Feeling Thankful in Atlanta

November 14-28, 2022

Everywhere we turned during our time in Atlanta, we found so very much to be thankful for!  Of all the blessings we came across during our time there, we are so very thankful to share we will be adding to our family in May!  Maggie and Luke are expecting TWINS!  Maggie couldn’t have said it any better, “Prayed for one, Blessed with two!” in their announcement of this wonderful news.  Our hearts are full!

Atlanta also provided us with the opportunity to reconnect with both family and friends!  My nephew, Jason, along with his wife, Katie, and children, Audrey and Caleb, live a little southwest of Atlanta.  It just so happens that Katie’s parents, Linda and Doug, and Katie’s brother and family also live in the vicinity.  They have a lovely tradition of sharing Sunday dinner together.  In grand southern hospitality fashion, Linda and Doug invited us to their home and included us in this beautiful gathering!  

Caleb had celebrated his birthday a couple of days earlier, giving us the perfect opportunity for a birthday party as well!  It was so delightful to watch the children all playing together as the adults gathered in the family room following dinner.  We left there with full bellies and full hearts once again!

It turned out a colleague, Cindy, from my teaching days at Harding Middle School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and her husband, Paul, moved northeast of Atlanta in order to be a little closer to their aging parents in 2015.  In fact, Paul’s mother now lives with them.  What an incredible blessing to this dear, sweet woman!   She has her own area of the house, with her own furniture and familiar possessions, giving her a strong sense of familiarity.  At the same time, she is safe, well-cared for and, all importantly, with people who love her.  It seems like a perfect set up!

Cindy and Paul, again in that wonderful southern hospitality fashion, invited us into their home for a delicious lunch!  It was an afternoon of sharing memories from our days at Harding, as well as learning of current hobbies and interests.  It turns our Paul is quite the musician and has an impressive music room he shared with us.  Paul is active in their church’s choir group, playing his guitar as part of the worship services.  I tried, but couldn’t get this modest man to break out one of his guitars to share a little of his talent with us.  Maybe next time!  Dick and I were able to log into Celebrationfamily.com to see the choir group in action.  Cindy and Paul have a 9-month-old, full-sized golden doodle, Hannah, that Frankie got to play with for the afternoon.  The two of them played so well together.  Maybe we need to consider getting a playmate for Frankie!  Once again, the afternoon flew by and before we knew it, it was time to head for “home”.  And once again, we left with full bellies and an even fuller heart!

We made a couple of trips into the downtown area of Atlanta where we found so many fun, educational and interesting things to take in.  First of all, I hadn’t known Martin Luther King was born in Atlanta.  The home where he was born in is now part of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park, along with Ebenezer Baptist Church, the historic Fire Station No. 6 and The King Center, where MLK and Coretta are both entombed.  

The home where MLK was born

The church where MLK's father and, later, MLK preached

Fire Station No. 6, where MLK would come to buy candy from the firemen

MLK's and Coretta's tomb along with the eternal flame

In 1996, Atlanta hosted the summer Olympics.  Today, Centennial Olympic Park has several reminders of its beginnings, including the Fountain of Rings.  Within the park and surrounding area, you find restaurants, the College Football Hall of Fame, souvenir shops, and the Georgia Aquarium to name a few!  We found ourselves curious about the Coca-Cola Museum and spent several hours learning all about just how this worldwide popular beverage came to be.  We even got to see the vault where the “secret formula” is kept!  In addition to the history of Coca-Cola, we were treated to an amazing 3-D movie as well as a scent room where you could smell various sweet, spicy, and fruity scents and see how good your nose is at correctly identifying them.  My nose stinks at this skill, as I was only able to correctly identify two of the fifteen scents!  I was pretty skilled in the tasting room, however!  All you needed for this activity was to pour a glass of one of the more than 100 beverages Coca-Cola offers around the world.  I had no idea Coca-Cola made so many different flavors!  Yes, once again, we left with full bellies!

Vintage Coca-Cola delivery truck

Where IS that magic (and very secret!) formula??

It's the REAL thing!

I think Fuze Tea was probably my favorite!

A few miles from Centennial Olympic Park is the Jimmy Carter Presidential Museum.  This is a very nice museum!  It was the fourth presidential museum we have been able to visit.  What impressed us the most was the impressive amount of worldwide good Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter have continued to do post-presidency.  I knew about their commitment to Habitat for Humanity, but really was unaware they have traveled to over 120 countries eradicating disease, ensuring fair elections, bringing fresh water to communities and many other humanitarian efforts.  Jimmy celebrated his 98th birthday October 1st.  Both Jimmy and Rosalyn continue to be deacons at their church in Plains, Georgia.  Maybe our bellies weren’t full, but we certainly left this museum with our hearts full of appreciation for all of the good these two people do for this world.

