Atlanta for Thanksgiving

So, this past Wednesday morning I had a funeral--the first I have done in several weeks. This has actually been a low season for funerals around here, so far at least.

Well, we left for Atlanta in the mid-afternoon on Wednesday and got there fairly late that night. We got caught in some holiday traffic that we were not expecting, so it took us a little longer to get to our hotel. It was really nice. We stayed at the W Hotel Midtown which had a wonderful view of downtown Atlanta and was just down the street from several things we wanted to see while we were there. When we pulled up, the valet took our car and we had a very nice bellman with a British accent named Jason who helped us with our luggage and was our all around flunky for a few minutes. He definitely earned his tips when, after being out for most of the day on Thanksgiving, he called us by name when we returned to the hotel. Misty was very impressed. We stayed on the fifteenth floor of the hotel and it is one of those hotels where the rooms all have floor to ceiling windows. The 3 little angels acted like they had never seen anything quite so wonderful. I forget that we really do live in a small town and they rarely see a big city.

Thanksgiving Day we slept in late and decided to go look for something for lunch around 11:30 or so. Well, every restaurant that was anywhere near our hotel was closed for the holiday. So, we decided that since we could not find a place to have Thanksgiving lunch, we would go on to the King Tut exhibit and take our chances there. Well, we had borrowed a GPS system from our youth minister at the church and we used it to find our way to the civic center where the Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs exhibit was to be held. When we pulled up, there was not a soul to be seen. I got a little worried since we had paid a pretty penny for these tickets. When we got to the other side, we saw several cars so my worries went away. We had timed tickets, but because of the holiday traffic for the exhibit was slow, we were able to go in early. We did finally get to have lunch at the "Cairo Cafe." We had bowls of chicken noodle soup and some sandwiches. Kind of sad, really. After lunch, we went through the 90-minute exhibit which was very nice and well worth the time and money to get there. The girls did very well, even the little ones. They did not sit on anything which was a blessing. When we went to see the Hatshepsut exhibit in Fort Worth, Elizabeth, who was three then, tried to sit next to a sphinx that was like 3800 years old. Scary. After the exhibit we saw a 3-D movie about Egypt. This was probably the girls' favorite part. We then found a park for the girls to run off some excess energy and then we were off to dinner.

For dinner we went to Benihana. The irony of spending Thanksgiving dinner at a Japanese restaurant, like the sad folks at the end of A Christmas Story, was not lost on us. Since it was Madeline's birthday, they sang for her and gave her a hat made of balloons. She did not know what to think of the experience. We had not been to Benihana in quite some time, maybe once since we left the Dallas area, so it was kind of nostalgic for us. We asked for Pab, our favorite waitress. Not really.

Black Friday we went to visit the High Museum of Art which was just a couple of blocks from our hotel. The place was a mad house of activity. Their big exhibit now is the Terracotta Warriors that were buried in the tomb complex of the first emperor of China. The High Museum is very nice and the exhibit was great. We spent a good bit of the morning and early afternoon there and then we decided to do the unthinkable--we went to the mall. I have made it a tenet of my religious faith to never go to the mall on Black Friday. I remember now why I made that vow. We drove to the suburbs, to Alpharetta to go to the American Girl Store and to look for a purse for Misty. I had promised to buy Misty a Dooney and Bourke purse if Madeline finished potty training before her third birthday. Well, she did, so it was time to pay the piper. We found her a nice purse and it was even on sale, so I lucked out. We let the girls ride the carousel and then we were off to the other side of Atlanta. We found another park for the girls to play in and then we went to Pappasito's Cantina for dinner. We have not found a Mexican restaurant we really like in Panama City so we were in need of a Tex-Mex fix.

We really liked Atlanta and felt very at home there. I really feel at home in a city and miss the conveniences and the faster pace of life. I know that some day we will have to move back to a city for sanity's sake. I miss having cultural outlets, if nothing else. I am sure we will visit there more often.

Saturday morning we left for home. We had a nice time and a much-needed getaway before the Christmas season officially began today. I have something every night of the next week. What joy.

On a much sadder note, on our way back from Atlanta we found out that a person who is close to some folks we are close to took their own life Saturday morning. We did not know this person, but the repercussions of this act will definitely be felt around us. This is never easy, but it is just horrible at this time of the year. So many questions. Please pray for the family.