April vacation

While we just had a vacation back in February, it didn’t seem like much of a vacation because of the fact we didn’t get to enjoy much of each other. It was a beautiful wedding and the weather was amazing, but we were constantly being carted from point a to point b and back. Because we didn’t get much of a vacation from that time and we didn’t go on a honeymoon (we still went to Chicago but it was more of a minimoon than a honeymoon) I was getting the travel bug — big time.

Since I was the one getting the travel bug, I started thinking about where I wanted to go since I knew if I left it up to the Mr. we’d end up at Disney World. Thinking about my list and the things that I want to do + a couple of margaritas with a girlfriend later- I started to devise a plan. It would be a surprise for the Mr. We would be going to Atlanta for opening weekend of the Braves. While this is on my list, its on my list for him. I know he’s always wanted to go to Atlanta and to Turner Field and with the name Turner Field, I’m pretty excited about it too. I don’t just love baseball, but I don’t hate it either and it’s something the Mr. and I have done a handful of times together at different stadiums. Plus, I love the south, so historic Atlanta is right up my alley.

Once I bit the bullet and purchased the tickets for the game I knew it was going to happen. I just had to find a good flight and hotel and try to convince the Mr. to get the day off and not tell him what we’re doing. So, I started talking about a convention my boss wanted to send me on. It was to be in Houston and we would have to leave Thursday after work and get back Sunday. He knew about a month in advance and was able to get the day off. We started talking about things to do in Houston (which if you live in Houston, I’d love to know what you do because we couldn’t find much of anything). He was convinced we were going to be going to the Astro’s opening weekend when all along I had tickets purchased for opening weekend in Atlanta.

Not only that, but my good friend E was planning on being down there for work and her husband and the Mr. share the same love for the Braves. It was beginning to work out perfect.

I purchased tickets for the game, tickets to tour Turner Field, finally our plane tickets and hotel were bought. This was the real deal.

It was killing me not telling him. Ask anyone. I had to call his mom to talk about it… my mom to talk about it… my brother… my coworkers. I was dying not being able to tell him and I was nervous that anyone would slip up. I was nervous he knew because I hadn’t deleted our computer’s browsing history and while I hadn’t bought anything from our home computer, it could still pop up. One night we were looking for tickets for another event and when we went onto stub hub the “browsing history” popped up for the game I had looked at. It was killing me not telling him and I was certain he knew.

I had the hardest time figuring out how to tell him. I couldn’t figure out what would be the best way but eventually I came across a great idea and here’s what ensued.

I wanted to wait until we got to Atlanta, as he thought we had a connecting flight to Houston in Atlanta. However, while we were waiting for our plane in Des Moines, it ended up being delayed. He doesn’t like flying and when he thought our already short connection (50 minutes) was being cut down to 15, he was beginning to get worried and frustrated. I decided to tell him in Des Moines and arranged my carry on so his new shirt and tickets to the game were on top. I let him figure it out on his own.

Once the plane finally landed, we were up in the air in no time. We landed in Atlanta after a smooth ride and changed quickly at the hotel. There was one surprise left for him. We headed to a local legendary restaurant, Taco Mac’s, and as I was looking for the last surprise of the weekend, there they were! My friend E and her husband were waiting patiently with us, beers in hand! We had some wings and some Mexican favorites along with a few beers and called it a night.

The next morning we lounged around for a bit, sleeping in only slightly. Walked around the area to find our favorite grocery store, Publix, and discovered the neighborhood. We had the Margaret Mitchell House where she spent time in this ground bedroom apartment writing Gone With the Wind, right across the street.

We relaxed for a bit in the hotel and then we were off again to grab lunch at the World Famous Varsity.

An Atlanta staple, we went for a late lunch around 2pm and it was still packed. We had to wait in line for probably 10 minutes before ordering. Luckily once you order, its pretty much ready to go. It was… ok. Greasy to say the least. I got a naked dog (plain hot dog), onion rings and an FO (Frosted Orange). The hot dog was ok, the onion rings and FO were fabulous. I’ve been craving the FO since we left. It tasted like a dreamcicle. The Mr. had just a cheeseburger and fries. The fries were ok but the cheeseburger wouldn’t go on my list to ever eat again. As we dined, we were able to view the Olympic torch from the year the Olympics were in Atlanta.

We high-tailed it out of there after lunch as we had a 3pm tour at Turner Field and the Mr. was so excited to finally be there! After 30 years of being a Braves fan, he was finally going to set foot on Turner Field soil!

After an adventure trying to find the stadium, we arrived at the museum a mere 4 minutes before the tour was to begin, but the other two members of our party were no where to be found. I was getting worried and gave her a call to which she told us that they were on there way and she wanted us just to go on without them. After telling the tour guide we had other members coming we tried to stall as long as we could, but the show must go on and we started our tour. We went down towards the dugout but unfortunately it was just getting too close to game time that we couldn’t get in the dugout. The Mr. was pretty sad he couldn’t make it onto the actual field but I promised him we’d come back another time and do the tour where we could go into the dugout and clubhouse. We went through the press box, club level seats, learned some of the history of many different aspects of the new stadium. While it wasn’t a great tour it was nice to have the background before we went to the game.

Opening game was a night game and we had seats along the 1st base line between 1st base and the foul pole. They were decent seats. We could see the players pretty well, but the sound system was a little muffled under the 2nd deck. It was great to be there for opening day. Bobby Cox threw out the first pitch, Chipper Jones hit 2500 hits, the atmosphere was just great. The Mr. got to do the Tomahawk Chop for the first time along with other Braves fans and enjoyed a win to top it all off!

After a few too many beers, we were headed back to the hotel to relax for the evening and call it a night. The next morning we knew we had to get up somewhat early in order to get anything done before the afternoon game. We decided we would try to hit up the Coke facility and the CNN center where the Braves store was. We got to Coke around the time they opened and took the “tour”. The first 15 minutes are with a guide and then its self guided. For the $16 it was to get in, I wouldn’t say its entirely worth it… a lot of memorabilia and commercials.

Two cool things were the coke bottle we got as we were leaving the facility and the tasting room where you could try all kinds of soda Coke makes around the world. Interesting sodas from some places, others were pretty tasty. After a quick stop over at the gift shop, we made our way through Centennial Olympic Park to the CNN Center. The Mr. pointed out where the bombing took place which was kind of surreal, but the park was actually very pretty and there was a ton going on there. Once we got to the Braves store, we knew we had to be quick to grab the gear we were looking for. We found some good deals and made it to the park for our afternoon games. All-you-can-eat (and drink) seats were waiting for us!

These seats were good too. We were along the 3rd base line this time, in the outfield.

A few more beers, plenty of peanuts and cracker jacks later, the Braves let this one slip away. But good friends and a wonderful afternoon couldn’t dampen our spirits.

We wondered around the field a bit and took some pictures (Dale Murphy- #3- is the Mr’s favorite).

We all started to get a little worn out so we went our separate ways, saying goodbye for now. We spent our last evening enjoying a walk to and through Peidmont Park which was only a few blocks away and then got refreshed for dinner at the hotel. It was such a quick trip, but we really enjoyed Atlanta.

The Mr. has already been plotting how to get back, which is great for me because I loved it too and there are so many more things we want to do down there. Next time we’re going to do the Georgia Aquarium, another tour of Turner Field, I’d like to actually tour the Margaret Mitchell House, spend more time downtown, I wanted to check out Oakland Cemetery, explore all the historic neighborhoods and of course EAT more!

It was great to get away, but we were happy to be home and planning our next get-away!