According to Google Maps, we traveled 632 miles, and drove for 17 hours and 1 minute during our week in Georgia while avoiding highways.
Each state we visit, we will choose at least one point of interest from each of the following categories: Famous Person, Famous Food, Road Side Attraction, State Capitol & State Museum, National Park, Historic Location, Can't Miss Attraction, and Made in the USA Tour. Some of the categories may have more than one selection, and sometimes a category will be vacant due to the lack of a candidate. Please click on the links below for the corresponding blog related our experiences in Georgia the past week.
Famous Person: Jimmy Carter
Famous Food: Peach Cobbler, Pecan Pie
Roadside Attraction: Babyland General Hospital
State Capitol/Museum: Atlanta
National Park: Cumberland Island National Seashore
Historic Location: Centennial Olympic Park
Can't miss attraction: Savannah
Made in the USA Tour: CNN World Headquarters
Please view our previous blog posts for further explanations of our experiences in Georgia over the past week.
A breakdown of our expenses of the past week are as follows:
Gas $ 104.00
$ 2.09 gal. in Americus, GA was the lowest price paid.
$ 2.39 gal. in McDonough, GA was highest price paid.
Comments:
We did great in this category again!
Groceries: $133.00
Walmart $64.00
Costco $69.00
Comments:
We did great in this category!
Dining out $71.00
Starbucks $4.00 (Tea x2 in exchange for free WIFI_
River House Seafood $20.00 (The best pecan pie in the world)
Crystal Beer Parlor $18.00 (The best peach cobbler in the world)
Kroger $27.00 (Delicious veggie sushi)
Costco $2.00 (One slice of average pizza)
Comments:
We did great in this category!
Entertainment: $82.00
Redbox $4.00 (Movies x2)
CNN Tour $78.00 (Budgeted and total waste of money)
Comments:
More than we normally spend!
Lodging: $0.00
Walmart $0.00 (Slept in parking lot x7 nights)
Comments:
We did great in this category again!
Miscellaneous: $19.00
Parking $19.00
Comments:
We did great in this category!
Georgia Expenses Grand Total: $ 409.00
(Our expense list does not include re-occurring expenses such as insurance and cellphone etc. )
Is Georgia Our New Home State?
Here are the rules:
Below are the 5 categories that are important to us in choosing our new home state. Each category is rated from 1 to 10 based on our personal experience in no particular order. 1 is the lowest and 10 is the highest for each category. Each category will receive 2 scores; 1 from Lori and 1 from Nate. The average of these two scores will determine the final score for each category. To determine a state’s final score, we will average the total score of each category. If a state’s final score is less than 8, then that state is eliminated from consideration. At the end of our year long cross country trip, the states that scored 8 or higher will be subject to further consideration. In addition, Lori and I each have 1 wild card option, which allows a state that otherwise would have been eliminated, to be considered as our new home state.
Economy:
Nate: 8
“Agriculture, automotive, textile, transportation, military, film, energy and tourism make up a well-diversified economy. Georgia is home to 17 Fortune 500 companies, is one of only 15 states with a AAA credit rating, and if Georgia was its own country, it would have the 28th largest economy in the world”
Lori: 5
“Georgia’s 4.5% unemployment rate is 10% higher than the national average, and
the median household income of $51,244 ranks 32nd in the nation. It appears only large companies are benefiting from the states booming economy”
Economy score: 6.5
Cost of Living:
Nate: 4
“With an income tax of 6% and a sales tax as high as 8.9% after local surcharges, Georgia is not overly tax friendly. In addition, the peach state ranks 25th in the nation for property taxes. We can certainly do better”
Lori: 6
“In Georgia, housing is 20% cheaper, gas is 5% cheaper, and the cost of food is on par with the national average! Not very exciting”
Cost of living score: 5
Quality of life:
Nate: 7
“Georgia is a humid subtropical climate, which gets more sun and more rain than the national average. When it comes to natural disasters, the peach state ranks as the safest place in the South, and one of the safest places in the nation”
Lori: 8
“Georgia’s violent crime rate is 7% higher than the national average, and aside from Atlanta the state was exceptionally clean”
Quality of life score: 7.5
Culture:
Nate: 7
“Georgia’s recreational and social activities centering in and around Atlanta include: professional teams in every sport, performing arts and museums in ever genre, host city for the Olympics, TV and film studios, the birthplace of Martin Luther King Jr., CNN World Headquarters, and The World of Coke just to highlight a few. Outside of the State's Capitol city and surrounding suburbs, there is not a whole lot going on.”
Lori: 8
“In the past, 2/3 of Georgia’s energy has come from coal, but this number has decreased 50% over the past decade. Nuclear, natural gas, biomass, solar, and wind is being used to bridge the gap. The peach state features ample vegan and vegetarian options as well.”
Culture Score: 7.5
Environment:
Nate: 8
“From the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountain’s in the North, to the trees in Savannah’s squares with dripping moss, and the pecan groves in the South, Georgia was a beautiful state to drive through.”
Lori: 7
“Atlanta is Georgia’s primary center of activity resulting in a 24/7 traffic jam for a 50-mile radius around the city. All stores appeared to be in business and thriving, but services were limited in the rural Northern and Southern parts of the state”
Environment Score: 7.5
The verdict is in:
The final score for Georgia was 6.8 and it will NOT be our new home. Nate already used his wild card, and Lori chose not to use her wild card on this state
Below are the current standings:
Colorado 9.2
Michigan 8.3
Oregon 8.2
Ohio 7.6
Indiana 7.4
Texas 7.3 (NATE’S WILD CARD)
South Dakota 7.1
North Dakota 6.9
Washington 6.9
Georgia 6.8
Virginia 6.6
Wyoming 6.5
Arizona 6.5
Pennsylvania 6.5
Florida 6.2
Idaho 6.1
West Virginia 6.0
California 5.9
Nevada 5.8
Nebraska 5.7
South Carolina 5.4
Utah 5.0
Kentucky 4.9
Wisconsin 4.5
New Mexico 4.5
Louisiana 4.3
Minnesota 4.2
Montana 4.1
Missouri 3.5
Iowa 3.3
Illinois 1.9