Memorial Day Vacation

We are back from our Memorial Day vacation. This was my mystery anniversary gift I alluded to in May. Christi gave me a trip to Atlanta for the long weekend and we had a great time. We stayed at Twelve Hotel in Atlantic Station, which was extremely nice. The package she bought was especially nice because it included valet parking for the duration of our stay and 2 tickets to the Georgia Aquarium.

After we checked in we spent most of Saturday exploring Atlantic Station. I had been there a few times while at Tech, but never done much more than eat. We went into most of the shops and bought a few things as well as people watched. There was definitely ample opportunity to see some interesting people. We went down to eat dinner at Gordon-Biersch and it was delicious. It was Christi's first time eating there and she was very impressed. The crab and artichoke dip was extremely good as well as the pecan crusted chicken she ordered. I had a pint of Karzen and the Steak Frites, which was basically steak with fries, but it had a very tasty sauce that came with it. We also had a great waiter who was at least 6'7 and reminded me of Andre the Giant.

We were able to make the short drive up to Kennesaw to meet some of our friends that we used to hang out with while we were up there. Specifically, we met a lady that Christi used to teach with at Baker in Acworth and that was a lot of fun. She is probably the funniest lady I have ever met. It was her first time seeing Landon and she enjoyed that. After lunch with her we went to Towne Center Mall with her to get a few things and also met another teacher Christi used to work with. It made us really miss being up there with our friends from Kennesaw/Woodstock area. We wish our current jobs were in that area, but we also like where we are now because being close to family has been really great for us on many levels.

When we came back from our lunch excursion, we intended to go the aquarium. We got there to discover that the line was ridiculously long, so we decided to put it off for the next day. Instead, we relaxed at the hotel after feeding Landon and went to Cafe Nineteen for dinner. It was quite possibly the best meal we had while we were there, which was saying a lot. The atmosphere was also really cool and we were able to secure a spot on the patio outside while we ate and relaxed. We really enjoyed Cafe Nineteen. The food wasn't expensive at all and despite the small menu it all sounded good. They also have a different menu after 10pm which included some additional choices.

We did end up going to the aquarium the next morning and it was a lot of fun. They have added a lot of fish since we had last been there, which wasn't long after it opened. They had 4 whale sharks and 2 manta rays, which were awesome. We got lucky with our timing because they were feeding the whale sharks right when we went into that portion of the aquarium. We ended up staying there for many hours and had a great time. Landon particularly enjoyed the penguins and all the fish he could see in the tanks. He had a blast trying to grab all of the fish and did very well despite how crowded it got after lunch. The aquarium was a great time and highly recommended, even if you have been there before. They are also getting dolphins in November, so that too will be another reason to go back!

Before we went home we stopped at a store called Kilwin's in Atlantic Station. It is an ice cream and treats store that had candy apples, chocolate covered pretzels, rice krispies, etc. We ended up buying some candy apples, 3 kinds of fudge, and I bought a waffle cone with blue berry waffle cone ice cream that was the BEST ice cream I ever had. I'm not kidding. It was incredible. They let me sample some of their other flavors and it was insanely good. I would go back just for the ice cream. If you are in the area, we highly recommend stopping by Kilwin's and picking up some treats.

That's the main jist of what we did. I have plenty of pictures I need to upload and will do that as soon as I get the chance. My class starts this week and I am unsure how involved it will be. Hopefully I will be able to upload the pictures by the end of the week. I apologize for the lack of content lately. I can tell by the lack of comments that interest in the blog has dropped and that is my fault. I am striving to increase my time to write, but it has been difficult. Check back soon for the pictures. Have a good week.