Trips and Picts and Eats

The 5-day weekend was great. A little short, but great. We (C, R and me) drove down Thursday and got there in time to eat at Pappadeaux. I had the crawfish stuffed lobster. It was sooo good. Friday morning we hit the grocery store and then went to pick up Mike at the Atlanta airport. It took a phone call to make it happen (we are at X, meet us there) but it worked. As we were leaving, a taxi blocked us in and we ended up taking an exit ramp that we had not intended (he immediately changed lanes afterward). As a result, we took a tour of the Atlanta airport and East Something, GA. We saw both terminals and some hangars. Whee!

We went back to Pappadeaux with Mike. He had never been and this way we could choose different food. The fried alligator appetizer is pretty good, but it's a little spicy for me; spice wimp that I am.

Back at the hotel, 3 locals met us and Mike ran a Pathfinder adventure. They had recently painted the halls of the hotel, so the doors to the courtyard were open. That made the halls very cold (it snowed Saturday morning a little) but the room got very hot. We had 6 people in there; talking, etc. We even cracked the window open & turned on the AC to get the heat down.

Coincidentally, there was an exotic animal or bird show in the area. I know this because I saw two different sets of birds, parrots or macaws, that people were loading or unloading. Plus there was a truck of bird toys, a dealer. Those people had it rough. Those birds are not known for cold weather tolerance.

Saturday morning it was off to Catch Up Con. C, R, Mike and I played Pathfinder all weekend, except for the one mod that Mike ran Sunday afternoon. Friday night was my first Pathfinder game and I had fun. I do wish that I had noticed the Spirit of the Century game on the schedule though. I would like to have tried it. I've heard good things. The players sounded like they were having fun, too.

I have a book on order. Don't know when I'll get it though. Game book distribution is a little odd, unless it's one of the big companies.

For supper Saturday night we went to the Clay Pot. Oh man it was so good. They were out of bubble smoothies so I had a bubble tea instead; I wish I remember which flavor. I ordered the shrimp & bean thread clay pot. I ate too much, but it was oh so good.

Sunday we did not have much time to eat so we ordered take out from The Palace, an Indian restaurant. Three of us ordered chicken tikka masala; I had it 'spice, what spice?', R had it regular and Mike ordered his 'show no mercy.' They also gave us plain naan, thank goodness. There was a distinct color difference between the three; mine was pale brown while Mike's was quite dark. Even at 'what spice?' I needed the naan to cut the spice down to bearable. Again, it was so delicious, I just kept eating.

Monday, Mike caught a plane back home while the rest of us spent literally all day at the Georgia Aquarium. It was still really cold, but we left our coats in the car so we wouldn't have to haul them around all day. Then we learned that they had a coat check; it was a couple dollars but I think it's worth it.

If we were not the first people in line, we were awfully close. We were there before they actually opened at 10 am. We needed that time. We went through all the exhibits. We petted the skates/rays and sharks in the petting pool.

We even got to feed the rays (cow nosed and southern something). That was freaky. You hold the fish piece in your fist, like an ice cream cone, then hold your hand down near the bottom of the tank (we stood on the shallow side which made it easier). They're bottom feeders so they don't go up very high to eat. They sucked the fish out of your fist. Like I said, freaky sensation.

The Aquarium has a 90-day exhibit rotation. The current one was all about sharks. We spent over two hours in that exhibit alone. They had interactive exhibits, documentaries, models, and so on.

I completely filled my camera's memory card. I kept taking video and that eats memory. I bought a disposable camera to take even more pictures.

They have this absolutely incredible huge tank where they keep a quartet of whale sharks. Those things are almost the size of a football field, can you believe it? The tank also had hammerhead sharks, rays, and lots of other fish that I honestly can't even remember. They had several vantage points; a curvy tunnel that goes underneath it, a 2+ story window, and just nooks and crannies. There was one that was just so peaceful. It had an artificial rock that you could lean against and just look up to watch the sea creatures swim by overhead.

We headed for the gift shop about 4:30 and we left just after they closed at 5 pm. And it was so worth it. I've raved about it to anyone headed to Atlanta.

We packed up and headed home on Tuesday. I napped frequently, finished a set of wristlets and read the first Charlie Chan mystery; reprinted. I had another book to read but I didn't like it. Oh well, that happens sometimes, alas. Part of the problem may have been that it's book 10 or so in a series.

Then it was back to work on Wednesday. My poor supervisor, he had to deal with one of my biweekly issues and he suddenly realized just how bad it gets sometimes. He was suddenly, profoundly thankful that I deal with it and he doesn't have to.

Ah well, back to the grind.