Today we embarked on our holiday trip to Atlanta! The UVA football team was invited to the Chik-Fil-A bowl to play Auburn on New Year's Eve, and we decided to tag along. Well, Mike had to work, but the rest of us tagged along.
We didn't tell Evan about the trip until just a couple days beforehand, knowing he'd talk of nothing else until we were on our way, and we were right. "Mommy, are we in Georgia yet? Mommy, when do we go to Georgia? Mommy, what will we do in Georgia?" He was so excited! We packed Christmas Day and got on the plane first thing the morning of the 26th.
Both boys did absolutely excellent on the flight - we couldn't have asked for better behavior. It helped that we took the team charter... it's the way to fly, for sure! We took buses from Grounds to the airport, got dropped off on the tarmac, were handed snacks and drinks, and hopped right up the stairs to our seats. Perfection. There was plenty of room and the boys loved the UVA-branded "flags" on the seats - Evan took his with him "to wave at the game" and Drew was thoroughly entertained trying to tear the one off of Kelsey's seat in front of him. Good thing she didn't mind. :) As soon as we were in the air, Drew zonked out and napped the whole hour flight, and Evan popped on his headphones (and sunglasses since it was so bright) and watched movies on the laptop.
Our hotels were gorgeous - the two hotels the team was staying at were connected via skybridge, so it was almost like being in one. Both had soaring atriums, with rooms and balconies and glass elevators overlooking the massive center. Totally artistic and dizzingly amazing, and my photo doesn't do it justice at all (Hyatt's
photo 1, and
photo 2 are way better, and Marriott's
photo 1 and
photo 2 still don't convey the awesomeness). Our
Hyatt Regency had something like 44 floors, and the
Marriott Marquis had 67. That was quite a ride up in the glass elevators! We got two rooms - one for us, one for the boys - which was just perfect. Everyone had their own bed/crib, there was plenty of room to play, and the boys could nap in peace. We brought plenty of toys along for both boys, but it turned out we were so busy the whole time we didn't need them!
The hotel was right in the heart of downtown Georgia on Peachtree Street, with restaurants and entertainment galore. The first night we had dinner with Hunts at the Hard Rock Cafe. My family has been to (and chronicled) many of the HRC's in North America, so we had to take photos of both boys at their first HRC visits. Evan the gourmet decided he didn't like the chicken fingers there... "too spicy." That child is gearing up for his own TV show chronicling the best and worst chicken fingers in the country, I tell you.
On the block in between Hard Rock and our hotel was a Christmas display. Beautiful trees and lights and statues of drummer boys, horses, angels, nutcrackers... Evan loved the three huge bells and insisted on multiple photo opps with them throughout the week. While it was freezing that night (35 degrees and windy) we just had to stop for some good holiday fun with Shelby, Kelsey, and Kate. Merry Christmas, everyone!
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