Sunday, December 24, 2017
Christmas Eve 2017
Here's the initial photo from this year's "Kids on the Couch" Christmas Eve photo. This is the only one I took on my phone since Tracey took a bunch, including goofy ones and some with Beatrix. Once she posts those, I'll share them on the blog and link to the original post with all the others.
Sunday, December 17, 2017
Friday, December 8, 2017
Atlanta 2017
As you probably know, Marilu and I flew down to Atlanta a couple of weekends ago. It was the last part of her 40th birthday celebration--yes, I still need to post pictures from her party--and the main attraction was for her to finally see the Falcons play in Atlanta.
When we lived there back in the early 2000s, they had super popular quarterback Michael Vick (in the pre-dog days), and it was really hard to get tickets so she never got to see them. We thought it was going to be more of the same since ticket prices were astronomical for the first game she checked, but it turns out that was just because they were playing the Cowboys, When we checked the prices for a game against a non-overrated team--the Bucs--prices were much more normal. Still expensive, but relatively normal.
We ended up cramming a bunch of fun stuff into the 48 hours or so we were in the ATL. Keep reading and see what we got up to.
For the sake of convenience, we stayed right downtown at the Omni Hotel in CNN Center. It's within walking distance of all the major tourist atrractions downtown, including Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where the Falcons play.
Here's the view from our room on the top floor of the hotel. If you squint, you can see Georgia's capitol building in the background just right of the center of the photo.
Another view from the top floor. This is just outside of our door and shows a different view of downtown and part of Centennial Park. Plus a really hot chick!
We had originally planned to go to the Georgia Aquarium on our first day there, but my friend Clairanne (who gave us a ride from the airport...woohoo!) convinced us that we would enjoy the College Football Hall of Fame more. And I think she was right! You can see an aquarium anywhere, but there's only one hall of fame.
Upon first entering, there is a massive wall of helmets from what I think is every college football team in existence.
Of course, I had to get a photo with good ol' USF (located 4 up from my head).
Posing with some serious hardware. First off, the Heisman.
Then the old and new versions of the championship trophies.
We apparently have a lot of growing to do before we join a college team.
While walking through CNN Center, I saw Rick from Rick and Morty, one of the best animated TV shows of all time and had to get a photo.
We didn't have any concrete plans for our first night so on a whim, we checked prices for the Atlanta Hawks basketball game and were able to get a couple of seats for just over $50 total. The Hawks play in Philips Arena, which is connected to CNN Center so we didn't even have to go outside to get there. It was a bittersweet return for me since I saw quite a few Atlanta Thrashers hockey games while living there. As you may know, the Thrashers left for Winnipeg a few years back so all I have is the memories now.
Although neither of us are big basketball fans, it was a really fun time since it was so spontaneous. An added bonus was that the Hawks were playing the Toronto Raptors so we each rooted for a different team. The Raptors ended up destroying the Hawks but oh well, the beer was good.
The next day, we got breakfast at the CNN Center food court and then headed over to the stadium. Fan fest activities started a good 2-3 hours before the game so we had a good time there before heading in.
Earlier in the week, the old Falcons stadium--the Georgia Dome-- was imploded. I'm not sure if it was by design or not, but one piece of it remained standing. That's it below.
The ridiculously cool Falcon statue in front of the stadium entrance.
It's hard to describe just how impressive the stadium is without being there, but hopefully these pictures give some sense of how breathtaking it is. I will add that neither of us have ever been in another stadium that is even remotely as amazing as this one. Kind of makes me want to visit Dallas since that's supposed to be quite a stadium as well.
Here's another look at the imploded Georgia Dome taken from inside the stadium.
The coolest video display ever.
The Falcons were kind enough to win the game for the birthday girl, 34-20. This is the post-game mingling at center field.
Go Falcons!
Afterwards, we had a delicious dinner at a nearby German restaurant. Then we posed in our best German garb.
And now for something completely different.
