My First Time In the East Coast!

March 16, 2015

As some of you might already know, I visited my boyfriend in the East Coast for the first time 3 weeks ago. Since I finally finished editing many images from this trip, I thought I'd share my adventures with you.

I flew into Atlanta, GA and my boyfriend, Jason, picked me up. We drove to my aunts house about 30 minutes north from the airport and stayed the night with her and my cousin. I hadn't seen them since my quinceañera (8 years ago) and it was absolutely awesome to catch up. Family means a whole lot to me so you can just imagine how I felt.

Ana Becerra takes the award for most awkward 2015

The next few days was a road trip to meet Jason's family. I was extremely stoked (and a wee bit nervous) to meet them. They all ended up being some of the kindest people (besides my own family of course) I have ever met. I had never experienced Southern hospitality until then. Let me tell ya, it's the best (in Nacho Libre voice)! I don't have a better explanation for it other than you'll feel like a part of the family.

We visited his cousin Ryan's farm over at Rutland Farms and it was absolutely gorgeous! Everything that goes into their market, they grow themselves. This includes strawberries, peaches, watermelon and more. I tried their Strawberry and Peach ice creams and I swear to the ice cream gods that they were some of the most delicious things my taste buds have ever tasted. They also host many school field trips for kids and even have their own petting zoo. I cannot wait to go back again and buy more of their delicious peach jelly! Go check out what they're up to on Facebook and Twitter!

That same day we left to Savannah and after many road trip sing a longs to "Hotel California" we arrived. I met more of his wonderful family and later arrived to our hotel. Early next morning we put on our adventure shoes (Danner boots to be exact) and headed to the semi touristy places Savannah had to offer. Forsythe Park, River Street, Ft. Pulaski, Tybee Island and Bonaventure Cemetery were the big ones. Later that night we met up with his aunt and uncle and had some drinks and appetizers before heading out to a Valentine's Eve double dinner date. After dinner we went to this dessert bar and had chocolate martini's (his aunt and I because we're cooler) and some delicious cheesecake. The last stop of the night was a bar that they're fond of. There was a blue grass band covering modern music and it was a blast!

Early next morning after trying not to hate the drinks we had the previous night, we were on our way to North Carolina! Jason is always saying how NC is one of the best states he's ever been to. I've always thought he was biased since he was born and raised there. Especially after he was in a touring band and saw most of the U.S. I just thought it was an awesome feeling for him to be home. Boy was he right. I've only traveled to eight states in my entire life and I can honestly say that North Carolina was one of the most beautiful ones I've seen. Of course, California, Washington and Oregon are up there on my list but NC easily made the cut. The way people live there is amazing. Especially in Charlotte, you can pick the type of speed you want to live. Fast, slow, left, right, up, down...you get the point.

The first day in NC was spent with Jason showing me around town and the places he went to school/grew up in. After that we took a stroll around his property which is basically acres on acres of forest. He showed me his Star Wars action figure collection and it was so rad seeing as that was one of the things we bonded over when we first met each other, it was an awesome feeling. There's nothing hotter than someone you love nerd out on the things they're so passionate about. Glad one of those is SW & his raaaaad model airplane collection he built. After that he showed me the studio and I fell in love with the Star Wars poster. I need one ASAP for my room! Since it was Valentine's Day we spent it with his mom and dad. A delicious dinner was prepared by Jason and his dad. We had lobster, salad and mashed potatoes if you were interested. :P After dinner we ended up playing MW3 and Mortal Kombat. It was the most perfect Valentine's date I've ever had in my life.

Sunday-Thursday:

Jason showed me some more of NC and took me to some sweet comic book places. Then we drove around a fancy part of town and I fell in love with the houses there. Later we went to a movie called "Still Alice" with Julianne Moore, it was amazing and I recommend it for the feels. We ended the night with sushi at my new favorite place called Sushi 101. Jason had been saving a burn pile for me so I could see what kind of manly things he did. Burning stuff you say? Awesome. It was rad for the first hour until the fire started getting small and I started to freeze. I left Jason to finish working while I ate the left over turkey bacon inside the house. The next day we drove to a rad antique store and I seriously wanted to get everything. After shopping, Jason took me to a place called Bojangles and it changed my life. It's like a KFC but 10000xs better. met up with our friend Dantek and went back for sushi and planned a mini photo adventure for the day after. We went to some trails and got our photo on. On the way to the car we saw a BUNCH of deer and was bummed I didn't have my zoom lens with me. Still took a shot though!

I got to experience my first snow fall!

Jason caught me in my natural moshing habitat

Or my natural habitat of being creepy Samara

After photo adventures we went for coffee/hot chocolate then for some more hangs at Dan's house. Awesome way to spend my last day there.

Yo, what up Haylie

I'm thankful for everyone I met on this trip. I'll definitely be back very soon. Thanks to Jason and his family for showing me an amazing time on my first time in the east coast.

Photos below by Dantek