2015, March 23,24,25 , Spending time with grandchildren

March 23, 24, 25, 2015 Spending time with Grandsons 
I cooked pancakes and fried eggs for breakfast and served them with all-natural blackberry syrup from Carver's Orchard, which I had bought at the Apple House in Cosby, Tennessee.

After breakfast (around 8:00 A.M.), we traveled to Athens, stopping at the car wash to wash and vacuum the van.

We had an appointment at Champion Chrysler Dealership to repair the driver's window control panel and replace the key battery.

While we waited, the boys ate chips, soda, and coffee from the waiting area.

We rode to Decatur to look at a 2007 Honda Van at Honda of Decatur.

My husband made a down payment of $500 on the Honda, then we rode to Rogersville to get a cashier's check at LECU.
We rode back to Honda of Decatur to finalize the sale. 
We called our insurance company to add the 2007 Silver Honda. 
It was after lunch, and everyone was getting hungry, so we took the boys to eat fish at 
McCallum's is one of our favorite places to eat seafood. The boys had never eaten at McCallum's, so it was a treat for them. 

http://mccollumscatfish.com/contact.html

Montana ordered fried frog legs, fries, slaw, hush puppies, and sweet tea. 
He said he had never eaten frog legs and wanted to try them. I said if you order frog legs, you will have to eat them.
He ate all but two of the frog legs.

Nevada and my husband ordered a plate of shrimp and catfish with slaw, baked potato, hush puppies, and sweet tea.

I ordered grilled chicken, slaw, baked sweet potato, hushpuppies, and Unsweet tea.

We brought home two frog legs and all the hushpuppies.

The food is always good, but it's more than enough for one person; we always have leftovers.

Catfish and hushpuppies

We took the boys to the Wheeler Wildlife Refuge Museum and the walking trail.

The boys and I walked to the viewing area where we saw a large crane, turtles, several ducks, and either a hawk or an eagle.

Atkeson Cypress Trail 

 We walked the 1/2-mile Atkeson Cypress trail, where we crossed bridges over a swamp full of cypress trees, turtles, snakes, fish, and birds. The bridge is wooden, part of the trail is concrete, and the remainder is a gravel or grass path.

Walking the Atkeson Cypress trail 

Cypress Trees

Grandsons

Birds flying above the marsh 

At the viewing area, we saw an eagle, but it could have been a hawk. The hawk or eagle frightened the smaller birds into the air; he was hunting for food.

We watched the large bird fly, which looked like it was up into the clouds.

In the gift shop, I bought six huge postcards.
The boy picked out some rocks and Indian arrowheads.

We stopped at the birding trail at Wheeler Dam. The boys and I walked along the edge of the Tennessee River, and we saw many different birds swimming, flying, and catching fish for their dinner.

Looking for birds

Looking for birds

Looking for birds

The boys and I enjoyed the day with my husband while he took care of business. 

The boys were with us from Monday through Wednesday.

On Monday, the boys worked in the yard picking up tree limbs and debris. I gave them money for working in the yard.

Tuesday, we had business in Athens and Decatur. On Wednesday, we had business in town, and we took the boys to the Blue Door, where Nevada picked out a pair of shoes and a necklace.

Montana picked out a necklace, wristband, and hat.

We went to Rosie's Mexican Cantina Restaurant for lunch, and the boys said they had never eaten at Rosie's

We started with a large bowl of white cheese dip, salsa, and chips. My husband ordered a large taco dinner,  which consisted of chicken on soft and crispy tacos.

The boys and I shared a lunch of chicken fajitas, served with three homemade flour tortillas, sautéed peppers, onions, Pico de Gallo, sour cream, cheese, Mexican garlic butter, Mexican rice, charro beans, and guacamole.

The boys and my husband ordered sweet tea, and I drank water with lemon.

We finished the meal with a commentary bowl of vanilla ice cream.

We came back home. I took a nap, the boys played outside, and my husband watched TV.

2007 ~February 6-10 Working at the Rental Trade Show Atlanta, Georgia with siblings

2007, February 6-10 Atlanta, Georgia

Day 1: Tuesday, February 6, 2007

We left my house at 9:00 A.M., and we are traveling to Atlanta, Georgia. 

