Atlanta

So Mark had a really, really good idea.  He had to be at the National Safety

Conference in Atlanta last week and he asked me to join him.  We've never been to Atlanta so of course I said yes.  You know me…I love to go, go, go!

We flew out on Sunday and arrived to pouring rain.  

We got to the hotel, got checked in and there was a little break in the rain.  We felt like that might be our only chance to walk around that day so we go out and walked around and stretched our legs after sitting on our butts all day traveling there.  

Atlanta from our room

Our hotel was in downtown Atlanta so we were within walking distance to the Centennial Olympic Park.  On the way to the park, we passed the Coca-Cola museum and the Georgia Aquarium and made plans to go back to both of the places later in the week.  

Georgia Aquarium

Coca-Cola Museum

Centennial Olympic Park

Centennial Olympic Park

Georgia Dome

The park is really pretty and there were lots of people in the park, obviously taking advantage of the break in the weather.  But, along with the tourists and the others who were there, the pan-handlers and the bums were out in force too.  You couldn't even look at your phone without 2 to 3 guys coming up and offering to "help you find something" but wanted you to "bless"them with a cash donation.  UGH!

And then the rain returned.  

Mark had the conference all day Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday so I spent the days working on my classes and reading in the hotel. And I watched the rain.

On Monday night we were invited to go out to eat dinner with one of the vendors that supplies equipment to the company that Mark works for.  We went to eat at Poor Calvins.  OH MY GOSH!  That was one of our top 10 meals we have ever had.   

Poor Calvin's

Later that evening we attend a private reception at the Georgia Aquarium.  Another vendor had rented the aquarium from 8-10:30 pm for this reception.  We had full run of the place and didn't have to mess with the regular tourist crowds.  The main attraction there is the Whale Sharks and they are one of two aquariums in the world that have them  (The other one is in Japan) The Georgia Aquarium has been on our bucket list so getting to go there was a special treat for us.  

Georgia Aquarium

On Tuesday evening we were invited to have dinner with another vendor.  We had another delicious dinner at a restaurant called Lure.  Cathy, the gal who invited us, is originally from Denver  and still lives here) so she had lots of information about places that Mark and I need to go to while we are living in Colorado.  In fact, she and her hubby own a cabin in Alma, CO which happens to be the fly fishing capital of the world.  Well maybe not the world but it has world class fishing there.  She invited us to join her and her husband sometime in the spring for a weekend.  I am down for that!

Lure

On Wednesday night we didn't have any offers for a free meal (dang it) so we made reservations at a place called Ray's in the City.  We had a great meal there too. 

On Thursday, we woke up to cloudy skies but NO RAIN!  Mark didn't have anything else to do at the Conference so we made arrangements to take an Antebellum tour.  I guess we hit the right time of the year because we were the only ones who had signed up for a tour that day so we had our own private guide for the day.  The tour started in Roswell and our driver took us by the house that Margaret Mitchell wrote Gone With the Wind in, Wimbush house, Harrington Hall, The Old Mill Park and the Roswell Cemetery on the way to the first antebellum home.  

Margaret Mitchell's apartment

Harrington Hall

Old Mill Park

We had another private tour of Bullock Hall in Roswell.  The docent was very invested in the house because she and her mother had been to many weddings, parties, receptions etc. back in the 40's and 50's before the home was registered as a historic building.  She said she loved the old home like it was her own and had been volunteering at it for over 40 years.  

Bullock Hall

We were going to see two other antebellum homes but when our guide asked if we wanted to see something besides homes we jumped at the chance to see some other things too.  So we headed off towards Marietta. He took us by the only Federally operated Union graveyard in the United States, the Kennesaw Civil War battle site, Marietta square, and a Confederate cemetery.  What's interesting about this cemetery is that the soldiers are all buried in an area from the state that they came from. All of the soldiers from Texas are all buried together, the ones from Mississippi are buried together and so on. 

Confederate Cemetery

The tour guide was an avid history buff and especially a Georgia history buff so he had lots of stories about all of the places we were traveling by and about the places that we went to.  We had a great day and ended the day having a delicious BBQ dinner at Twin Smokers.

All of the different woods they use to smoke their meat 

And we drove home in driving rain….