So the kids and I went to Atlanta last weekend, to visit my brother, who is in law school, and my sister and her husband and two kids. It was an amazing weekend. The Atlanta Aquarium is breathtaking.I drove - something I haven't done on the way to Atlanta in a long while. Took a plane for the last few years. I remember driving solo when I and sis were still single, many years ago. This is awful to admit - I would read on the long drive - holding the book up on the steering wheel and jumping my eyes back and forth from the book to the road. I still remember having to pull over one time because I was so upset by the turn of the novel I was reading that I had to cry.
Don't do that anymore, too dangerous. But I bought the kids itouches this year - highly recommend - so I was actually able to listen to my own music on the long drive.
We passed some graveyards. I do a funny thing when I pass graveyards - I hold my breath, and encourage the kids to do the same. Tell them that we are protecting our bodies from the bad souls that haven't passed on - the ones that might try to inhabit us. Don't think I really believe in this, but it is fun and exciting.
I also hold my breath when I go through underground tunnels. Something leftover from childhood - Mom encouraged it. So I was excited to travel through an underground tunnel in Alabama - kept telling the kids about it. We were driving on I-78 - soon to be renamed the I-22 corridor. It was well extended past the point that it was the last time I drove to Atlanta. Beautiful interstate.
We reached Birmingham - and I had been touting the tunnel and the ships on the ocean for many miles. Somehow, we missed them. I wondered aloud to the kids if we had bypassed them on the new I-78 route. They were disappointed.
Halfway to Atlanta from Birmingham I finally realized my mistake. The tunnels and the ships were in Mobile, not Birmingham. On the way to Florida, not Atlanta. Duh. What a directional dumb ass. I told the kids about my mistake, and they cringed and scolded me.
To my credit, we only got lost once - for about an hour on the way out of Atlanta Sunday morning. Sis helped me get back on track, and her advice got me through Memphis on the way back.
Cheers to getting your cities straight. I think I've finally got mine.
7 comments:
Sounds like a great trip!
It was fabulous! My brother was on the phone with me yesterday touting the Boston Aquarium. Think I am going to start planning another trip.
I love the hands-on tanks at the Atlanta Aquarium!
I still hold my breath when I drive by a graveyard too! It was a superstition I picked up in elementary school and I do it without thinking!
Darn it, we missed that pod. Saved two for next time - will also have to do Coca Cola plant.
I'm not sure where I picked up that superstition but I've been doing it since childhood as well. Probably in one of the ghost story books I was addicted to.
Ha! I used to do the breath-holding when passing a graveyard, too. I can't even remember where I picked it up. Maybe in one of the Scary Stories collections? I still do it once in a while, just out of habit.
Sounds like you guys had a fun time!
Hahaha! This reminded me of a trip I took with a friend 20 years ago. She and I were driving together to our college friend's wedding in Columbus, GA.
I must admit that I was driving. She and I were talking so much, catching up on the latest news and gossip, that I just kept right on driving - right past the turn we needed off I-85 in Atlanta. We went so far past the turn, in fact, that we realized our mistake when we saw a sign that said, "Welcome to Opalica, Alabama!"
Oops!!! And we weren't even blonde! :-D
Well, I was honey blond when I was little, but now I use a little help from highlights to keep from being dirty, dirty blond (ha ha fancy word for dark brown).
That is hilarious, thanks for sharing.
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