We took Highway 72 to Athens, then turned onto I-65 south toward Birmingham. 

We stopped at Burger King for lunch in Pell City, just off I-20.

I ordered chicken strips, fries, and a Coke; Becky and Teresa both ordered salads.

We got back on I-20 east, headed to Atlanta for 139 miles. 

In Atlanta, we took exit 57 on I-85/I-75 towards Chattanooga and Greenville for about 6 miles.

We were supposed to take GA-400 to Buckhead and Cummings, but we missed our exit.

Spring Hill Suites Atlanta Buckhead 3459 Buckhead Loop NE Atlanta, Georgia 30326 USA

We arrived atthe  Spring Hill Suites hotel in Buckhea,s where we were staying.

We checked into the hotel, unpacked our luggage, and went to dinner at On The Border Mexican Grill Restaurant, located at 1 Buckhead Loop NE, Atlanta, GA 30326 (404) 816-3171. The restaurant was located across the street from Spring Hill Suites (3459 Buckhead Loop NE, Atlanta, GA 3032,6 1 404-844-4800). 

For dinner, we split two Citrus Chipotle Chicken Salads, cheese dip, and salsa chips, and each had lemon water. 

On the Border Mexican Grill & Cantina

Citrus Chipotle Chicken Salad consists of the following:

Pulled chicken breast tossed in a fat-free mango-citrus vinaigrette with peppers, red onions, tomatoes, corn, queso fresco, and crunchy jicama. 

Served atop fresh mixed greens. 

http://www.ontheborder.com/menu/appetizers

After we finished dinner, we all went back to our room, put on our swimsuits, and went down to the first floor, where we all got into the hot tub for about 10 minutes. Then we each walked on the treadmill for about 20 minutes.

We went back to our room, took a shower, and fell asleep watching television.

Day 2: Wednesday, February 7, 2007

We went to the Georgia World Congress Center to set up at the Rental Trade Show, booth number 566.

We had to go to the yellow parking area to get a parking permit before we could unload the van, and we were told we had 30 minutes to do so. 

(The GWCC is located in downtown Atlanta at 285 Andrew Young International Blvd. NW, it is adjacent to Centennial Olympic Park, the Georgia Dome, CNN Center, and the Philips Arena. 

Georgia World Congress Center

Public transportation is serviced by the Dome/GWCC/Philips Arena/CNN Center MARTA station.

I pulled the rolling display, and Becky and Teresa carried the boxes of pens, pads, brochures, packets, etc. 

Teresa stayed with the booth while Becky and I went to fill the van up with gas. 

Becky pumps the ga,s but the machine does not give her a receip,t so I walked insid,e where I got the receip,d three bottles of wate,r and three bags of peanuts.

Becky and I return to the Rental Show and help Teresa finish setting up the booth. 

Then we walked up to the first level of the Conference Center to get badges and tickets for UTuptown-Homeme, Atlanta, at the Marriott Marquis tonight from 8:30 to 9:30 A.M.

Atlanta Marriott Marquis

Two tickets were included with the booth cost, and any additional tickets were $25.00 each. We needed one more ticket. 

Teresa had rented a vendor scanner, which had to be picked up at the Freeman Center.

Our booth was on the fourth level in the Party section. 

We finished setting up the booth, and Teresa drove us back to Spring Hill Suites.

We dressed for the UPTOWN, DOWN HOME ATLANTA event, which was at the Marriott Marquis.  

We rode the bus, which took us an hour and a half to get downtown because of an accident and the work traffic. 

The bus driver took us on a scenic route through downtown Atlanta to bypass the backed-up traffic on the interstate. 

He pointed out Elton John and Janet Jackson. 

He pointed out the tallest building in Atlanta, which was the Bank of America building; he also pointed out the Coca-Cola building and the largest Presbyterian Church in the US. (Cathedral of St Philip's, built in 1846, located at Buckhead & North 2744 Peachtree RD NW.)

The Cathedral of St Philip

We arrived at the Marriott Marquis downtown Atlanta around 7:30 P.M. 

There were several different all-you-can-eat food bars and a drink bar. 

I had two glasses of white zinfandel wine and two glasses of Coke. From the T.C. Cokealad bar, I had a salad and a pecan bar with whipped cream and strawberries.  

