really gotten the hang of not drowning and has leveled up to paddling aimlessly with his eyes closed while Ronan runs around snapping at butterflies.  It doesn’t get much better than swimming in a warm lake and fishing for bass; just don’t swallow because, and I quote: ‘giardia is real’.