Kennesaw is a small town north of Atlanta that has all of the malls where we used to shop. It was convenient for friends from Cobb County and Cartersville to get to, and has a very comfy Hilton Garden Inn with a not too far away Ruby Tuesday's for takeout (we said no cheese on the burgers, people!). Sadly, the pool at the hotel is not heated at all, and after sticking a toe in, Sam and Mark couldn't go through with the much-anticipated swim. This was made all the more disappointing since the pool at our apartment is not just closed for the season, but drained for construction.
Forget the pool; I have a hat, a pen, and the remote.
Sam was very pleased to discover, however, that the fancy chair in the room spun around. More chair rides, Mommy!
The next morning we had a nice breakfast at the hotel and then did some shopping before meeting Wendy and Deanne for lunch at Joe's Crab Shack. Wendy and Deanne were the other pregnant second grade teachers when I was expecting Sam (out of seven preggos all together at Murdock), with classrooms on either side of mine. Deanne's daughter Mary Ella is one month older and Wendy's son Brady is two months older than Sam. Here's a photo of the three babies the last time we were all together in July, 2007:
And here they are now:
It was great to reconnect with Deanne and Wendy, and I just wish we could have spent more time with them. We chose Joe's for the play structure at the restaurant, but it was cranky baby nap time so no go. We did kick off the celebration of Mark's birthday with a shared root beer float before we left...
After lunch came more shopping (I needed a dress for Mark's upcoming ball, and to stock up on 6 months' worth of Publix store-brand boxed Macaroni and Cheese for India; it's kosher), then a nostalgia tour of Marietta. We drove by our old apartment, my school (looks fabulous with the construction finally finished), our dance studio, and Mark's bridge club.
There was still time for a rest before meeting up with Debbie and Gary for dinner at Rafferty's. We hadn't seen Gary since we left Georgia, or Debbie since January's trade show in Vegas. She and Mark worked together every day for a year in Cartersville, and when we saw her again the conversation picked up right where they left off. Sam was thrilled to hang out and to go exploring all over the restaurant, especially the stairs. It didn't hurt that a Cal game was playing on the TVs - Go Bears! Note that Sam and the birthday boy are wearing coordinating Hawaiian shirts.
The next morning, after another quick breakfast at Hilton, we hit the road for our epic journey back to Northern Virginia. Let's just summarize- long long long day of driving (670 miles in all), from 9:30 AM until midnight.
Highlights included driving past the turnoff to Pigeon Forge, TN, which southerners will recognize as the home of Dollywood! It was agreed that if we had a week to make this trip, Dollywood would have been a stop. As it was, we just waved and drove on, through the Great Smoky Mountains.
We certainly appreciated all of the rest stops along the way, most of which had fabulously clean bathrooms (a nice surprise!). One that we really needed was just over the border into Virginia, both a good milestone on the drive and a grassy area for Sam to run around on, plus there was a Virginia Welcome Center!
That dirt square is the "pet rest area," largely ignored, so it was important to watch our step.
Twenty minutes out from home, Sam woke up in his car seat, hysterically crying as if to say, "I'm still in this darn thing?!" I drove that last 90 minute leg, and had similar feelings. :) The drive was brutal, but the trip was well worth it. We're trying to fill up on all things "home" before we go abroad...
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