Memory Moment: Atlanta, 3:22am, August 5, 2019
So that was Scarlett sharing some thoughts.
For me, 4 Nights in Atlanta were great – just like old times! We spent time with friends and went to the Georgia Aquarium. We always want longer in Atlanta (aka The ATL, aka Hotlanta). There are so many things to do, but this trip was about seeing friends and going to the aquarium the aquarium. Mission accomplished!
Atlanta holds a special place for Whitney and me. We met in ATL in 2007 and our first 10 months of dating were here, before her residency took us to Seattle in July 2008. Whitney came to Atlanta to complete her Medical Degree (MD) and a Master’s in Public Health (MPH) at Emory University. And, as I got to see partially in her final year in Atlanta, and even more so during residency in Seattle, she poured herself into her studies/work and achieved awesomely. The intensity of that work made the bond she shared with her classmates extremely special – coming through medical school together I saw forms friendships like few others I have seen before.
For me, I studied in Columbus, Georgia from 1998-2001, then worked in Atlanta from 2001-2008 with a year of study for my MBA in 2004/2005 at Emory University. The area became the second longest place I had ever lived behind Naracoorte, South Australia – my home town.
Our Atlanta happenings included:
Georgia Aquarium
Fellini’s Pizza (Howell Mill), but any location is phenomenal! … a bunch of my MBA classmates joined us and we caught up on old times then took the kids across the street to Ellsworth Park to burn off some end of the day energy.
Brunch at Revival (in Decatur). Brunch in the South (of the USA) is always good, and this place was no exception. AMAZING cinnamon rolls, biscuits and gravy as good as it gets, and (of course) fantastic company. I still got caught by the fact you can’t have alcohol before ~11am on Sunday, so the Bloody Mary was left to another day!
Playdates … we savored hanging out with 3 different families, each of them super dear to us. We hung out at their homes, grilled food, walked to playgrounds, caught up on life and allowed the girls to take full advantage of all the amazing toys that are always to be found at someone else’s house. Just magic hours friends.
Tantrums… while we kept it pretty low key in ATL, nonetheless it was essentially a 4 day playdate for Scarlett and Nora. Such positive wonderful playtimes of course induces fatigue and some epic tantrums. They don’t seem to dwell on them, but for now at least, they are etched in my memory as a rough part of these 4 nights.
T-Mobile (agh… a couple of long hours getting my phone # ported over from the company I had worked with, including a good chunk of it with Hazel in my arms). Kudos to the super pleasant T-Mobile team members at the store, but they were hamstrung by the poor corporate support they received, brutal!
5:30am Flight out of Atlanta on Monday August 5, 2019. Yep, that’s right! After a fun filled weekend it was an insanely early start to this next phase of the adventure.
