Atlanta trip: February 26 -March 1, 2010

Travel Log

Finally! It seemed like forever since I had gone on a trip!! This winter has been a long one (I think we - Minnesotans - say that every year, but really, this one seems like the worst in a long time) and I really needed to get away and not see snow. So after searching and searching on Expedia, I found a great deal to Atlanta. Rachel was going to be the travel companion on this trip til, well one diabetic cat later and it wasn't looking good. So turns out Neville was also looking to get away so I still had a travel buddy!

Friday
I had to get up before the crack of dawn, I didn't believe the sun was ever going to rise. It finally did when the plane took off! Oh well, at least during these early morning hours I had the meat raffle to entertain me!
I won 1 dollar! Well it wasn't enough to pay for the trip, but it was lunch time and I was ready to start spending some money! About a block away from our hotel was Steel. Odd place, I couldn't tell until we got a menu that this was an Asian restaurant! It was vacation so that meant wine with lunch! The server asked if we were celebrating something. hee hee.

A full stomach and I was ready to start exploring the city. First tour of the trip: the Federal Reserve Bank. The very first thing on the tour was a map showing where all the Federal Reserve banks were...um, Minneapolis was on that list. I didn't even realize, then I was worried that I could be going on this same tour back home - how lame would that be? Turns out Atlanta is the only one that has such a display. It was pretty neat, the museum part had all sorts of old money and items that use to be used as money. You got to inspect counterfeit bills and lift a gold bar. And you leave with a bag of real shredded money. Fun times.

What to do the first evening in a new town? How about tour a brewery!? Jen and I had read about a crazy place called Sweetwater Brewery. We didn't realize how crazy it was until we there there. It was like being a college house party again. If you ever want a refill on a beer you need to stay in a constant line or you are never getting back to the front again. After sampling all their beers, it was time to get out of there! It wasn't worth the $32 round trip cab ride, but I did love their blueberry beer. On a nice night it would have been fun to be outside and wander the grounds, but all being crammed into the building was a little too much for me.

Time for dinner! We headed back to our hotel and thought we would try another restaurant that was just across the street, Prickly Pear Taqueria. Not the best Mexican, but it was close and warm. This restaurant was one of several I saw on the trip - a joint Mexican and Pizza restaurant. Kinda of like an upscale joint Pizza Hut and Taco Bell combo! Oh and another unique restaurant type in the Atlanta area - a place that serves salads, just salads.

Saturday
After a nice, lazy, vacation morning, we decided to head out and explore some more. Next on the bracket - the CNN tour. Sadly, the earthquake in Chile had just hit in the middle of the night so this Saturday CNN tour was a bit more happening then other typical Saturdays. Our tour guide was pretty pumped that Rich Sanchez was there.

After the tour we stayed in the busy CNN center and ate at Dantanna's. This is a total sports bar place, with fun over-sized booths that have individual flat screen TVs, although we were seated at a boring table. Food was pretty good!

We thought we would check out Piedmont Park on the way back to the hotel. All the travel guides say to go here, but maybe because it was out of season, but it wasn't that cool. Just endless stretches of dead grass. For dinner we met up with Jen's aunt. It was so nice to let a local drive and decide where to go! She picked a great place, La Tavola. Great Italian food.

We were home early enough from dinner to run over to the liquor store across the street and then go back and rent a cheesy movie off cable. My favorite thing to do on vacation is rent a movie off cable!

Sunday
We still had a lot to see and this was our last full day! Got an early start to the morning and took the MARTA to Oakland Cemetery. Founded in 1850 this cemetery is filled with so many interesting things. Old epitaphs to read and old headstones to inspect... we spent a lot of time here.

I do a lot of research before trips and I didn't hear about the Cyclorama until we were in Atlanta. Such a shame, they need to boast their marketing skills cuz this place needs more visitors! It was fantastic! A giant oil painting completed in 1886 that is now strung up in a circle with a diorama blended into it, you get to view it by setting in a rotating stage that takes you through the 360 degree view of the battle of Atlanta.

I was starved at this point and we had past a cute little neighborhood joint called Dakota Blue. Tables filled with young, hip, artsy couples and local art hangs on the walls. I left with a new craving, jalapeño cheese grits from Dakota Blue. Yum!

Grant Park was a really neat neighborhood. We even checked out a couple of open houses in the area to see what the houses were like there. Grant Park totally beats Piedmont Park!

Well, time for the most touristy thing a person could do, The World of Coca-Cola. This is one long commercial, a commercial I didn't want to change the channel on! :) We got to view old memorabilia and old commercials. There was a 4D movie we watched twice. And then the finale, sampling 50 different Coke products from around the world! I stopped drinking Coke about 4 months back so I was nervous how this would go... thankfully I didn't stick my head under the soda fountain and just let the soda pour directly into my mouth!

As soon as we stepped on the MARTA to head back to the room to refreshen before dinner, someone started to yell, "the girl in the blue coat! the girl in the blue coat!" I can't even stress how much I didn't want to be wearing a blue coat at this time. I look up and this other guy started to introduce himself to me saying that he was a retired clown and now does magic tricks for entertainment (and tips). Oh god. I don't what is worse, a random guy yelling at me or a retired clown. Turns out it was all pretty hilarious. The clown hid a scarf in his sleeve and made it reappear under the sleeve of my jacket. Too funny.

The whole time we had been avoiding Marlow's Tavern, another restaurant across the street from the hotel, it looked chainy and meat laden. However, we didn't want to pay for a cab ride so we decided to give it a try. I am glad we did! Dinner was great, and they were happy to have us for hours (which I love to settle in a booth,with a good friend and a bottle of wine and not think about leaving the safety of booth life and entering the scary world again). The server was adorable and we got free asparagus fries, life was good.

Monday
Last day. :( Thankfully our plane didn't leave til mid-afternoon so we figured we had time to do one more thing... tour the Fox Theater. The outside is so nondescript, so I couldn't believe the inside when I saw it. Unbelievable. I got to sit in a chair valued at $50,000! Our 1 1/2 hour tour turned into 2+ hours by the end, but that is ok. I totally enjoyed poking around every nook and cranny. I just can't believe some guy gets to live there. He is like the protector of the Theater and they let him convert some old offices into a 2 story apartment. Lucky.

One last lunch before it was time to head to the airport. Right across from Fox Theater was a good looking place, Baraonda Caffe Italiano. They had pizza! For some reason I had been craving pizza the whole trip so I finally got my fix. Now I go could to the airport and head home...