Trip Report - Atlanta weekend

My sister and I went to Atlanta for a weekend. Our main reason was to see the latest tour of Spamalot with Richard Chamberlain. We decided to take in some sights as well. This was to be a budget weekend since I splurged on the show tickets.

Hotel: Westin Atlanta North Perimeter - I booked through Hotwire and had a rate of $46/night. I normally couldn't afford to stay at this hotel but for that it was a treat.

Friday - Drove to Atlanta hitting rush hour in 2 cities. Not fun. We arrived at the Westin at about 8 pm. We had a bit of trouble finding the hotel in the dark no thanks to our GPS that gave us some wonky directions. The hotel itself is very nice. More business hotel during the week as it is located near many offices and in a business park. We just happened to be there on a weekend that the hotel had a Bar Mitzvah and 2 Bat Mitzvah parties. Great, a bunch of noisy kids would be running around the place on Saturday. After checking out the room we headed out for dinner. As a disclaimer I will say we are not foodies by any means and eat at a lot of chain restaraurants. About a mile and half from the hotel through a residential neighborhood is the intersection of Hammond and Roswell Rd. Lots of restaurants, supermarkets and such. We picked up Boston Market (all ours closed so this was a suprise) and took it back to the room. Finally to bed.

Saturday - After the wonderful shower with the dual heads (must get one of those) we headed out for breakfast. Our goal was Louise's which my sister had seen on either Food Network or Travel Channel. It is in midtown so we set the GPS and off we went. More wonky directions but we finally found it. It was boarded up with a giant for sale sign out front. I turned to my sis and said she must have been watching a repeat. Disheartened and starving we turned around and decided to go to Mary Mac's since we had passed it a block or so ago. I had thought they were open for breakfast but if they were it is not that way now. The sign in the parking lot looked like breakfast had been scratched out and the hours changed.

After stopping at a gas station to use the restroom we decided to head to the MLK Jr site and we would have a late breakfast. More wonky directions but we finally made it. We parked at the visitors center and made our way inside to sign up for a tour of the birth home. We were sent across the street to another building with a large gift shop. We got lucky and were on the first tour. We met our guide at an old firehouse. The tour is nice and gives a lot of insight into Dr. King's childhood and family. The park service is restoring the whole area into what it looked like in the 1930's. I would love to go back when the project is complete to see the transformation.

Our tummies were grumbling so we asked the ranger for a breakfast recommendation. He sent us a couple blocks away to Thumbs Up. We skipped the movie and exhibit in favor of food. Unfortunately there was a super long wait and my sister said if she didn't eat she would faint so off we went to find something else. So downtown is not known for eateries I guess. We didn't even pass a McDonalds. We decided to go to our next destination and see if we could find something to eat there. We made our way to the parking garage at the aquarium and World of Coke. There was a snack stand but we didn't feel like premade sandwiches. We walked out of the park area and ended up at Johnny Rockets. I may go to chain restaurants but I hate touristy chain restaurants and had been able to avoid this one for a number of years. Beggars can't be choosers. We ate an overpriced meal and I hope to never go to Johnny Rockets again.

Now that no one was going to faint from humger we walked through the Olympic park enjoying the sunshine. The fountains were going and there were lots of kids playing. I didn't think it was quite warm enough but kids seem to be resilient about that sort of thing. Both the aquarium and Coke place were quite busy. They had long lines waiting for entrance. We hadn't planned on going to either and were glad or our decision. We made our way to a tacky souvenir shop for t-shirts for the kids. We walked back through the park and decided to go to the hotel for a rest.

After wading through all the children in the lobby we were able to relax in the room for a bit. The day was still young so we headed to the Perimeter Mall. The word recession must not be in these folk's vocabulary because the place was wall to wall people. We headed to Macy's for the sale were shoes were the order of the day. We browsed through a few shops, stopped for an Orange Julius and went back to the hotel secure in the thought that we had greatly helped the economy and got some cute shoes to boot.

We had wanted BBQ for dinner and the closest place was Slope's. Apparently a local chain but we would give it a go. It was Ok but nothing to write home about. Back to the hotel to get ready for the theatre.

The show was at the Cobb Centre. We found it easily (finally) and settled in for the show. Richard Chamberlain did a great job and the show was just as great as I remembered. My sister (who hadn't seen it before) thought it would be more funny. I don't know what she thought could be more funny than French taunting. Oh well. We had a great day in Atlanta and would head home in the morning.

Sunday - Check out was a breeze and we made it home by lunch. Lots of hugs and I missed you's from the kids. This had been the first time in almost 2 years that we hadn't taken them with us.

All in all an OK weekend. I definitely need to go back to experience the aquarium and I hear they have a nice zoo.