Leap Year Day - February 29
We left the waves behind and headed to Atlanta today. This trip was about 12 years in the making. Every year started the same - "We should go see the Darbys in Atlanta!" Finally we arrive.
Since Jim is like king at SAIA, it seemed appropriate that he would arrange for us to stay at the Hilton castle on the hill( that is of course, if you can find it). Let's just say we found it once in our three day stay and let it go at that!
Here we are arriving at the Darby's real castle. It's five miles from our hotel and took about 45 minutes to get there - if you were following the Fogels! Our navigational skills rear their ugly heads again.
Cindy had a full day planned for us - even though it was afternoon when we started! We were going to lunch at Zaxby's, an Atlanta restaurant with excellent salads and Texas toast. Then, off to the Georgia Premium Outlet Mall! Everyone in this picture is smiling even though it hasn't registered with Larry and Bob just what it means to go to the outlet mall!
Ah yes, hundreds of stores!! And everything is on sale!!
We had to split up and of course, it was along gender lines. The men did laps around the outside, while the women paced themselves inside.
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| Bob somehow managed to buy a new outfit - shown here. |
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| Larry's lone purchase - hand sanitizers! |
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| Proudly, Cindy and I held up our end! Jodie is still in the stores shopping. Jodie wins! |
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| Perfect end to a successful shopping day - DINNER! |
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Just had to include this stunning painting done by Katie Darby (my sooo talented niece)when she was 12!
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Friday, March 2
And now, something for the grown up tourist! The home of CNN. Jim is leading us in his car, so it's a short trip to downtown Atlanta. Yowza!
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| Cindy had made reservations for us to tour CNN. If you ever have the opportunity - take it! It's incredible to see exactly how the news is put together. And just how quickly the news team can insert breaking news - 5 minutes. |
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| Inside the CNN building, is the world's tallest freestanding escalator - on the right in the photo, attached to the earth. Anyone who knows me, knows that is my kryptonite. I can ride up ok, but at the top, our guide explains what freestanding really means - no supports except at the top and bottom of the escalator. I can't go down! Fortunately, there is only one escalator and it only goes up. Unfortunately, it's stairs all the way down. |
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| We arrived a bit early and had time for photos. |
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| Picture taking has reached it's peak with this group. |
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| I could not resist this photo opportunity where we look like newsmakers about to be interviewed. |
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| Copy-cats! |
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| Who knew Jim was such an excellent tour guide?? |
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| Aftetr the CNN tour, we have enough time to tour Coke before lunch. Yikes, I realize I'm getting the shape of the coke bottle. |
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| Effervescent Cindy! |
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| Even bubblier Larry! |
Bob got there first! |
| Best part of the Coke tour, the tasting room. Here there are 65 different flavors of Coke and its products marketed around the world. You can sample each one if you like. No limits! (Worst part of the tour, the 30 minute buildup to see the vault holding the Coke formula, not blog worthy) |
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| Larry and I just getting started. |
Jim and Cindy have chosen the revolving restautant - The Sun Dial - at the top to the Westin for lunch. It has a spectacular 360 degree view of Atlanta and its suburbs. The restaurant makes a complete revolution about once an hour. Perfect!
Before we left Atlanta, we celebrated Jim's 30++++ birthday. I think Jim is toasting our departure?
The dinner at Norman's Landing, an Ozarky style restautrant, was huge with delicious portions of fish -and happy hour! Oh Yes! Happy Birthday Jim!
Saturday, March 3
Road weary and navigationally exhausted, we set our sights on Nashville for the first leg of the journey home. It's SEC tournament time in downtown Nashville so the Country Music Hall of Fame is out of the question - but - Grand Ole Opry is far enough away to avoid the crowds.
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We congratulate ourselves just until we discover there is nothing going on at Grand Ole Opry today.
We head over to the Gaylord Opry Hotel and check out the world famous atrium. The photos below are actually taken inside the atrium. |
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| Larry and I were so blessed to share this adventure with Jodie and Bob. Do I hear next year? |
Sunday, March 5
The long trek from Nashville to Kansas City is full of anticipation. We are ready to be home after 5 weeks. Yipee! The signs are out! The house is clean! And Joey remembers us! It's the best feeling in the world to come home to such a loving family.