We called Clark Creek Campground North in Acworth, Georgia “home” during our stay in this area.  It is a small county park located on Allatoona Lake northwest of Atlanta.  It offers 24 campsites with water and electricity (no sewer).  We were on full water conservation so as not to fill up our grey and black tanks before our two-week stay was over!  We found a nice field, where Frankie enjoyed playing frisbee, beautiful sunsets over the lake, and quiet solitude!  We were surprised by the weather during our time there.  We had several nights where the temperatures dipped below freezing!  The lowest we saw was 26°!  We try to chase 75°, so it’s clear we missed our target when we planned late November in Atlanta!  The days typically warmed up to the 50’s and 60’s, so we didn’t have any ice or snow.  Life is good and we are blessed!

Site 23 was "home"!

Our backyard for a couple of weeks!

Chilly mornings gifted us with an amazing fog-covered lake

Light bulbs are difficult to replace in this home!  You need to replace the entire fixture!

A rainy day gave me time to sew!

To be honest, the only thing we found in the area not to be thankful for was the traffic!  It didn’t seem to matter the direction, time of day, or day of week.  The highways are crowded and you need to head out expecting to run into lots of congestion.  This being said, we were thankful we got everywhere we wanted to go without any incidents!

Not far from our campground was Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park.  This park has done an amazing job of preserving the civil war battlefields in 1864 when Sherman approached Atlanta.  Still visible are miles and miles of the earthworks the Confederate Army dug to entrench themselves in as the Union Army approached.  Trails through Kennesaw Mountain are detailed with signage describing the various battles.  It’s so important to remember our past and give praise for the progress our nation continues to make in ensuring freedom for all.

Earthworks dug by the Confederate Army on Kennesaw Mountain

Atlanta skyline from the top of Kennesaw Mountain

An unknown soldier from the battle on Kennesaw Mountain.  It's unknown which side he fought on.  

From the top of Kennesaw Mountain, we got a beautiful view of the Atlanta skyline as well as Stone Mountain on the east side of Atlanta.  Stone Mountain Park is another interesting place to visit.  There is a skyride you can take to the top of Stone Mountain, or you can enjoy the one-mile hike to the top.  We opted for the hike!  After the hike back down, we took in a couple of the other sites the park has to offer.  Originally displayed at the 1964-65 World’s Fair, held in New York City, was the Carillon.  Following the fair, Coca-Cola donated the Carillon to the city and you can find it at Stone Mountain Park.  I believe there are daily concerts held at noon; however, we didn’t get there in time to hear it.  A gal we spoke to who was also visiting the carillon questioned whether the concerts are currently happening.  Apparently, Carillon players are a rare commodity!

The big controversy in the park is the enormous carving in the side of Stone Mountain.  This carving features Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, and Jefferson Davis with their hats over their hearts.  This carving is the world’s largest relief covering 22 acres of granite.  There is a movement currently underway to have this carving removed.  

When we lived in Hastings, Minnesota, we often participated in the Gobble Gate 5K run/walk.  Well, the Saturday before Thanksgiving, Acworth hosted the Turkey Chase 5K run/walk.  We learned about it too late to participate in the actual event, but that didn’t stop us from going on a nice 5K walk around Acworth on Thanksgiving Day!  It was such a lovely route!  You go through the historic district, past some lovely residential areas and along the shore of Allatoona Lake for a bit. 

Our other traditional Thanksgiving Day event was eating homemade pumpkin pie!  Who needs the turkey and dressing?!  Total truth of it is, the Cyclone men’s basketball team was playing Villanova and we didn’t have wifi or cell service to be able to watch the game in the camper so, what does any Cyclone fan do?  Well, of course you go to McDonald’s and use their Wi-Fi!  I think the team felt us cheering for them, as they won!

We wrapped up our time in the Atlanta area celebrating the first Sunday of Advent at Saint Clare of Assisi.  The church is supporting Saint Vincent de Paul by having a “Reverse Advent Calendar”!  I love this idea!  For each day of Advent, they ask you to donate a specific item.  For example, December 1st asks for a box of oatmeal, the 2nd is a jar of jelly, the 3rd is some deodorant…  Such a great way to support the community during this season of preparation.  Acworth struck us as such a delightful community, certainly on our list of things we are grateful for!

Up next:  Savannah, Georgia