Atlanta

We flew to Atlanta and stayed there for a couple of days before borrowing a car to drive to Blue Ridge for some crisp mountain air.

My daughter decided that the usual places of interest to go given the little time we have would be CNN, Coca Cola and the Centennial Olympic Park. These are all located close together.

We stayed at a relative's beautiful house located near this stretch of road that is dotted with spectacular colonial mansions with long driveways. In fact, many of the buildings are hidden by majestic trees and tall manicured privacy hedges. Homes that we got a glimpse of makes us think of romantic, gracious and high columned facades and the movie, Gone With the Wind.

Our relative is a great cook and host. She pampered us with excellent meals and she would have none of it when we suggested going out for a restaurant meal. She even insisted on taking care of the kiddo at home while we drive around soaking in the sights of the city.

We visited the places as planned and had a great time. We also walked around the downtown area near the Skyview Ferris Wheel where there was lots of greenery, people enjoying the warm weather and busy cafes. We also stopped at a shopping mall just for a snack and some window shopping. I bought a nice big deep porcelain bowl from Williams Sonoma for our lovely host in appreciation of her warm welcome.

Atlanta is bustling and beautiful. So is the crawling traffic to the airport. Maybe we just happened to leave Atlanta on extraordinarily busy day. We only just made it to the airport despite leaving the house some two and half hours ago.