Business Trip with Daddy

November 2 -5, 2010

Jeremy had a business trip to Atlanta, GA, so Lindsey and I tagged along.  It was a long drive in a little car, but Lindsey was a trooper.  She was just excited to go on a vacation.

Once we arrived we started looking for somewhere to eat.  We found a Hard Rock Cafe around the corner with a wonderful waitress.  It was a nice evening, so after dinner we went for a walk.  Downtown Atlanta has a group of security guards/tourist helpers (I'm sure they have a much more dignified job title than that, but I can't remember what they are called).  A man with an English accent saw us and told us about the Olympic Park about five blocks away.  We went to check it out and found a water show set to lights and music (pictured behind Lindsey).  It was pretty cool to watch.  Then walked to the other end of the park (it is huge!) to find three traditional play grounds.  They were amazing and very well lit...which was helpful since it was dark by now.

It rained all day the next day, so I was really glad we found the park the night before.  Lindsey and I spent time in our hotel room most of the morning.  Later we found a "mall" attached to our hotel.  I say "mall" because it was mostly a huge food court with a few boutiques.  We didn't mind.  It gave us somewhere to walk around and was dry.  I've neglected to mention that we stayed in a Hyatt Regency.  It was very nice, but I didn't see another child the entire time we were there.  Thankfully Lindsey was well behaved and we were free of temper tantrums.  :)

Jeremy got done around noon on Wednesday and so we visited the Coca-Cola Museum.  It was fun to see how the company has changed through the years.  They had these hugs soda bottles that were painted beautifully for some special occassions.  My favorite had brightly colored flowers all over it.  Lindsey was drawn to the butterflies.

We met the Coca-Cola bear.  He was very cute and it was fun to watch Lindsey interact with him.  She would not get any closer than what you see here.  I eventually went in with her and we sat down in front of him for a picture.  It was very cute, but it wasn't worth the money they wanted us to pay for it.  After we walked away and could see the concern on Lindsey's face we figured out that she thought the bear was a REAL polar bear.  After we explained there was a person in there she was much more friendly and wanted to go back for another visit.  It was funny to be reminded how literal kids can be with things.

One of our favorite things to do at the Coca-Cola Museum was to try the sodas from many different countries.  Our favorite was from Asia.  It was a Lemon flavored soda.

Before we left town we stopped to see the Atlanta Temple for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  It was under construction, but still very beautiful on the outside.

From Atlanta we drove to Ashville, NC...just for the fun of it.  Jeremy and I had never been there, and it wasn't too far of a drive.  We found us a room at the Holiday Inn, which was much more comfortable to us than the Hyatt.

This is where Lindsey had the best time of the WHOLE trip.  We had an indoor pool and spent the majority of our time there.  After swimming we indulged in room service for dinner.  It was great!

Upon leaving Lindsey decided she was big enough to pull her own suitcase.  She thought she was big stuff!

We drove home through Tennessee and the Smoky Mountains...one of my favorite places to be.  It was another rainy day, but the mountains were beautiful.  They had a light smoke around them and the leaves on the trees were just beautiful.  We had originally planned to stay overnight in Gatlinburg, but decided to just stop off all the HUGE Bass Pro Shop in Sevierville, TN.  We were there for a couple of hours and then headed for home.  The rain finally stopped and we saw beautiful cloud formations.  Among them was this beautiful cloud with a silver lining.

This has become one of my most favorite pictures I have ever taken.  You can't really see it right now, nor could I see it when I took the picture, but that dark speck just left of the center of the picture is a beautiful oak leaf.

We made it home safely and enjoyed being together.  It's nice that Lindsey and I can go on these kinds of trips with Jeremy and make fun family memories.