30th August 2004
Hi all,
For me nothing could possibly more exciting than the thought of writing about Lorraine and I spending our week in Atlanta. The thought of going back four years after my first visit had been the thing that was keeping me going all year. Bad days at work? Atlanta wasn't far away, I could keep it in perspective.
We woke up on Lorraine's birthday about two-thirds of the way up the I-75 from Tampa in a small town called Cordele. Besides it being Lorraine's birthday we were really excited by the thought of reaching Atlanta. Then when we were approaching the city limits of Atlanta we almost got crushed by some idiot in a U-Haul lorry who obviously didn't realise what his mirrors were for.
Which isn't to say that we didn't have fun in Atlanta. We had plenty, but it was pretty clear that yours truly was so excited about it that it was almost bound to be a bit of a letdown.
It didn't help that for most of our time there we were in a grotty hotel in a suburb called Decatur. As well as being a grotty hotel it also seemed to have some kind of school hosted on its premises, and while the girls who attended the school were capable of being nice and polite some of the guys didn't particularly impress us. In fact some of them almost put Lorraine off Atlanta for life. Thanks a lot, guys.
Unfortunately that wasn't our only bad experience in Decatur. On our first night there we popped into the local Waffle House to get Lorraine some toast for supper. We sat in an empty booth, and a few seconds later a guy who was standing a short distance behind us started mumbling. "I'm sorry," said a waitress, before taking the mumbling gentleman elsewhere to sit. The same waitress then proceeded to give us terrible service, a stark difference to what we had experienced in Waffle Houses in Clearwater, Cordele and the night before in Buckhead. She didn't get a tip and we didn't go back there again.
A couple of important things about Atlanta which we did learn that I feel I should pass on:
1) If you're going to Atlanta to do some touristy things don't go in August. Far too many things are shut, presumably because the schools are back after the summer break. Six Flags Wild Water - shut. Stone Mountain Park - half open. The buzz that we enjoyed so much in July 2000 wasn't about this time.
2) If you take your wife to Florida when it is sunny and then take her to Atlanta when it is cloudy you won't be popular. I can't overstate this enough.
In the circumstances Lorraine was more than sporting about things. She came with me on the Turner Field tour and also to three Braves games. We made the best of what we could do at Stone Mountain Park. We went shopping when the weather wasn't nice. We avoided the hotel's dangerous pool furniture and headed for Olympic Park, where Lorraine took in the sun while I wrote postcards.
I'll probably always regret having to move from our hotel that we first stayed in. However that was going to have to be special, given that it was for Lorraine's birthday. The J.W. Marriott in the Buckhead suburb of Atlanta - absolutely fantastic! In our first five minutes in our room Lorraine and I must have shrieked, "Have you seen this?" about 256 times. Not just that, the whole hotel was amazing. Probably the only hotel that could even compare to it that we've seen was where we had our wedding. Furthermore thanks to
priceline.co.uk it cost a third of the place Lorraine took me for my first birthday after we were married.
Not that we were completely comfortable in our surroundings. We were classical tourists in t-shirts and shorts amid a plethora of shirts and suits. Even when we polished ourselves up for dinner I said to Lorraine, "I still feel really underdressed." At that point we walked around a corner to see an elderly couple. The husband was wearing a full tuxedo while his wife was wearing a ball gown. What was I saying again?
I wish I could say that Lorraine's birthday dinner was a great success. We ended up at a place called Mick's in the Lenox Square mall. Right in the middle of our dinner another customer got into an argument with a waiter and shouted, "This place has absolutely no class." Just what you want to hear when you're taking your wife out on her birthday, just great. Strangely we probably had our best dinner in Atlanta the night after at ESPN the Zone, a sports bar which was definitely my choice. (And yes, I know we're both big fans of The Varsity, but it is a different kind of meal you're getting there. Mmmm, barbecue pork sandwich. Mmmm....)
I also need to mention our other culinary discovery from Lenox Square: Freshen's milkshakes and smoothies. I know, "milkshakes and smoothies" doesn't sound like much, and they weren't cheap, but they were absolutely wonderful. That's how we chilled out in the early evenings and times when the weather wasn't so nice. When the weather was nicer we would be in Olympic Park, enjoying the sunshine, Lorraine would be sunbathing and I would be writing postcards. We would avoid Decatur for as long as we possibly could.
Of course the main point of being in Atlanta was to catch a few Braves games. For our visit the Colorado Rockies were in town, and we caught all three games of the series.