A disk jockey was in charge of the entertainment, keeping the excitement in the air, and the audience was enchanted; even the small children were dancing.  

He came out dressed in women's clothing, holding a big roll of tissue, which he started wrapping around the crowd of dancers. Teresa and I joined the crowd of dancers. 

We arrived back at the hotel around 10:30 P.M., and I took a shower.

Day 3: Thursday, February 8, 2007 

We ate breakfast at Spring Hill Suites. For breakfast, I ordered waffles with strawberry syrup, almonds, and raisins.

We took the bus downtown to the Georgia World Congress Center to the Rental Tradeshow and opened for business. 

We opened our booth, number 5660, and were ready for business.

Becky and I walked around to see what the other vendors had on display in the Party Show Rental area. 

At 1:30, Becky and Teresa went to pass out product information in the Heavy and Light Equipment Rental area. 

Instead of getting lunch, we snacked. 

I ate a small carrot cake for one point and a small box of popcorn.

We met a couple from Iowa, Loren and Jackie;  their booth was next to the restrooms.  

We had to rush upstairs to purchase tickets for the Aquarium before 55:00 P.M., where we each paid $40.00 and were given a tote bag. 

We rode the bus back to Spring Hill Suites and walked across the street to On The Border Mexican Grill Restaurant, where we had dinner.

We walked back to the hotel, took a shower, and went to bed.

Day 4: Friday, February 9, 2007 

At the hotel, I had breakfast: a muffin with an egg and sausage, and drank water.

We rode the bus to the Rental Show in downtown Atlanta and opened for business. 

We had about 60 people come by our booth, and Teresa recorded their information with her Freeman scanner. 

We once again have bagels, muffins, bananas, and apples for lunch.

At the end of the day, we took the MARTA underground train back to Spring Hill Suites and 

Jackie and Loren rode the MARTA with us.

Atlanta MARTA Train Transportation System

We had never taken the Marta and were unsure of the correct directions. We met a lovely young man who was going in the same direction as us, and he was kind enough to direct us on and off the MARTA. 

He was from New York, so he was familiar with the subway systems.

We took the Marta to the first stop, Five Points, got off, and headed north to Spring Hill.

We had to walk up one level of stairs to get to the street.

Loren called the hotel for them to send a van, but our van had already come and gone.

Loren called the hotel again, and we had to wait another fifteen minutes for the van to pick us up. The wind was blowing very har,d and it was very cold.

We did not save any time riding the Marta because we saw the bus go by, so traveling by the Marta was no better than traveling by bus.

We had time for a short break, then we got ready to go downtown to the Georgia Aquarium, where we would have dinner and walk through the museum.

The first bus will run at 7:15, which we plan to take. 

This is a Semi-formal even,t and there will be several different buffets to choose from. 

We filled our plates twice with pasta, salads, chicken, garlic bread, and a small dessert. We walked through the museum with our friends Loren and Jackie.  

Georgia Aquarium

We saw the Georgia Explorer, River Scout, Coldwater Quest, Ocean Voyager, Tropical Diver, and the Depoe's 3D. 

The wonder show was closed, and so was the gift shop. 

We walked through The Coldwater Quest, where we saw African Penguins, Beluga Whales, sea otters, and sea lions. 

In the Ocean Voyager, we saw Whale Sharks and hammerhead sharks.

In the Georgia Explorer, we put our hands in a pool filled with a wall of fish and turtles. 

In the Tropical Diver area, we saw coral reefs and jellyfish. 

Day 5: Saturday, February 10, 2007

The next morning, we loaded up the van with all our luggage and headed to the Rental Show for our final day of displaying. 

Teresa had a sandwich for lunch, and Becky and I had snacks.

I went to the heavy and light equipment area to pass out ink pens, notepads, and business cards. 

Becky stayed to condense our boxes, and she began loading the van. 

We had everything loaded and left the parking lot by 2:20 P.M. 

We took Interstate I-85 south to Interstate I-20 out of Georgia. 

We stopped in Pell City at Burger King, where I ordered a Whopper Junior, fries, and Coke. 

HubbyCoke is waiting at McDonald's in Killen, AL to pick me up We arrive at 6:15 P.M.

Teresa drops Becky off at her house, then drives home to meet her husband and family, as they are going out to dinner.