Monday, September 25, 2017

Family Trippin' to Atlanta, Georgia - Part 1

Last week of June 2017

When I was a wee little mademoiselle my parents would take my sister and me to the tiny town of Dillard, Georgia for summer vacations. Now that we have families of our own this was the summer that my parents offered to take us all to The Dillard House Inn for a few days to visit. On the way up to north Georgia we spent a little time exploring Atlanta, Stone Mountain and Tallulah Gorge. This is my documented discovery of the literal highs and lows of our family trippin'. 



Day 1 - Drove from St. Petersburg, FL to our Airbnb in the Storehouse Lofts (The Enclave at Castleberry) in a sketchy part of Atlanta, but wow the space inside the building was the ultimate bachelor pad! All four of us loved staying in the one bedroom, spacious, brick room that resembled a New Girl set times 10. The only mentionable pit stop was Magnolia Plantation in Lenox, GA. Typical gas stop with clean restrooms and an added bonus of Georgia pecan logs, cheap fountain drinks, and t-shirts. That night we went to The Varsity (61 North Ave. NW at Spring St. NW) to eat some dive type dinner food. There was a MLS Atlanta United FS soccer game that night that had just ended nearby so the place was packed out. I ate "the best" slaw dog ever that night! 



I would recommend the slaw dog!!! Not the peach pie.

After dinner we strolled through Centennial Olympic Park nearby and enjoyed the open air. Finished out the night with an ice cream cone from Googie Burger in the park (suspiciously similar in branding to the larger than life search-engine conglomerate Google). 



Centennial Olympic Park
Day 2 - Worshiped the Lord at the Church of the Apostles where Dr. Michael Youssef serves. Excellent service and fun to go somewhere different from what we are all used to. 

Headed to Fat Matt's Rib Shack to get some genuine Atlanta grub. On the Run Eatin' by N.O.R.E. (airing sometime in 2018) had just begun filming at the rib shack. This is our life. It never ceases to amaze me. So, we all signed waivers saying that we agree to let our faces be shown. Of course, my finger-lickin' chicken eating face will be visible because the N.O.R.E. crew all sat at the table right next to ours. Here's the actual food critique: the chicken was excellent! And, the sweet potato pie, rum beans and sweet tea were also on point. 


N.O.R.E. filming his new show, On the Run Eatin' at Fat Matt's Rib Shack.
The College Football Hall of Fame was the next stop on our Atlanta destination path. We all enjoyed the interactive part and the short movie. Rich decided to have some fun with the girl working the field goal kicking station. She quickly realized he was joking.



My son sizes himself up next to a real college player replica.

Next stop: The World of Coke. Two great parts about this attraction were the 4D show and the taste testing of Coke products from ALLLLL over the world! I would be remiss if I didn't admit to crying at the first Coca-Cola opener film. So touching, and if you don't cry, you don't have a heart. Memorabila, artwork and history were in every crevice of the Coke museum. Watching the manufacturing process was also interesting. The secret recipe vault is located on the premises and many stop for a photo. I would strongly advise against tasting the Beverly drink from Europe!


The people watching was bar none. I mean look at this kid?!
Day 3 - Ate at The Flying Biscuit Cafe and saw a tiny bit of Piedmont Park (which looked like a great place to spend a little more time). Breakfast was delish and I recommend checking the Flying Biscuit out for yourself. Our time in Atlanta had to come to a close as we began our journey to Stone Mountain, Georgia... Part 2. #familytrippin2017







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