Atlanta Vacay Day 8 ~ On the Road Again

Because I never have anything nice to say about road trips, especially those that are upwards of 3 hours, I will just say we left at 5:30am EST (read 4:30am our time) and we got home in 14 1/2 hours.

As Forrest Gump said, "And that's all I have to say about that."

Atlanta Vacay Day 7 ~ High Tea

After our star studded affair yesterday, we couldn't wait to attend another event at the St. Regis. My brother invited us over for high tea before he had to leave to return to Dallas. We did not have any celeb sightings this time, but we had an exquisite time. Maison was so excited to have her own 3-tier service of tea sandwiches and treats. The teas were amazing! My mom and I had the Mad Hatter (of course, my mom did since this is her nickname from my Aunt Gail). My dad had the St. Regis peach which is only served at the St. Regis in Atlanta. It was literally some of the best tea I have ever had.

It was truly a wonderful afternoon. I just wished I had pictures to share but the battery was dead in the good camera and the new small one apparently needs a memory card. Oops! Only I can bring two cameras and neither of them work...bummer.

Atlanta Vacay Day 6 ~ A Star Studded Brunch

My brother hosted a brunch this morning at the St. Regis hotel in Buckhead; a last family event before Shari and Adam flew back to Dallas tonight. We had high hopes that we might see Santa Claus while we were at the hotel because they were having Holiday Tea with Santa. What we didn't expect was to see real celebrities...

Maison was having one of her 'I can't sit in my own chair without throwing a class A fit' moments, so Adam took her to the restaurant lobby to calm her down. Who did he see waiting on a table with his daughter? That would be Vince Vaughn. Maison pretty much accosted his daughter so Adam got to have a short chat with him.

When Vince got seated, a short little lady in a sock hat, scarf, coat, and glasses ran over and gave him a hug. Who could it be? That would be Bette Midler.

Let's just say when Santa finally made it to our table, I wasn't exactly star struck especially since Adam had another conversation with Vince after brunch. He said how cute Maison was and wished them a Merry Christmas.

Mais is still a little reluctant of the man in the red suit:

Maison 'fist bumping' Santa:

Sorry to report my paparazzi skills suck, no pics of Vince or Bette, only of Santa.

Atlanta Vacay Day 5, Part 2 ~ A Family Affair

I don't remember the last time that my parents, Shari, Bubba, Adam, and I were all in Atlanta at the same time. My Aunt Lou-Lou decided to host a family dinner tonight since we were all here. I haven't seen this many members of the Ellington family together unless it was Thanksgiving or Christmas...

Maison with our cousin, Charlsie Grace:

Maison displaying her snowman "dooley boppers" for our cousin, Mardell:

Aunt Susan, Aunt Lou-Lou, Cousin Cathy:

Cousin Cindy, Uncle Jack, Dad, and Nannie:

You're probably wondering why all the pics are in black and white. It was not an attempt for me to make them look old. I actually took them with the infrared setting on the camera because the room was dark so the kids could see the Christmas decorations. Seems to be a trade-off...they seem grainy but at least you can see who everyone is!

Atlanta Vacay Day 5 ~ Happy 90th Boo!

What better reason to drive 16 1/2 hours with an 85 year old and a toddler than to celebrate your grandmother's 90th b-day? My entire family travelled to Atlanta for my Annie Boo's birthday party at Park Cafe in Duluth. My Mom specifically selected Park Cafe because it is in downtown Duluth where my grandmother grew up. Unfortunately, it didn't strike up a long-term memory that she could share, but she was having a very good day. We were joined by my great-aunt Pat, Annie Boo's only remaining sibling, and my cousin Denise, who's mother was my grandmother's sister.

My mom with Aunt Pat:

Annie Boo thoroughly enjoying her ice cream:

Happy Birthday, Boo!!! We love you!

Atlanta Vacay Day 4 ~ A little piece of History

Maison continued the whirl wind of meeting new family members...tonight was Adam's Aunt Kelli, Uncle Howard, and cousin Henry. Howard and Henry had not met Maison before and Kelli had not seen her since she was 6 months old. Maison was learning about her Maslow family history in Atlanta's oldest continually operated restaurant, Horseradish Grill.

It hasn't been featured on Food Network, at least not that I'm aware of, but it was featured in the local paper the day we ate there. I'm certainly not the foodie in the family but it was good enough of an endorsement for me!

