November 4, 2007: Georgia/North Carolina Trip Day 2
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A lot has been happening this Fall here in Dallas, and a lot of things are changing or about to change. Probably the most important (and wrenching) change is Fred's impending retirement from Crump Gardens Greenhouses. He and I have been talking for some time about this event, made possible now that we, as a partnership, have sufficient resources, saved and accumulated over two lifetimes of work, to make it possible. Fred has given his notice some months ago, and now only about a month remains in his career there.

As we have done for many years, we are taking our Fall trip, using Fred's sick leave time. We at first thought we might head north to visit Chicago and Father Guy in Wisconsin, but for a number of reasons that schedule proved impossible to arrange. We also thought about heading west, but decided to save that for another time- many of which should be coming up once Fred's time is his own, as mine has been for some time. So, we have decided to travel to Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, to do a bit of hiking and sightseeing but mostly to visit friends and relatives of both of ours.

Arrival at Jeffie's in Atlanta

On Saturday morning, Greg gave us a ride to DFW, where we were quite early for our flight. Since the reservations were made at the last minute, we used accumulated miles to pay for the trip. As luck would have it, American was having a "sale" on our particular trip, requiring just half the usual number of miles. We were at the gate early, when our plane arrived at the gate from its earlier trip. We boarded right on time, using our new Platinum status (achieved because I passed the 2-million-mile mark just a month earlier), and found our emergency exit row seats quickly. While Fred took pictures out the window, I pulled out a magazine and spent some time reading while passengers boarded.

Again, right on time, we pulled away from the gate and, about fifteen minutes later found ourselves becoming airborne. The actual flight, just over two hours, was pleasant. While Fred read and looked out the window, I worked some puzzles I'd brought along, and it didn't seem like a long time before the city of Atlanta came into view. I thought that Fred might get a chance to ride the subway system at ATL, but I forgot that the American terminal is one of two smaller terminals physically attached to the main terminal building. So we just had to walk downstairs to get our bags and then out to the rental car counters where we filled out the paperwork. We boarded the rental shuttle and a few minutes later were picking up our Chevrolet Cobalt for the drive to Jeffie's apartment in Decatur.

Getting to Jeffie's neighborhood in Decatur wasn't really difficult; the good thing was that this was Saturday and we weren't having to contend with Atlanta weekday traffic which is, by all reports, impossible. We hopped on Interstate 85 at the airport and headed north through town to exit at North Avenue for the run east to Decatur. It has been many years since Decatur was a separate town of its own; it is now, of course, a very close-in neighborhood rather than a suburb.

Jeffie and Michael live just on the edge of downtown Decatur, which is just the kind of place that I would expect to find both of them. They aren't now, and probably never will be, suburbanites.

Their apartment building, too, is just what I would have expected. It's an older building, much like those Jeffie lived in when she was here in Dallas. But they have a great location, and Michael is quite close to Emory University, where he works and attends classes. When we arrived, Jeffie was still on her way back from a hunt she'd been riding out northeast of the city, so we were able to spend some time with Michael.

Just across the street from their apartment, Fred spotted a cat in the window of another apartment, and used his great zoom to capture it.

Neighborhood Walk with Michael

While we waited for Jeffie to return, Michael took the opportunity to take his new dog for a walk and show us the neighborhood at the same time. Their dog is a greyhound that the adopted when his original owners thought his racing days were over. These dogs are often high-strung and hard to deal with, but Michael seems to have gotten a good one.

We started out from the apartment and walked the short distance to Ponce de Leon Avenue, and then walked east towards the Decatur town center. Very quickly, we passed a couple of antique/curio shops, one of which Fred thought had some interest statuary out front. We found out very quickly on the walk that not only did people stop to ask about the greyhound, but that Michael was very outgoing and liked very much talking to complete strangers. A bit further up the street, Fred came across Ted's Restaurant, notable for the interesting buffalo sign that was out front.

We crossed Ponce de Leon and continued east, stopping at the plaza in front of the Decatur Courthouse. There, Michael ran into a family with a little girl who was intrigued by the dog. While I took a picture of the little girl and the dog, Fred took a picture of me and the whole scene. I gave the woman my email address so I could send her a copy of the picture, but as yet I have not heard from her.

We took a number of pictures in front of the courthouse; the same place where the little girl was interacting with Michael's dog. There was a sculpture in front of the courthouse similar to the bronzes we've seen in Santa Fe, one of them being Stephen Decatur, and the sculpture was a natural backdrop for a picture of Fred. There was also a sculpture of an old-time man and woman that served as the backdrop for a picture of Michael, myself, and the dog- a picture you can see at right.

We walked around the side of the courthouse, and I got another shot of Michael and Fred, and we also walked around to the esplanade that has been built above the MARTA station in Decatur, where there was a bandbox or pavilion, presumably used for outdoor events, and it is the structure that you see in this picture of Michael and myself.

When we got back to their apartment, we found a new car parked in front of their building, and I think you can tell a bit about the residents of the neighborhood by reading some of the bumper stickers on the car. By this time, Jeffie was home, and she came out to greet us. Here are Jeffie and Michael and Jeffie, Michael and myself out in front of their building.

We went in and visited for a while, and then decided to walk over to a Mexican restaurant nearby for dinner. Their dog was really well-behaved; after Michael fed it its dinner, it lay down quietly on its pillow while we went out. Dinner was really nice and when we were done we returned to their apartment to sit and chat for a while until it was time for us to leave for our hotel.

Evening and Hotel

We spent quite a while just sitting around with Michael and Jeffie talking, but about eleven headed over to the Super 8 Motel where I had made a reservation. It was pretty easy to find, just heading further out Ponce de Leon Avenue until it turned into the Lawrenceville Highway and crossed Interstate 285- Atlanta's loop. The Hotel was just on the other side.

We got into the room fine, but I decided that the hotel was not in such a great area and that I would try to find a different hotel, perhaps nearer to Stone Mountain, one of our destinations for the next day. So I spent some time online making that reservation before we headed off to bed.

	November 4, 2007: Georgia/North Carolina Trip Day 2
	Return to Main Index for Georgia/North Carolina Trip