Game 1: Tuesday night, and I aim to complete the Bill Simmons cycle. This consists of a hot dog, a souvenir drink, popcorn, a wild-card item, an ice-cream and another hot dog. I'm now renaming this the "American League with Extra Innings cycle". It's impossible, even when faced with a three and half hour game. Hot dog number 1, no problem. Drink, no problem. Big bucket of popcorn, big problem. Couldn't do it. Got half way through it. Had an enjoyable plate of tacos as my wild-card item and a much needed ice cream, but ended it there as the game became more important.
The Braves came back from deficits of 4-0 and 5-1 to end my "jinx". However no amount of us laughing or Lorraine glaring managed to get the guy just down the row from us to stop babbling things like, "Come on Ortizzzzzzzzz!" all game long. "He's got something wrong with him," said Lorraine, "And I work in a mental health unit so I know these things."
Final score: Braves 6, Rockies 5.
Game 2: Wednesday night, Lorraine and I are in the right- field seats. Right behind us is a loud-mouthed Rockies fan. I seem to have a knack for attracting opposition fans where they shouldn't be, what is it with me?
About ten minutes into the game I'm well and truly fed up of this guy. Chipper Jones comes up with one aboard. "Come on Chipper, shut this guy up!" I muttered under my breath. Cue a two-run Home Run. Suddenly I'm the loud mouth, quoting lines from "Bull Durham" and seeing if the guy will move. No luck. I almost overlook the fact that this is the first Braves Home Run I've seen in person. 2-0 Braves.
As the game settled down the Rockies halved the deficit. The Braves were apparently being stifled, which is more than could be said for the voice of someone behind us. Right as he was getting up to full volume again Eli Marrero put the lead back up to 3-1 with another Home Run. A thing of beauty it was as well.
The Rockies never recovered. In the fifth inning Chipper Jones hit another Home Run, a majestic arcing shot to straightaway centre-field. A glorious sight in the floodlit sky. 6-1 Braves. I couldn't have been enjoying myself any more.
After that the game petered out. The Braves cruised to victory, I got another ice cream and felt more relaxed than I had in months. Meanwhile the Rockies fan behind us got friendly with some regulars in the front row, introduced himself as Brad and told everyone how he hadn't come from Denver, but Montgomery, Alabama. Somehow he was endearing himself to everyone. Did I mention how much I had enjoyed myself?
Final Score: Braves 8, Rockies 1.
Game 3: Quick tangent for you. When I was 13 I went to Alton Towers with my Mum for a three-day holiday. Towards the end of the second day and all of the final day I kept thinking about how little time I had left there, to the point where it spoiled that final day completely. I always swore I'd never do that again.
Sixteen years later I'd forgotten what that holiday taught me.
We arrived at Turner Field without tickets, and ended up with reasonably priced tickets right behind home plate. Not cheap, but probably cheaper than it will be to get one ticket for a Palace game in the Premiership this season. We had a great vantage point, I was going to really enjoy myself.
Only I couldn't. I was at Turner Field, when would I be here again? Would I ever be here again?
And so a fairly nondescript game passed before my eyes, highlighted only by a J.D. Drew-Marcus Giles relay throw to nail Royce Clayton at home plate (which stopped the Rockies from taking the lead) and me paying $8 to get Lorraine some cotton candy (candy floss to us Brits), a ridiculous amount even for a sports stadium.
As the game drew to nearer to its conclusion I tried to take in everything, taking photos galore. Top of the ninth, Braves lead by two. John Smoltz comes into the game. With two outs Vinny Castilla pops up towards first base. Second baseman Marcus Giles circles under it and makes the grab to secure the win. I see the team going down the line, then disappearing into the dugout. I reluctantly leave my seat and slowly walk the concourses towards the exit, glancing towards the floodlit field as I did so.
Still, three nights, three games, three wins. You can't ask for much more than that.
So although some of the lustre has been taken off Atlanta I still left longing to come back. I think Lorraine did too. If the first visit was a special experience this was a learning experience, which I hope will make a third visit another fabulous trip.
My lessons for my next time in Atlanta*:
1) Don't visit in August. If possible visit when Six Flags White Water is actually open.
2) Don't stay in Decatur. If necessary take on multiple extra jobs to stay in Buckhead.
3) Plenty of nice shops and places to eat in Atlanta. Bring money, lots of it. Take even more extra jobs to ensure this.
*If there is a next time. Clearly there's no guarantee.
So long Atlanta, until next time. I hope it isn't too far away.
Have a good week!
Tony
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