Atlanta Vacay Day 3 ~ Rollin in the Doh

My mom, Maison, and I had lunch with my Aunt Gail today. Since she wouldn't see us before Christmas she went ahead and gave Maison her Christmas present. One of her presents was a Hansel and Gretel PlayDoh set. Maison has several PlayDoh sets but we rarely play with them because they make such a mess.

After lunch, we had to put take Christmas flowers to the cemetery and run other errands. By the time we got back to the hotel, Maison really wanted to play with the Hansel and Gretel set. We are in a hotel, so why not 'give it a go'. I have never seen a child have so much fun with 2 cans of dough and 2 molds. It was endless amounts of fun.

Best part of playing with play doh for hours? I didn't have to clean up the twitters of purple dough = best present ever!

Atlanta Vacay Day 2 ~ Hanging with Guy

Everyone knows that if there is a restaurant featured on Food Network or Man v. Food and Adam is involved then we must eat there. Adam is still in Dallas so tonight's dinner locale was not at his suggestion.

We were having dinner with my Aunt Susan and Uncle Jack so my parents suggested that we eat at Marrietta Fish Market. They had all been there before and raved about it the entire drive there. Let's just say the bar was set really high and it did not disappoint. It was delicious!

No one knew Guy Fieri had eaten there when he was in town to feature their sister restaurant, Marrietta Diner, on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives (or DDD). The menu and website both claim that Guy said Marietta Fish Market, "this was one of the most incredible spreads of food he's ever tasted or seen." That's high praise, considering he tastes food for living!

Atlanta Vacay Day 1 ~ Drive from Hell

Apparently I have short term memory loss...

I'm positive that when we got back from Gulf Shores in June I swore I would NEVER go on a road trip again. Yet here I am...just completed 16 1/2 hours in a suburban with my parents, Nannie, and Maison from Dallas to Atlanta.

The trip should take only 14 hours but when you are driving with an 85 year old, a 2 year old with digestive issues, and a car sick passenger (yes, that would be me) you tend to make a lot of stops. Not to mention, it started raining in Jackson, MS and didn't stop the whole way to Atlanta.

Honestly, Maison was the best behaved of the entire trip. As long as a DVD was playing she was fine. Next on the 'to do' list: check flights from ATL to DFW...

Hot 'lanta, not so hot

Last weekend, Adam and I were scheduled to fly to Atlanta late Friday night.  We packed up all our stuff and I was going to try one last time to get us seats together while Adam made us a quick dinner before we left.  I logged on to AA and there was no available seating chart to view or change seats...uh, why?  So I went to check our flight status which said delayed until 10:40pm and then in big read letters:  FLIGHT CANCELLED....nice.

Adam called AA and apparently our full flight was cancelled due to weather in Dallas and Atlanta and our only option was to take the 7:30am Sat morning.  Considering we were flying home early Monday morning we didn't have much of a choice.  The flight was one of the worst I have ever been on - it was a bumpy puke ride the whole way....

The weather in Atlanta was awful...rainy and very cold.  After a quick lunch at the Varsity we went to visit my g-ma, Annie Boo.  Afterwards, we went to visit my cousin, Michael, at the sports bar he partly owns and to watch the NCAA tournament.  

Sunday we went up to Dahlonega to eat lunch at Smith House.  Dahlonega is the gateway to the Appalachian mountains and was the site of the first US gold rush.   At Smith House you sit at long tables with the guests that came in before or after you.  Once the table is full they serve food family style.  There is no menu, they just serve whatever has been made that day.  On the day we went it was fried chicken, honey baked ham, roast beef, dozen of vegetables, and rolls and white cornbread (no yellow yankee cornbread down there).  It was delicious!

At lunch we sat at the table with a woman that was from Dahlonega.  She said she was 'in law enforcement' and later admitted she had been a bounty hunter and only recently quit so she could spend more time with her two sons who were also at lunch.  After lunch, she told us all about Dahlonega and the gold mine history including all the hauntings.  She was very interesting.  We wanted to go through the shops on the square and see the scottish festival that was in progress but it was way too cold.  

Sunday afternoon we went back to visit Annie Boo.  She seemed much more lucid but still did not want her picture taken.  Despite her protests, we were able to get a few shots.  You can tell from the picture with my mom, that her severe alzheimer's has not stopped her from trying to tell my mom what to do ;oP