Georgia, Part II

The rest of our Georgia trip was “sweet” to borrow a phrase from Mitch. We didn’t want to leave! Amber, Mitch, and Nolan are such a wonderful family and they are great friends. They are the cutest parents and are the perfect blend of protective, scheduled, and relaxed.

Monday we went to the next town over for lunch, to try on bridesmaids’ dresses for Meredith’s wedding, and to see some of the historic Southern town. Apparently Monday in this town is the weekend—they take Sunday and Monday off. The main bridal shop that we went to see was closed, the place Amber wanted to go for lunch was closed, about 2/3 of the cute downtown stores were closed, and the plantation we were going to tour was closed. We drove around in the car and saw lots of cool houses and went into a few shops. At the first store, the friendly owner talked with us for 10 or 15 minutes. She was so sweet. She even held Nolan! We asked her where to go for lunch on a Monday. She told us all about the economics of the town’s “should we open on Mondays” debate, and then called a restaurant to see if they were open. She even gave us a map and drew our walking route to the restaurant. We didn’t even buy anything and she was that nice to us! The strangest part of the south is the fact that really nice, religious people are really racist. She told us that this place would be open on a Monday because the owner was an Orthodox Jew and he wouldn’t miss a day to make money. She didn’t say it in a mean way; it was just a fact to her. This is after she talked with us about religion and how big Christianity is in the south. Weird.

We went to the cute lunch place she recommended. Some friendly ladies in line helped us choose foods for the “southern experience.” Amber had a shrimp Po’ Boy sandwich and cheese grits, I had a chicken salad sandwich that came with extra mayo on the bread and fried green tomatoes, and Gary had an amazing looking cheeseburger. Nolan dined on green beans and a bottle. He was STARVING and acted like he hadn’t been fed all week. Amber started feeding him his baby food and usually stops to make his bottle, but she had me finish feeding him while she made the bottle because he wanted to EAT! What a cutie! The grandfather-aged man next to us talked to us for quite a bit while we all ate. When he asked me what I did in Michigan and I told him I was a teacher, he asked me “if the schools up there are integrated.” I replied “yes” but also commented that in the city of Detroit, the schools have more black kids, and in the suburb where I teach, it’s mostly white kids with a good number of Asian and Indian kids because their parents work in the auto industry. He said that they have Asians and Indians down there, too, and that he would send them all up north to me--HA HA, he laughed. Wow. I don’t hear stuff like that every day. We stopped at the farmers’ market on the way back and I bought some delicious, huge peaches—my favorite fruit.

Monday night we went with Mitch to see his workplace. It was like being on a movie set. On the way out, we drove around the “lake” where there are several alligators to see if we could spot any. Amber saw one from the car, and she, Gary, and I got out (with our cameras, of course) to see the alligator up close. I said that it was like being at the zoo but there was no glass! We had amazing pizza for dinner, chatted, and then we went to sleep. Amber got us on a parent’s sleep schedule—we got up around 8:00 and went to bed before 11:00. That is not what Gary and I are used to on non-work days, and Amber was up even earlier than us with Nolan! It was easy to get up, though, when it was to Nolan making cooing noises. Have I mentioned yet that we LOVE Nolan and almost brought him home with us? We threatened to pack him up in our suitcases. He is such a happy baby and was so much fun to play with. Gary and I even fought over who got to sit in the backseat with Nolan when we got into the car. We couldn’t get enough of him.

Tuesday morning we went to the pool, got lunch at Sonic (yum), came back to the house, took showers, packed up, and it was time to leave for the Dave Matthews Band concert in Atlanta. We checked in to our hotel and made it to the concert before the opening band started. Gary got us great seats under the covered pavilion top. Good thing he did, because it was raining when we got there and during the opening band. By the time Dave took the stage, it was just HOT. Musically, the concert was amazing. He did some songs that he doesn’t usually do—some Gary had never heard live before, like “Crash into Me.” He also did “Dream Girl,” one of our favorite newer songs. I had a hard time enjoying the concert because I was so claustrophobic. It was too hot, sticky, and stinky for me. It smelled like sweat, puke, smoke, and I was sweaty. Not the best venue, but a great concert none the less. Gary’s point of pride is that we exited through a back exit and were back at the hotel 8 minutes after we got in the car. I was a little scared to go out another way because we were in a bad neighborhood (I didn’t even post about the crazy things we saw on our way to the concert) but we followed a bunch of people with Georgia plates and made it back to the freeway without getting lost.

Wednesday, we drove around downtown Atlanta on our way out of town. It was really pretty. We didn’t stay and do any touristy things, because we had 12 hours of driving and it was already 10:30. (We couldn’t get up early on our own without Amber and Nolan to wake us up.) We ate lots of junk food. Did anyone know that they make dark chocolate M&Ms now? I’m in heaven! We were going to stop at Big Boy for dinner to get away from fast food, and then Gary saw a Red Lobster at that exit! We had a delicious dinner. We got home around 11:30 at night. Gary drove the WHOLE way down and the whole way back. I offered to drive, but he kept saying that he was fine. Isn’t he wonderful?

Thursday morning, I picked the dogs up from the kennel. They were briefly excited to see me, and then they passed out all day. I unpacked, did tons of laundry, and accidentally took a two hour nap.

BABY UPDATES: Sarah is moving along and her doctor told her “any day now.” Renee is bored, but the babies are getting big. Both mommies to be are having contractions, so we’re looking forward to holding all three healthy babies soon! Michelle went for her first ultrasound on Jim’s birthday and all was well. She goes for her second ultrasound on her birthday on October 12th, and that will be the day they find out if it’s a boy or a girl. I’m officially calling girl. If you count the fact that I said that Renee would have a boy and count that as being correct since it’s a boy and a girl, I have been right for Amber, Sarah, and Renee. Watch, Michelle, you’ll have a boy and blow my psychic streak.