We headed down to Atlanta Thursday morning to kick off football season! We made it to our hotel a little before 1 and got checked in. We arrived around the same time as the Martins! It was really great to see them. They surprised Josh with a mini fridge for his Birthday :-). We picked up Burgess from the airport and made our way into Atlanta to get ready for the SweetWater tour. We heard it through the grapevine that it was going to be ridiculously crowded and we would need to get there really early or we may not get in. The tour started at 5:30, so we got there around 3:30. NO ONE was there yet. We took a couple pictures and asked about what we could do before the tour and we decided on a bar nearby. We reserved our parking spot and went to find the place. We would have liked to have toured Terrapin while we were down too, but their tour times were around the same time as SweetWater's, and they're located in Athens, so it didn't work out. We decided to try some Terrapin brews at the bar instead. One of them came with a free glass, so it was almost like we got a tour anyway :-). Josh and I split a Pimento Cheese Burger with bacon mac and cheese. YUM! We made our way back over to SweetWater. You could get a small glass to sample the beers for free, or you could pay $10 for a pint glass and 6 "5 oz" samples. The samples they were pouring for us were more like 8 or 9 oz. Extremely generous! I did taste them all, and I didn't dislike any of them, although there were 1 or 2 I wasn't crazy about. Since I was driving, I gave my least favorite ones and my last ticket away. The tour itself was OK. Their equipment was extremely impressive and our guide was really nice, but it would have been nicer if the guide was someone more involved in the brewing process. Being homebrewers, we were curious about a couple things and she wasn't able to answer our questions. She knew the basics about their beers and a couple random facts, but we wanted to know more than that. Haha. We had a great time and I'm really glad we got to do this while we were in town.
We decided to go back to the hotel and take the MARTA downtown after the tour. We were hoping to find a local pub or something along those lines. No such luck. We asked our shuttle driver about places to go on the way to the MARTA stop. He lead us straight to the super-touristy area, so there were just commercial places like Hard Rock Cafe and Hooter's. No thanks. We finally decided on a place, but none of us were impressed. After it was all said and done, we all decided it would have been better to order pizza in. At least now we know where we don't want to go the next time we're in Atlanta!
We got up Friday morning to get ready for the game! We needed to go get breakfast/lunch and pick up tailgating supplies. We ate at Church's then went out to pick up a cooler, beer and snacks. Once we got back to the hotel, we packed everything up and went to catch the shuttle to the MARTA. We waited for what seemed like forever! After a ride that felt like forever and a walk that felt like it was longer than it really was, we were finally at our tailgating destination! We met up with some old friends, played some tailgating games and listened to tailgating music. It was great! It was also extremely HOT! We were tailgating on asphalt and it is SO much hotter than the grass or dirt we're used to tailgating on. I decided to find a couple other friends that were there. Come to find out, one of them had been right across from us all day! Tailgating came to an end too fast as always, but we were all ready to go to the game.
I won't lie, it was very nice watching the game in an air conditioned environment! The Georgia Dome is really nice and with it being as large as it is, you really forget you're not outside. The game was NOT a good start to the season, but we still had a good time. We really played horribly. I was disappointed in some guys I had high expectations for. I had high hopes overall and I was a big baby about us throwing the game away.
During the game, a Tennessee fan fell from the top level and died. Things like this really put life into perspective. Yes, my football team lost, but I'm happy and healthy. I have a great family and wonderful friends. I have a wonderful home and a great job. I have absolutely nothing at all to complain about.
There's always next week...or at least next season ;-)
GO PACK!!!
During the game, a Tennessee fan fell from the top level and died. Things like this really put life into perspective. Yes, my football team lost, but I'm happy and healthy. I have a great family and wonderful friends. I have a wonderful home and a great job. I have absolutely nothing at all to complain about.
There's always next week...or at least next season ;-)
GO PACK!!!
I wish I would have known you guys were in the ATL, we could have totally taken you guys to the best food and best beer places!! Rule of thumb, MARTA sucks, and I hate you guys had to find that out the hard way. It was a rough game for State , and I wondered how dramatic the TN fan tragedy was for the fans actually in the dome. Glad you guys had a good time though, and you are right, it really puts life in perspective. Take care!! - Megan
ReplyDeleteI thought about contacting you guys when we were on our way to ATL. I still don't have a smart phone so I didn't have a way to get in touch with you at that point. We actually didn't hear about the guy falling at all. Our section was diagonal from the section he was in and I didn't notice any commotion. I only knew about it because people who were watching on TV were texting us like crazy. I'll def have to let you know the next time we're in town!
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