Tying Up the Loose Ends in Atlanta

This is a month-old post that just never got published on the main blog. I never had time or never thought it was the right time or something, but here it is on B-sides!

So I've had three blogs about our Atlanta trip, but there was so much more. I can't begin to scratch the surface of how absolutely wonderful our trip was. It was one of our most awesome dates ever! I am so thankful to my Mom for keeping Ali so that we could go.

Here are the last of the storylines from Atlanta.

1. We went through quite a "cultural" district to get to Taverna Plaka. We saw Thai bar-be-que, French cuisine, Italian food, and several establishments of ill repute. The ones that stuck out to me the most, though, were the three Ethiopian Cuisines that we saw. I have never heard of such, and would have no idea what consisted of Ethiopian cuisine. I'm just hoping it's not bugs and monkey brains. I just can't help but think of "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" when I think of Ethiopian Cuisine. I don't even know if that's on the same continent of the setting of the movie, but that's what my mind associates with it.

2. The weekend was rough on my eardrums. It started at Taverna Plaka, compliments of DJ Arti. Wow. Then, we went to Hard Rock Cafe for lunch. This was my first experience there. I never quite realized that "Hard Rock" was literal. By the time we had finished our burgers, I was literally about to involuntarily sprint out of the restaurant, fueled by my aching ears. Then the ballgame. Of course it was loud, but then at Leigh Tiffin's first field goal, amidst the crazy cheering, Chris wanted to make sure that I knew that was his career long field goal, so he yelled it into my ear so closely that his lips were touching my ear lobe. This sent unbelievable stabs of pain all the way down into my ear canal. I tried to hide my pain, but when Chris noticed I was quick to assure him that he was the straw (that broke the camel's back), not the cause. It took about an hour, but the pain finally subsided. And now it seems back to normal.

3. We watched GameDay on TV in our hotel room. Lee Corso had the team Mascot's helmet delivered to him via Army skydiver. Chris looked out the window, and sure enough, we could see him from our Hotel Room:

4. We stayed in the Ellis Hotel. It was super nice. Kind of, "cozy" and boutiquey, but really quaint and modern. Here's a pic:
5. I could see my dream hotel stay from the window, the Westin. 73 Floors. I do love heights. Chris, not quite as wild about the idea of staying on the 73rd floor of a hotel that resembles the Tower of Pisa, promised that we could stay there next year if Alabama plays Virginia Tech in Atlanta and we go to the game. Yipppeeee!!! Here is a picture of it from our hotel window:
6. Can anyone explain to me what's going on with the windows?? All of the Atlanta downtown hotels had missing windows. Is this normal daily wear and tear, or are all of these buildings still missing windows from last year's tornado through downtown??
7. While tooling around in Olympic Centennial Park midday on Saturday, we saw up close and person Kirk Herbstreit (sp?) from ESPN Gameday. He was really close, signing autographs and taking pictures. Me, being the shy person that I am, was afraid to approach him. I think I may have held Chris back too, although I didn't intend to. I am a terrible wife.