My last night in New Orleans was weird without Donna there. I felt a bit over it, a bit of that sense of "yes yes now let's move on". I was missing Shaun, missing Gleeton, missing Donna despite knowing I'd see her again the next day.. I went to bed thinking I had had enough of New Orleans.
I woke up reasonably early and packed up, triple-checked I hadn't left anything behind and jumped in my trust yellow steed to head up to Atlanta. Seven hours, my GPS tells me it'll take. "Ok, seven hours.." I think to myself, "I'll drive for two, stop for breakfast, drive for three, stop for lunch, drive for two, stop for coffee. This should be manageable".
Well it would have been manageable, if the trip was indeed seven hours, or at least anywhere within the vicinity of seven hours. I had plans to meet Donna and Mandy and their friends at Rosell Tap for five o'clock happy hour. By three o'clock it became apparent to me that my GPS seems to believe we were going to drive 100mph the entire way to Atlanta, and that I'm not going to be on the road for a mere seven hours. Ohhh no. After nearly falling asleep a few times despite having drunk quite a few 16 ounce coffees, I finally reached the outskirts of Atlanta around 6pm. I rang Donna and apologised profusely but I would not be able to make happy hour.. I just couldn't face the thought of having to drive past my hotel and across to Roswell and stay awake for much longer. I finally got to my glorious hotel about 7pm, and fell into a bit of a heap on the crazy-big comfy bed. I had made a wise choice, cutting Memphis out of my itinerary. Twelve hours on the road, by myself, and I was done driving.
Donna, Mandy and Matt surprised me by coming over to my hotel for a swim (one that involved us dodging the security guards hell bent on keeping us out of the pool after hours). It was great to see Mandy again, as I hadn't seen her since our last games night in San Diego in 2010. Matt is brilliant company, and made me laugh with his insights into the latest season of True Blood. If I ever head back to Atlanta again, I imagine my trip will heavily involve spending time with Mandy and Matt.
I was so exhausted the next day that I just kinda lounged around my room, alternating between watching TV and reading the Charlaine Harris books I'd picked up at Barnes & Noble for $7 each. Seriously, WTF is going on with prices in Australia.
I spent my five days in Atlanta lounging, sleeping, reading, doing a small spot of shopping, eating (of course..) and.. cooking! It was so unbearably hot in Atlanta that weekend - they were having their hottest weekend on record, just my luck - so I couldn't manage to do much more than drive around the neighbourhoods, see key attractions, and be grateful for air conditioning when I had it. My cooking class was stellar. Kookie (a gorgeous coincidence in name), our chef and instructor, walked us through how to make some of the classic southern dishes from the movie, The Help. We learned how to make southern fried chicken - tender and juicy in the flesh, crispy and light on the outside. We learned how to make the most amazing featherlight biscuits; rich, flavourful collard greens; deliciously grainy cornbread; velvety chocolate pie.
My second day I got a call from a teary Mandy telling me that she would have to cancel our dinner date that night because her faithful dog, Girlfriend, was nearing the end of her time with us. It must've been fate, because I was only ten minutes away when she called. I raced over there and was greeted by a blotchy-faced Mandy, looking very sad, and her enthusiastic son, Alex, who for some bizarre reason I kept calling "Hunter". I think I got confused about a hunting story Mandy had told me a few years earlier, and misinterpreted the information as "hunter" being her child's name. As I knelt down and gave Girlfriend a big, loving pat, I couldn't help but notice how similar she looked to our beautiful Penny that left us in January. It's a cruel fate that sees us love something so intensely that won't be with us for anywhere near long enough. Mandy, Alex and I went out for the afternoon, and visited an historic plantation in the heart of Historic Roswell, which was a lot of fun. I've decided Roswell wins my vote for 'favourite place in Atlanta' with no close competition. It is simply beautiful. The Chattahoochee River runs through, providing plenty of beautiful picnic spots and jogging trails. It has a quiet, respectful, quaint vibe, which was only enhanced by the Ye Olde style ice cream parlour we went to after the plantation. Damn, that was some good ice cream!
My last day in Atlanta was crazy. I left my hotel after spending hours rearranging my luggage (I had to buy a whole new suitcase as I had shopped a little too hard the day before at the factory outlet mall), and headed for yet another mall, this time to buy some MAC and some memory foam pillows in a country that wouldn't make me give up my first born for them. I bought Shaun and I Martha Stewart brand dual memory foam/feather pillows, and then I had another problem - two big suitcases, one little carry one, a handbag, a laptop, and a giant santa-sack style bag of pillows. That's a lot for one person to carry into an airport and try to manage alone. Somehow, I managed. There was a trolley involved, a little bit of swearing, and LOT of wrangling, but I managed.
By the time it was time for me to head to the airport and fly to Dallas, I was ready to leave the States. The heat was taking it out of me and I was missing home. I dropped off my trusty yellow steed at Dollar, who were perfectly lovely to deal with, I have no idea why some people are snooty about them, and hopped on the inter-airport shuttle. I decided the shuttle bus was that appropriate time for me to change out of my dress and into my tracksuit that I would fly home in. I couldn't, however, manage to pull the dress off and put my shirt on because there was another bus on the same circuit, right next to us, staring directly at me. So, I checked in, dressed stylishly in grey GAP tracksuit pants, purple Vans, and a bright orange floaty maxi dress.
I had a painful three hour layover in Dallas before boarding my epic sixteen hour flight home, on which I didn't sleep for more than a couple of hours. I'm not sure what's happened to my plane/sleeping mojo, but it appears to have left me.
I was greeted at the airport by my darling Mellie and her fiance Cess, and they were a very welcome sight. By George it was cold in Brisbane!! Cold, but pleasant.
And by the time I actually arrived home.. crept into our house in the wee hours of the morning, avoiding catching the cat's eye lest he leap up and start screaming at me and wake up Shaun... I realised I hadn't had a shower in about thirty-forty hours. EEWWW.
So I'm home now (obviously), and I'm starting to get the itch already. I've got at least another three trips I want to do in the USA: the mid-west, with its wide open plains and country vibe; the North-East, so I can check out the Hamptons and Chicago; and the North-West, as I've not been further North than San Francisco. That I remember, anyway. I'm trying to convince Shaun we should go and do the North-East early next year sometime. Naturally, I fully expect to do a layover in ATL or SD so I can catch up with my gorgeous friends who make the trip such good fun.
In no particular order, Donna, Andrew, Paulina, Mandy, Matty, Alicia, Greg, Dru (we had a good chat...), Ma'ayany, Shawn, Ned, the people at Buffalo Wild Wings for their spicy garlic sauce - thank you. I had such a wonderful time with all of you and it is so difficult to have people you care about so much, so far away. I can't wait for our next adventure.
Love M xx
