14 Things to do in Atlanta

A giant sign reading "Virginia Lee" written in marker greets me at the airport through the windshield of my hostess' car.  Sabrina's wild, curly hair pokes out of Merve, her trusty Mazda. 

Sabrina.  She tells me the locals hate referring to Atlanta as Hotlanta.  A-town it is.

The car fills with our cackles and smoke as we laugh at the comically large sign that never quite made it a baggage claim welcome.  It smells faintly of the art teacher's office.  Her steering wheel shakes after 60 miles per hour. We drift on the humid Atlanta highway, headed for Roswell. There is whiskey on the horizon.  And I'm ready.

Atlanta is huge.  I traipsed around North Atlanta, East Cobb, Roswell, East Atlanta and made my way downtown, finishing with our dramatic W Hotel stay and a decadent dinner at Buckhead's Aria.  I didn't see it all, but I saw a lot.  Sabrina's group of friends are diverse, loud, and full of life.  We partied well into the morning hours, lighting sparkler's off of Marlo's rocking chair covered porch in East Atlanta.  I felt true southern hospitality and ate enough indulgent food to keep my personal trainer and dietician busy for at least another year.  A definite contrast to my visit to Northern California.  Atlanta was one giant party.

Things to do in Atlanta

1. Have someone greet you at the airport with a giant sign.

2. Eat burgers at Vortex.

3. Feel a little miserable about it.

I avoided the coronary line of burgers which involve  a fried egg on a half pound burger.

4. Recover.

3  Have a staring contest with a cat.

4. Eat crickets

Really, those are sour cream and onion crickets.

5. Try every soda ever in the world of coca cola

My tummy hurt after this.

6. Crash a rooftop pool party at the W

7. Leave with souvenirs

8. Drink a bottle of whiskey every day you are there.

not really. 

9. Hang out with local celebrities.  As in the white guy (Ricky Raw) in this video.  I want that bacon and eggs scarf.

10. Meet Paul Somer's Asian doppelganger.

11. Hang out with Turk from Scrubs.

Nah, it was just his doppelhanger

12. Eat at Aria , one of the top Atlanta restaurants and get treated like royalty (no pictures here, you know how I hate taking pictures in restaurants)

14. Eat at Delia's Chicken Sausage Stand and get treated like a glutton.  Yeah, that's a chicken sausage sandwich on a donut.

photo from thesausagestand.com

Thanks Sabrina and Friends, for helping me live through the least amount of sleep and I've had since college and showing me a fabulous time.