My wife and I never imagined that we would end up living in the South. It seemed inconceivable (just thought I'd slip in a Princess Bride reference) that we'd ever live there. People in the North look at the South as another country, and those in the South are not so fond of the North or people from the North. I know, they've told me. But you know what? Seeing as the move came along as I was getting close to sixty I will tell you that it has been a great retirement place. The weather is more mild than the in the North and the cost of living is better.
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| Packed up and heading for Georgia |
As many other seniors, focus in life now more centers on family than during the work years where one normally goes where the jobs are located. For me the jobs were located in Illinois so my entire married life work resume consisted of locations around the state, much to my wife's chagrin. While all my immediate family was in Illinois during the 1970's they all started moving on to different parts of the country. During the summer of 2016 while living in Rockford we were overjoyed to find out that we would be grandparents for the second time, though this time there would be twins! We ended up making the choice to leave Illinois and head down to Atlanta, Georgia. Even though it's been just a few years we've taken the time to discover some of the places around the state.
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| Tanker truck landed after full-air somersault |
I decided to start driving for Lyft right away, and did so for six years as we slowly adapted to life in the South. One of the most notable differences was the crazy traffic we had to navigate in Atlanta. Since I drove nearly every day for hours upon end I got to witness all kinds of speeding events and horrendous accidents. There were even explosions and car fires happening often on the freeway which stopped traffic in its tracks. One time I was the first in line at an intersection waiting for the light to change to green, and I watched as a small tank truck sped towards the intersection without slowing down. The driver steered toward the right to try and avoid all the cars but hit the curb of an island, somersaulted into the air, and land on its side without hitting any vehicles. He also just missed the car across the intersection from me, who was also the first in line and had a good view, but he was the sheriff. Thankfully there was no explosion. But events like that happen dozens of times each day.
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| World of Coca-Cola Store in Atlanta |
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| Penguins at the Georgia Aquarium |
Atlanta is the headquarters for the Coca-Cola company and is often a tourist destination when one comes to town. The World of Coca-Cola Store is open to visitors but the visit is not free. That hasn't seemed to slow down the long lines though. While I took the photo of this location I did not go in. My wife and I had just gone through the Georgia Aquarium and that cost way more so I was not in the mood to visit soft drinks. I had gone through the Coca-Cola Store at Disney World (read about it in the Florida blog) and didn't figure there was that much more I needed to know. Right across the way is the Georgia Aquarium which we did visit with our granddaughter and that was fun to see through her eyes. However, on the whole, I'm not a big fan of aquariums. I had several during my teen years and they were a whole lot of work.
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| The new stadium for the Atlanta Braves |
As a baseball fan I was interested in watching the final months of the building of the new SunTrustPark (edit: now Truist Park) which would become the new home of the Atlanta Braves. As a St. Louis Cardinals baseball fan I was not a big fan of the Braves as they always seemed to have our number every time we met to play. Nonetheless I had to bring a Lyft rider to the new stadium and I parked there for a moment and took a few photos. Still have not attended a game what with all the traffic and no place to park. Most people think that heading to the ballpark for every home game would be on the mind of every rideshare driver but I kept as far away as I could. I once got pulled into the area and it took me an hour-and-a-half to make it to the rider. It also took a long time to work your way back out of the area. In the end it just wasn't worth the hassle for a few extra bucks. A year after this experience, I discovered that Lyft was no longer giving drivers a bonus for these types of events. I drove someone from about twelve miles north of Atlanta into the city to the also-new Mercedes Benz Stadium for a Taylor Swift concert and that turned into a three-hour ride that netted me about $15, while they paid $90. Life in the big city.
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| Paddleboats still run on the rivers |
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| Night time on the Savannah River |
Savannah was one of the first places my wife wanted to visit, mostly because of the history and tradition of this town. John Wesley (1703-1791) came to Savannah as the minister of the Church of England (1736-1737) and became known as the Founder of Methodism. We spent a few days walking around the Historic District, taking in many different sights, and eating at The Lady And Sons which is Paula Deen's restaurant in the Historic District. But if you thought that John Wesley's influence was weaving it's way up and down the downtown streets you would be sorely mistaken. On the "Visit Savannah" website (www.visitsavannah.com) they make this statement: "Savannah is widely known as the most haunted city in America." That simple sentence kicks off the article that lists the six most haunted placed you can visit in Savannah while maybe even seeing ghosts and spirits yourself. For me that explained the reason we felt a spiritual darkness as we walked around, though it was nowhere near as strong as that felt when visiting Amsterdam.
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| The Dwarf House Chick-fil-A at Hapeville GA |
I suppose it's fitting that Chick-fil-A gets its own paragraph before I bring this to a close. I'd like to quote this early history from the Chick-fil-A website so I don't get anything wrong:
Chick-fil-A, Inc., Founder S. Truett Cathy died Sept. 8, 2014, at age 93. Cathy started the business in 1946, when he and his brother, Ben, opened an Atlanta diner known as The Dwarf Grill (later renamed the Dwarf House). Through the years, that restaurant prospered and let Cathy to further the success of his business. In 1967, Cathy founded and opened the first Chick-fil-A restaurant in Atlanta's Greenbriar Shopping Center.
So there you have it. While the Dwarf House (pictured above) was the first restaurant Truett Cathy opened in 1946, the very first Chick-fil-A location was opened in 1967. Sadly (for Chick-fil-A fans) this original location in the Greenbriar Shopping Center in Atlanta is now closed for business (May 2023). However, the original diner he opened is still going strong in Hapeville as a Chick-fil-A. Last time I was in there (I got around a lot driving for Lyft) there was a special menu item only at this location. So if you're going to be there sometime just check it out.
Those are some of the highlights I've been to around the State of Georgia. I'll finish up with a smattering of other photos I've got for a few bonus locations, but I'll make them bigger!
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| The Little White House in Warm Springs GA for President Franklin D. Roosevelt |
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| "Wall of Helmets" at the Collegiate Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta |
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| The Atlanta Motor Speedway south of the city in Henry County |
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| "Stone Mountain Park" located near Stone Mountain GA (literally a huge deep rock) |
Obviously when you live in a state you will have a lot more to write about, so if there are any other highlights that we stumble upon I will add them.
Until next time,
Arktander
(aka David Andreasen)
