Happy New Year!

New Year’s Eve is a time for celebration. Generally we eat and drink in excess so we can make sure we wake up on New Year’s Day feeling sufficiently lousy. When done properly, this is a great way to start the year because you can virtually guarantee that every day of the New Year will be better than the first. Optimism shines like sunlight and we rest up to start conquering the world… on January 2^nd.

This year we are doing things differently. Instead of partying until the wee hours with friends, Chris and I are taking Ivan to The Bi-Lo Center to see The Avett Brothers. I do not think there are too many six-year-olds that list The Avett Brothers amongst their favorite musicians so we are excited to celebrate New Year’s Eve by taking him to his first big time concert. We have always exposed him to live music but this will be the biggest musical event of his young life and we cannot wait to share it with him.

The Avett Brothers

This is where I need to be honest, though. The only reason we are going to the concert tonight is for Ivan. We saw The Avett Brothers at Chastain Park Amphitheater in Atlanta last year and it was an absolutely amazing concert. It actually pains me to see them at The Bi-Lo Center for fear that it will tarnish the memory of the performance we took in at Chastain Park. I would rather see my favorite bands in a warm and inviting outdoor amphitheater instead of a cold, soulless arena named after my least favorite grocery store.

This brings me to a reminder of why we have this blog.

Chris and I are always looking for cool new things to eat, see, and do. Our hope is to share them with people that have the same interests. There is no reason to have to go to The Bi-Lo Center to see your favorite band if someone tips you off to them early enough. Like I said, less than a year before they commanded Bi-Lo Center seating (and pricing) The Avett Brothers were playing an amphitheater in Atlanta for a fraction of the cost. More significantly, rewind to just a few years ago and you would have found them on the Skunk Stage at The Albino Skunk Music Festival in Greer.

My point is that there are plenty of great things to do and enjoy without spending a fortune and fighting crowds and traffic. The Upstate is a fantastic region with plenty to offer, even if some of the real gems require a little extra digging. Our goal for 2012 is to keep digging and sharing our stories with anybody that wants to read them. We hope you find as much pleasure in our adventures as we do and find ways to make them your own.

See you next year.

P.S. - Thanks for the tickets, Mom & Dad!