I’ve been on quite the whirlwind this past month; every weekend I’m somewhere different. One may say I came down with a case of the travel bug.

It is ironic, however, because I planned all of these trips before figuring out I would be accepting a full-time position at Global Traveler, and now the urge to travel has become much stronger.

I started off in Columbia, S.C., to visit friends. I had only been gone less than a month after graduating in May, but I still needed to get my Cola fix. During the long weekend, I visited the Riverbanks Zoo and Garden, somewhere which I had hoped to but never had the chance to visit during my two years there.

I ate at my usual places, craving a few of my go-to foods: the chicken salad croissant from the Gourmet Shop, the grilled blueberry muffin from Eggs up Grill, and I even had time for a banana shake from Rosewood Dairy Bar. All in all, I would go back to Cola in a heartbeat. Next on the list was Covington, Va., and adventure does not begin to describe my time there. My brother is down in Virginia playing on a collegiate summer baseball team, so my mom, his girlfriend and I decided to take a long weekend trip.

Our flight down was an experience in itself; an eight-row plane flying through bad weather was more like a roller coaster at Six Flags. As we were driving, our GPS naturally took us the scenic route, through and around the mountains, which would have been quite lovely except it was pouring and the roads were beginning to flood. About three hours later we arrived at the hotel and could not have been more thrilled. We stayed in the heart of the Allegheny Mountains at the Omni Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, Va., which was beautiful and elegant. The luxury resort dates back to the 18^th century and is designated as a National Historic Landmark.

It is known for being surrounded by the largest hot springs in the state. Despite the historic flooding, I was still able to experience the true beauty the area has to offer. More on my travels to Miami, NYC and Atlantic City later on.

— Jenna Payesko, advertising and editorial coordinator