Our Fantastic Weekend

Technically today was still the weekend! Here's a wordle...




was fantastic! (by the way, congratulations Bethany for guessing correctly where we were headed!) We got in late Thursday night, and pretty much went straight to bed after arriving and settling a bit.

Friday

We woke up early (well, Hailey and I did. Anthony had to be somewhat persuaded to get out of bed.). After we got showers and I got coffee in my system we headed out to the Georgia Aquarium. The aquarium was really cool...but I was VERY disappointed that I didn't get to see the penguins! They were off exhibit :(






After the aquarium we went across the plaza to the World of Coca-Cola. Now, I had been to the coke museum a few years ago, but they've since moved locations so this was a new experience for me. After an awful (seriously) animated cartoon about the happiness factory, we were on our own to explore. So many cool things to see, but our favorites (I think) were the pop art, commercial viewing theater, and tasting room. Oh, and the fact that we all got a free bottle of Coke on our way out!







When we were finished with purchasing at the gift shop we headed back to Tammy's house (Anthony's aunt) where she had grilled chicken, corn on the cob and other yummy things for us to eat. A fantastic homemade meal that I didn't cook! :0) Then the 4 of us played a game of hand and foot (Anthony and I have never been partners before and we paired up for this best 2 out of 3. Which was awesome!) Tammy is amazingly sweet and has an adorable Jack Russel terrier with whom I bonded pretty quickly.

Saturday

Saturday morning dawned and we got up (even earlier!) to hit the zoo. It was a zoo pretty much as you would imagine...but they have pandas (!) and kangaroos. Oh, and lions which you would think is standard but no. Not so much. I'm sure Anthony would also want me to mention the fantastic rhino...











Hailey was not so thrilled with the idea of our next stop...so we went back to Tammy's for lunch and just the two of us headed out. To IKEA!!!

(I was completely thrilled. And it did not disappoint. Seriously, this place is enormous. Much bigger than our biggest mall in Nashville. And oh, the fun I had).

We loved quite a bit about Ikea (Anthony already has plans to go back for a bookshelf or two, and I got some awesome recylcling bins), but I think we may have been most impressed by the escalator for the carts. Haha.






The evening wrapped up with an amazing Latin fusion restaurant (that we're still craving!), a trip to a neon madhouse (otherwise known as Brandsmart) and another game of Hand and Foot before turning in for the night.

Sunday

Tammy was on the worship team at her church, so we left separately. Church was amazing and such an incredible worship experience. It was nice to be in another setting for a change. The message was on women's roles in the church and it was SO REFRESHING to be in a setting that is more how I grew up...and that believes that God gifts both males and females to be leaders!

I cheated on Nashville Joe by stopping at the Atlanta Trader Joe's on the way home from church. Unfortunately, there are no alcohol sales on Sunday under Georgia state law, so I STILL was not able to partake of TJ's wines. Sigh. But I did load up on some snacks for the road (and for home!) and picked up some toffee as a thank you gift for our hostess.

We ate lunch at Tammy's house, played our third game of Hand and Foot and set out on the road. It was a pretty uneventful drive (although we did manage to both terrify and amuse Hailey with our lovey-dovey talk -- which I assure you is totally a joke. Right pooky?)









All in all, it was a lovely weekend and I'm SO glad I got to meet another wonderful member of Anthony's family...and we're already planning another weekend getaway. It was that much fun. :0)