Finally, Marilu had me take a picture of what was left of her face painting. She got it for free at the fan fest in the morning. Pretty durable!
So those are my highlights. Unlike Disney, where the vast majority of photos were taken on my phone, for this trip, Marilu took as many pictures as me, if not more. I haven't had a chance to go through her phone yet, but once I do, I'll post the highlights in a separate entry.
When we lived there back in the early 2000s, they had super popular quarterback Michael Vick (in the pre-dog days), and it was really hard to get tickets so she never got to see them. We thought it was going to be more of the same since ticket prices were astronomical for the first game she checked, but it turns out that was just because they were playing the Cowboys, When we checked the prices for a game against a non-overrated team--the Bucs--prices were much more normal. Still expensive, but relatively normal.
We ended up cramming a bunch of fun stuff into the 48 hours or so we were in the ATL. Keep reading and see what we got up to.
For the sake of convenience, we stayed right downtown at the Omni Hotel in CNN Center. It's within walking distance of all the major tourist atrractions downtown, including Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where the Falcons play.
Here's the view from our room on the top floor of the hotel. If you squint, you can see Georgia's capitol building in the background just right of the center of the photo.
Another view from the top floor. This is just outside of our door and shows a different view of downtown and part of Centennial Park. Plus a really hot chick!
We had originally planned to go to the Georgia Aquarium on our first day there, but my friend Clairanne (who gave us a ride from the airport...woohoo!) convinced us that we would enjoy the College Football Hall of Fame more. And I think she was right! You can see an aquarium anywhere, but there's only one hall of fame.
Upon first entering, there is a massive wall of helmets from what I think is every college football team in existence.
Of course, I had to get a photo with good ol' USF (located 4 up from my head).
Posing with some serious hardware. First off, the Heisman.
Then the old and new versions of the championship trophies.
We apparently have a lot of growing to do before we join a college team.
While walking through CNN Center, I saw Rick from Rick and Morty, one of the best animated TV shows of all time and had to get a photo.
We didn't have any concrete plans for our first night so on a whim, we checked prices for the Atlanta Hawks basketball game and were able to get a couple of seats for just over $50 total. The Hawks play in Philips Arena, which is connected to CNN Center so we didn't even have to go outside to get there. It was a bittersweet return for me since I saw quite a few Atlanta Thrashers hockey games while living there. As you may know, the Thrashers left for Winnipeg a few years back so all I have is the memories now.
Although neither of us are big basketball fans, it was a really fun time since it was so spontaneous. An added bonus was that the Hawks were playing the Toronto Raptors so we each rooted for a different team. The Raptors ended up destroying the Hawks but oh well, the beer was good.
The next day, we got breakfast at the CNN Center food court and then headed over to the stadium. Fan fest activities started a good 2-3 hours before the game so we had a good time there before heading in.
Earlier in the week, the old Falcons stadium--the Georgia Dome-- was imploded. I'm not sure if it was by design or not, but one piece of it remained standing. That's it below.
The ridiculously cool Falcon statue in front of the stadium entrance.
It's hard to describe just how impressive the stadium is without being there, but hopefully these pictures give some sense of how breathtaking it is. I will add that neither of us have ever been in another stadium that is even remotely as amazing as this one. Kind of makes me want to visit Dallas since that's supposed to be quite a stadium as well.
Here's another look at the imploded Georgia Dome taken from inside the stadium.
The coolest video display ever.
The Falcons were kind enough to win the game for the birthday girl, 34-20. This is the post-game mingling at center field.
Go Falcons!
Afterwards, we had a delicious dinner at a nearby German restaurant. Then we posed in our best German garb.
And now for something completely different.
Finally, Marilu had me take a picture of what was left of her face painting. She got it for free at the fan fest in the morning. Pretty durable!
So those are my highlights. Unlike Disney, where the vast majority of photos were taken on my phone, for this trip, Marilu took as many pictures as me, if not more. I haven't had a chance to go through her phone yet, but once I do, I'll post the highlights in a separate entry.
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