Soon after realizing that we wouldn't be taking a spring trip, I started doing some brainstorming. We've driven through Atlanta countless times, but any past plans we've had to stop in the city have been thwarted. As I researched, I found that - conveniently - the Reds were playing the Braves in mid-May. And it was a two-game series in the middle of the week. (Read: Cheaper trip with less vacation time used than almost anything else we could have planned to a place we wanted to go anyway.)
My only wish for a trip to Atlanta? To see the Georgia Aquarium.
So with three days off, we could easily drive up, see the aquarium, catch both baseball games and drive back. And because it was a drivable destination, we could wait until a few weeks before to make definite plans (like buy tickets or book hotel rooms) and not have to worry about something happening with the pregnancy that would render it impossible for me to travel. We asked my doctor about the lengthy drive, and he said it would be fine at that point in my pregnancy as long as we stopped often to stretch my legs. (And considering how small my bladder felt on that trip, stopping often to stretch my legs wasn't the issue - it was stopping to find a bathroom.) But we waited until the appointment before our trip to get final clearance to go and make plans.
We scored a great hotel right downtown via the Priceline negotiator, and we were shocked that we didn't hit terrible traffic. I was dealing with a nasty sinus infection that had hit days earlier, but other than that, we had a great trip. The sickness mostly made sleeping well an issue and prevented me from enjoying any of the food I ate after the first day, but as long as I had a box of tissues at all times, I dealt with it.
I had solicited some recommendations on places to eat, and before we checked in to the hotel, we headed to a barbecue place called Fat Matt's.
It was delicious. The seating area was small, but the service was fast and the food was really good - Tim order half a slab of ribs, and I got a half-order of chicken and we shared it. The only downside? The heartburn I had later that night. But it was worth it!We checked out our hotel and decided to walk around the city a bit before it got dark. We got a little turned around trying to find the Georgia Aquarium (where we were visiting the next day), but we ended up finding the aquarium *and* Centennial Olympic Park, another place I had wanted to check out. We got to see some cool fountains at night and walked back to the hotel through the Georgia Tech campus, which was really pretty. Because of the heartburn, I requested that we stop at The Varsity, another restaurant that had been recommended to us, for an F.O. (Frosted Orange).
The Varsity: This place was awesome,and dangerously close to our hotel.
The next morning, we were up early to get to the aquarium as soon as it opened. We were blessed with gorgeous weather during our trip - it wasn't too humid or hot, and it was nice and sunny for our walks. The aquarium was about a mile away from the hotel, and we took the same path through the Georgia Tech campus. And then we realized the aquarium didn't open until 10. And we thought it opened at 9. So we headed over to Centennial Olympic Park again and explored some more.
Tim in front of a park sign on our morning visit to the park.We headed back to the aquarium at 10 and dove in. We had pre-purchased tickets using our AAA discount, so we cruised in and started checking out the five main exhibits - Cold Water Quest, Georgia Explorer, Ocean Voyager, River Scout and Tropical Diver. I loved them all, but my favorites were Tropical Diver and Ocean Voyager.
Big wall 'o sea in the Tropical Diver exhibit.We also had tickets to the 4D theater, so we saw a show there and bought special passes to see the Planet Shark exhibit. We didn't want to spend a ton of money on lunch in the aquarium cafeteria, so we split some food and went back to my favorite exhibits after lunch.
I really, really enjoyed the Georgia Aquarium, although I'm not sure if it is my favorite aquarium (while on the trip I counted - I think I've been to nine aquariums now). It definitely ranks up there, though.When we had seen everything at the aquarium, we headed back to the hotel - but first, we stopped for a meal at The Varsity. My sinus infection was in full force at that point and I couldn't taste anything, so I had a burger while Tim had two burgers and some onion rings. Then we headed back to the hotel to take a quick nap before our next adventure: Navigating public transportation to get to Turner Field.
We asked a few questions and consulted a few maps, but luckily it was pretty easy to figure out. I rode the light rail system in Pittsburgh for almost a year and a half, and I've also been on the light rail in D.C., but basically all we had to do was buy our passes and follow people in Braves attire :)
We took the rail to a shuttle bus, which took us to the stadium. Then we found our seats and enjoyed the game! (Except the Reds lost. Ouch.)
View from our seats for the first game.The next morning we had to check out of the hotel, so we packed everything up and Tim went for the car. This time we were driving to and parking at the stadium for the day game. We made it in plenty of time and went to find our seats, which were near right field and wayyyyy in the sun.
Holy sunny: View from our original seats for the second game.It was crowded and hot, and we lasted about three and a half innings before I couldn't really take any more pregnant-woman-baking-in-the-sun. We found a nice shaded area above the third base line, got some ice cream (for Tim) and some frozen lemonade (for me) and proceeded to watch the Reds blow a six-run lead. The way they lost was quite a feat, too - a walk-off grand slam that nearly was caught by Laynce Nix. To see the two losses - and have them be quite dramatic - was not cool.
So we headed out of downtown Atlanta - around 5 p.m., mind you - and prepared to brave some fierce traffic. But really, once we got out of the immediate downtown area/game traffic, we were surprised at how well traffic was moving. (We have had HORRENDOUS experiences with Atlanta traffic in the past.)
We ended up stopping for dinner around 9 p.m. and figured we'd make it back to the condo by 1 a.m. ... except the exit we needed to take off of I-75 was closed. We could have taken the previous one, but there was no indication that *our* exit was closed. And then the next exit was closed. None of this would have been a big deal except my bladder and I had a deal with Tim that it would be emptied by 1 a.m., and we were now two exits south of where we needed to be and running out of gas. Luckily, we still managed to get home a little after 1, and I half-ran to the bathroom and all was good again.
It was a good trip - not too busy, but we got to see several things we wanted to see. We thought about trying to cram some more in to our trip, but it was supposed to be relaxing, and it was. We didn't have to rush any where, got to take naps, got to sleep, eat well and be out and about. In our books, that's a pretty good trip :)
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