Well! Guess where *I* am!
I’m in *Atlanta*. Until 6:45pm tomorrow evening.
-crossed eyes- The plane was 2 hours late leaving Austin. In fact, the plane didn’t even arrive in Austin until 90 minutes after it was supposed to leave. By the time we got to Atlanta, although we’d been assured we’d make our connections, it appears they’d given seats to the overbooked people on the flight, so those of us who arrived late were screwed. I’m now staying in an armpit of a Holiday Inn, compliments of Delta Airlines, who were so generous as to give me three meal vouchers, too. For seven dollars each. o.O
I have no idea what to do with myself. I should probably go to bed RIGHT NOW and try to get myself on an Irish schedule. I could go back to my skeevy hotel room and work on my NNWM words; I’ve only gotten some 1200 done today. I suppose, since I’m *in* Atlanta, that tomorrow I should go try to do something Atlantaish. And also try to hit a few bookstores and do some stock signing, if possible. Assuming I can figure out how to navigate Atlanta cheaply. There’s a subway system here, isn’t there? (I’m online. I could check.)
At least I’ll be able to meet up with
Man, it seems like everyone’s having a bad time leaving Austin! :(
The same thing happened to a friend of mine who was flying through Atlanta on her way back to the UK. She had to spend the night there too.
Sounds like it could be a fun, though unplanned, adventure!
Since you’ve got the time, if you have some spare cash, go to the Aquarium! Jennie and I hit it when we were stuck there a day, and it was AMAZING! Big, big tanks, great displays, lots of touch-tanks, fun otters and other sealife… really a fantastic time. Marta is the transportation system (to make easier searching), and they have a decent rail.
As an Atlanta native until shmoo made me move to the great white north that is Maryland, let me just say…. don’t bother doing anything Atlantaish. Except maybe go to the Varsity and eat a horrible chili dog, greasy onion rings, and drink the nirvana in a paper cup that is known as a Frozen Orange. And yes they have a subway system of sorts, it’s called Marta, and it’s not really that great because most people in Atlanta insist on driving.
So yeah.. maybe hit the Varsity up, otherwise, hide and pretend you aren’t there.
Heyyyy. I’m also an Atlanta native, and I happen to really like the city. Great aquarium! Decent zoo! Ah…er, and a really good, um…
OK, so the thing is this. It’s a great place to live, but you wouldn’t want to visit there. The aquarium really is very nice though (and while OK, Marta’s not so great, it will at least get you from the airport area to the aquarium area). Once upon a time I would have told you to go to Oxford Books, but they’re not around any more, so, er. Well. You could visit my ex-girlfriend?
Geez, I’m like seven miles away from you.
Anyone interested in Marketing (and what Famous Author isn’t?) definitely needs to visit The World of Coca Cola at least once in their life, conveniently located next to Underground Atlanta, a downtown mall.
It’s a museum devoted to all things Coke, in which admission includes the right to sample varieties of Coke products from around the world, but the genius of it is that after drinking all the Coke you want, you go out through a gift shop in which… you can buy souvenir bottles of Coke (among other things).
Ooh, sorry to hear about the sucky flight. Hope you’re able to find something fun to do tomorrow– I have vague memories that navigating Atlanta requires a vehicle and nerves of steel to navigate the highways, but you may be able to get airport shuttle in to the city.
!
I still insist on thinking you’re in Florida. I have…not got enough organizational brain to try to meet up with you today, I think. I’m not even sure how I’m arranging the very few thing I’m *doing* today (getting downtown, getting back to the airport). Argh! I clearly need to /schedule/ some time in Atlanta…!
The MARTA will get you to most of the tourist destinations. Atlanta has fantastic BBQ and some great music, though the latter probably not so much during the day on a Tuesday. The aquarium is excellent. And the zoo is pretty cool. As of when I was there last, it has pandas, who are just far too cute, and lemurs (ditto).
The Zoo still has pandas. In fact, their female panda just had a baby in September. Of course, you can’t see the baby in the exhibit yet, but they do have live “panda cam” feeds and the male panda is being kept out and about to fulfill any panda viewing needs you might have.
I’ve driven in only 3 US cities, and Nashville and Memphis were done in one 6 hour period.
Atlanta, though, is definitely interesting. The freeways merging south of the city, running together through the centre and then splitting again to the north produces one of the more high volume bits of tarmac I’ve encountered. If my memory hasn’t been totally wrecked, I seem to recall a peak of something like twelve lanes. Each way.
I’ve also heard that it gets very interesting when the truckers start coming through in the early hours.
Excellent. They’re a lot of fun to watch. I bet the place will be mobbed as soon as that baby comes out of hiding.
It’s cool, it’s cool.
Ugh, the same thing happened to and I last year coming back from WFC, stranding us in Romulus, Michigan overnight. Without any sort of hotel or compensation from the airline, though everyone around us (who took the last of the non-smoking rooms) got it somehow.
Which is why when that same airline landed us in Memphis, with ten minutes to get across the entire airport to make our plane to Toronto, we ran like the wind. Made the plane, too, though we gave hearty thanks to the genius who invented Ventolin.