If you’ve been reading here for awhile, you probably know that each year our family makes the (long) road trip south to my grandmother’s farm for Thanksgiving. It’s the one time a year that we get to meet up with my father’s side of the family, and the visit is always worth the hours and hours in the car.
My grandmother passed away in August, just a few months shy of her 100th birthday. Thanksgiving was her favorite holiday of the year because the whole family would show up – and when I say whole family, I mean dozens and dozens of people – some years the numbers would approach or even top seventy over the course of the long weekend. That’s a lot of people to have over for dinner, which meant there was always a lot of food around to share. This holiday will be different for us now, without my grandmother in the center of the festivities. We felt it was important for us to take the girls back to the farm this year, and we took the opportunity to do a few other things along the way.
I’m going to keep the talking down on this post because there are cookies to ice and presents to wrap. I’ll let the pictures do the talking for a change.
Meeting up with my parents in Atlanta on Wednesday – at Jeni’s, of course.
Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta. M flew down to Atlanta earlier in the fall for a meeting with the architect on this building, and so we wanted to make time for a visit on our trip. A must see if you are in the Atlanta area.
After turkey* day on Thursday, we hit up our favorite small shops in downtown Thomasville, Georgia. I don’t do Black Friday – no crowds, no lines, no frantic online shopping mania. I tune it all out, and enjoy the leisurely browsing in some of the best shops I’ve ever been to. *We never eat turkey, we eat bbq ribs!
Friday afternoon, back to Atlanta. Flip Burger in Buckhead for dinner. F flipped her name for the occasion.
Saturday was our other big Atlanta adventure – the Georgia Aquarium. Another friend of ours was on the design team, and was a project manager during the construction several years back. This was the first opportunity we had to spend a day there. We stayed at the aquarium themed Hilton next door, and walked over right when it opened. It was a fantastic day – enormous whale sharks and manta rays, hilarious beluga whales, a stunning coral reef exhibit and jelly fish.
We joined up with more family on Sunday, had breakfast with my grandfather, and some general cousin silliness. It was really a wonderful trip, but a busy one. Looking forward to a more relaxing holiday schedule ahead. (After the elfing is done, or course!)
