Displaced Beachbums

It was an easy seven hour drive to Atlanta and we drove straight to Dave’s place so we could see Sport and Maya:

Needless to say, the dogs are more than happy to be temporarily residing at Dave’s Pet Resort which includes lots of walks, rides in the car and nap time on the couch. I can honestly think of no one else who would have taken better care of them.  He really should go into the “dog business” of some sort or another.

I got in early enough to pick up our 2nd vehicle which was shipped from Guam. What a difference from our experience in Long Beach ~ literally, I was driving away within 20 minutes of getting to the pick up facility.

Dave had tickets for us to see “Dreamgirls”, with Jennifer Holliday, at the historic Fox Theater in downtown Atlanta. It was a fabulous show and since I knew it was going to be a late night, I booked a room for FG and I at the Hotel Indigo which is directly across from the theater. What a fun place ~ they are VERY pet-friendly. Even if you don’t have a pet, I would highly recommend it.

Funny incident: Dave was waiting for us in the lobby and when we came down from our room, he was giving me the “look who’s over there” nod. I thought there was a celebrity in the lobby but it was even better! It was someone we both worked with at the Swissotel many years ago, Rick ~ I hadn’t seen him since I left in 1993. Super nice guy and it must have been fate to run into him.

On Friday, I drove “outside the perimeter” to visit with another good friend whom I now refer to as ‘Atlanta Heidi’ ~ we’ve been friends since the early nineties when we were both young, single working women at the Swissotel.  She, too, is now married and has a beautiful little boy who took a liking to FG. The feelings were mutual on FG’s part. We stayed two nights with Heidi but I did spend Saturday back in the city with Dave as our “going down memory lane” tour guide. We drove to the two houses I lived in while I was there. FG was a bit bored with the whole thing but I loved it. Atlanta was a really fun place to live and I enjoyed revisting my old haunts. We went to lunch at Surin’s ~ if you find yourself in Atlanta, this is the best Thai place. I was a little afraid to go because I had such fond memories of it from 12 years ago but I’m glad I did because it was just as delicious as ever.

People are very friendly in Atlanta and strangers will strike up a conversation anywhere/anytime. Heidi and her family took us to dinner and then to Dairy Queen for an ice cream. As we were sitting outside enjoying the pleasant summer evening, a couple with a miniature schnauzer puppy started talking with Heidi’s husband. I was half listening to the conversation until I heard something about feeding the dog grapes. Yikes…grapes and raisins are thought to be toxic for dogs along with onions and macadamia nuts. The dog’s owner mentioned it must have been “fate” that they were there that night so I could warn them about the grapes.  Maybe…  

The ride to my mom’s house from Atlanta was going to be another long one so we left by 6:45 a.m. and a mere 10 hours later, and only one detour due to a horrible accident on I95 which closed traffic completely, we rolled into the beautiful coastal town of Oriental.