rajeevsanam.com Blog

After roaming around the east coast i finally got a chance to go on to the west coast of US ..to San fransisco., the silicon valley, with mouth watering yummy seafood and loads of family and friends. And on the weekend we headed to the Napa valley, driving through the beautiful countryside dotted with an array of vineyards.

My first Varalakshmi Puja!

This puja of goddess Mahalakshmi is observed on the Friday before Shravan Purnima, but since i didnt know the details to perform it at home on my own, we decided to head to the temple in Atlanta.

To mark our first anniversary, we decided to stay in Atlanta for a change and after 4 months of going around in Florida, we thought it was time to explore our own backyard.  A few clicks on the internet and 2 hours from home, we reached the quaint town of Blue Ridge at the base of north Georgia Mountains, the state’s highest mountain range. After wandering around the souvenir shops and charming cafes, we headed on to the Amicalola state park, with the 729-foot Amicalola waterfalls, the tallest cascading waterfall east of the Mississippi River.

The falls could be accessed by climbing a walkway which goes right from the bottom to the top of the falls or even more easily by driving the car to a parking area more than half way up the falls within walking distance to a platform which provides a closeup view of the falls.

This trip started from Atlanta to Washington DC for the graduation ceremony of Rajeev’s cousin Sharath, and back to Jacksonville, Florida. This time in Florida, we decided to check out the Keneddy space center, the launching site of the space shuttles in US and drive through the Daytona beach on the way back.

We had heard a lot about the Great Smoky mountains National park on the Tennessee -North Carolina border, about 3 hours drive from Atlanta. So when Rajeev’s cousin dolly and her husband Shankar came to our house for the weekend, this seemed to be the perfect place to go.

When my cousin Namita and her husband Ajit came to Atlanta, we took them to the gulf coast, to enjoy the white sandy beaches, crystal clear water and loads of sunshine!

There’s so much more to Miami other than its fabulous beaches, just begging to be explored. From the natural wilderness of the Everglades national park (the only natural tropical forest in the US) to the carefully crafted Parrot Jungle Island and Monkey Jungle, this ‘other side’ of Miami is equally captivating.

Eco tourism, wild watersports, sparkling nights on the town, super slim stilettos, cultural diversity and fabulous shopping…need i say more

Most of us get bored of studies by the time we reach college..but imagine 4 years of engineering plus 2 years of masters plus 3 years of doctorate..WOW. kudos to shankar and to jyotsna! so how could we not be a part of celebrating the finale…the graduation ceremony… with family, friends, beautiful countryside and yummy food!