Georgia on my Mind

Published April 30, 2008 by cheryl

I had a lovely week in Athens visiting my dad, and watching the NCAA women’s gymnastics finals (Georgia placed first, Utah second, by the way).

Since we were flying into Atlanta, we spent the first night there and did some sight-seeing in Atlanta before heading out to Athens. We toured the Fox Theater (I’ve wanted to do the tour ever since seeing an opera there years ago), the Botanical Gardens (where lots of flowers were actually in bloom, unlike certain places in Utah), the Georgia Aquarium, and the World of Coca-Cola. We had an absolutely fantastic dinner at Pano’s and Paul’s to cap off our time in Atlanta.

Click any photo for larger, as usual!

Atlanta Botanical Garden Orchid Jellyfish
Cheryl at the botanical gardens Orchid at the botanical gardens Jellyfish at the aquarium

In Athens, besides the gymnastics finals, we enjoyed hanging out at my dad’s house watching the birds, squirrels, and turtles. With a landscape like this, I could spend a lot of time enjoying the view.

Front Yard Back Yard
front yard back yard

We had lots of good food (too much, as usual), but one of the highlights was a trip to Weaver D’s Delicious Fine Foods for some soul food. R.E.M. fans will recognize the restaurant’s slogan, “Automatic for the People”, which those Athens boys used as the title of their 1992 album. Clearly they know good food. As does Al Gore, who also borrowed the slogan. Everyone else in my group just had vegetable plates with 3 or 4 of the delicious vegetable side dishes, but I had to include some of the fabulous fried chicken along with my veggies.

Fortunately we got there before the main crowd, because by the time we had ordered our food, the place was packed. It’s a tiny place - the interior photo is pretty much the entire restaurant. What I tried to capture but couldn’t, was that the place was practically wall-to-wall people. There was even a college student there recording the sound for an assignment to gather background noise.

Weaver D's Weaver D's
Weaver D’s Outside Weaver D’s Inside

As a pre-birthday celebration, my father even opened up his last bottle of 1982 Chateau Talbot, which was positively ethereal. He bought a case of it in the early 80’s for less than $10 per bottle. Check out the current prices - it’s usually over $200 per bottle, so consider those first few listings a bargain.

1982 Chateau Talbot

Filed under Vacation

Comments (9)

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  1. Carole says:

    Sounds like a great trip. Now I’m jonesing for fried chicken!

    Posted May 1, 2008 @ 4:44 am
  2. margene says:

    Oh my! You did have a good time and packed a whole lot into a week!

    Posted May 1, 2008 @ 5:27 am
  3. Lani says:

    Looks like a ton of fun!! Now I’m hungry!

    Posted May 1, 2008 @ 6:07 am
  4. Chris says:

    Sounds like a great week - and who knew I’d pick up REM trivia here today?!

    Posted May 1, 2008 @ 6:41 am
  5. Anne says:

    Glad you had a good visit with your dad. I like Atlanta, but NOT the Atlanta airport. Blech.

    I heart that pinky-coral color in your previous post too! And I’m not usually a pink gal.

    Posted May 1, 2008 @ 7:18 am
  6. Heather Joins The Round says:

    Sounds like a great week!

    Posted May 1, 2008 @ 9:31 am
  7. Kim says:

    Hey grrl…..HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

    Posted May 2, 2008 @ 5:46 am
  8. margene says:

    I hope you have a wonderful day! Happy Birthday!!!

    Posted May 2, 2008 @ 5:50 am
  9. Chris says:

    Happy birthday!!!!

    Posted May 2, 2008 @ 6:12 am

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