Atlanta conference trip side explorations

Atlanta conference – trip

July 17

Greetings from Atlanta! I came down a few days in advance of a conference I am attending. And speaking at as part of a panel. First time for that. I’m not yet a bundle of nerves but I can feel the low level anxiousness settling in. The flight was nice. I didn’t realize that Mpls was so close. Takes less than two hours to travel there. Takes longer to go to Philly or NYC. I looked at the map and was surprised at the proximity. We’re practically neighbors. How have I never realized this before? The airport is… odd. Like from a few decades ago. Weirdly kind of charming. The train line or MARTA runs well. Efficient. Clean. Unfortunately the four lines only form a “t” and both axes are duplicated and only splay out at the ends. Why? Wouldn’t it have made more sense to create two completely separate lines to cover other areas? I’m staying at a VRBO for the first time ever. I was driven to it because the fees through Airbnb were completely insane. Led to the price literally doubling from what was listed. I’ve never before seen that. And you don’t know until you go to book so I was acting as if I was booking every place I was looking at and then backing out. The place I booked was way off the beaten path. I don’t mind walking long treks so I’m ok. And I know how to do things like take the train to a closer point and then take an Uber from there. I’m just in this place for a couple nights then a few nights at the hotel where the conference is at and then back to my own accommodations again. The preparations for the trip have been interesting. Beyond preparing the presentation and slides and all that, I had to go get dress pants. Specifically black khakis that would go with a couple jackets I have. I have been fortunate not to have jobs that require that I dress up too much. And as a result I really have nothing very dressy in my closet. And I refuse to wear ties. Hate them. Someone once referred to them as a corporate noose and I couldn’t agree more. But in my search for new dress pants and dress shoes, I was aghast at how little selection there is out there. Especially for the shoes. Nasty stuff on the shelves. Luckily I managed to dig up an old pair that I quite honestly don’t even remember having. Then I had to work through my color blindness with dull colors to know if the shoes were black, grey, or dark brown. The search for the pants was interesting. The prices they were charging were ridiculous and you had to get two (buy one, get one half price! It always makes me laugh when people actually think they are getting a deal when it’s really just different mathematical configurations that end up being the same in the end) to make it not a total rip off only, I couldn’t find two pairs of pants that were the same size!!! Kind of a dumb “deal” if you can’t find what you need. Anyhow I finally found it and in my trek I went to a few locations including one in the Eden Prairie mall. If you ever want to feel truly dead inside, set foot into a suburban mall. Jesus, how mind/soul numbing. Spaces that are way larger than they need to be. Stores (all ones you’ve been to a million times) closing 15 minutes before the posted time. The glazed over dead look in people’s eyes as they go through the motions. I’m a child of the suburbs and I was totally brought back. 

Ok, so flash forward a day. My plan was to finish up writing and picking photos when I got back last night to where I was staying but my body had other plans. After forcing three shut downs I decided to give in and officially go to sleep. I had meandered through Piedmont Park and ended up at the strangest bar located behind an outdoor shopping area. Really, finding the place was more interesting than the place, itself but I was happy to sip on a beer to reward myself for successfully completing my scavenger hunt. They announced soon after I arrived that some DJ from some place was playing and I rolled my eyes and thought “oh great” but mostly it was dancey versions of early 80s pop songs which I was ok with. After walking all over I was exhausted and headed back at 10:30 after finishing my beer. I looked at how far the walk would be and without even thinking pulled up the Uber app. Met up today with a friend I’ve known since my Omaha days and hung out, ate lunch, had a beer and was so fully in the moment I wasn’t thinking about anything else, which I love. I didn’t even mind that it was so humid it was like being in a sauna. It was something I noticed but wasn’t overly bothered by.

Tomorrow I move to one of I think maybe only three hotels I’ve stayed in in like 10 years! Major chain. We’ll see how it goes!

July 18

Just ironed some shirts and a pair of pants for the first time in years, possibly decades. It was oddly satisfying.

July 19

I did something I’ve never done before today. I presented as part of a conference panel discussion at the National Association of County and City Health Officials yearly 360 conference. I was a bit nervous as I have this knack for understanding things differently than others and feeling like I’ve missed the boat or am not on the right wavelength or something. And I was presenting with some big wig from the CDC and a doctor! But it seemed well received and I had a few people come up to talk with me afterwards about various aspects of what I had said. Felt good. I even enjoyed it a bit. Felt like the actor in me came out. Now I can relax and enjoy the rest of the conference!

July 22

Random thoughts from mainstream Atlanta. I’ve spent the last three nights at a hotel in downtown Atlanta. And I’ll have to say that for the most part most of downtown represents that huge chasm between what appeals to me and what appears to appeal to an overwhelming majority of the masses. First of all the hotel. What do people see in these places? From the moment I set foot into the downtown Marriott, I felt dead inside. The dull browns, the stifled, forced air, the fact that there are no frigging windows (!!), the loud, stupid, nonsensical water feature that takes up an eighth of a city block…I waited for a long time to check in due to the fact that they had just one poor soul out doing the work. Got to my room, which was insanely large. Half the space would have been sufficient. I couldn’t log on to the wi-fi (what place doesn’t have free wi-fi these days?). It was saying I would have to pay $15 – oh, excuse me, $14.95 /per day/ ($17.95 if you wanted to add in streaming) – for it. I went down and spoke with someone from the front desk who told me to just enter through. It didn’t seem right but that’s what he said and he had an unforgettably distinctive name I would remember should the need arise. I ate at the restaurant that evening. Had an uninteresting sandwich and a beer and about fell out of my chair when I got the bill. I didn’t realize I was eating at the airport… I went for a stroll looking for the green areas of downtown. They were mini parks devoid of much of anything interesting. I did stumble upon Centennial Park, which is a tribute to all that is man-made. No trees, strangely laid out and manicured. A huge aquarium (water version of a prison for animals), and a few museums. I thought the CNN center looked interesting until I realized that it’s mostly just a big food court with half the shops empty and on that day a huge gaggle of Asian tourists. Even the buildings are not all that interesting and that’s really something from someone who loves architecture like I do. I had pondered going to the Civil Rights Museum but it seemed too heavy on top of the conference panels I was attending. So I went to the Coca Cola Museum, despite the fact that I haven’t drank pop in well over a decade. I was a little annoyed at first when they shepherd you through this line where they take a picture of you – one available for purchase later on! Then we were shepherded into an auditorium where we watched this “show” that had all these stereotypical, forced “feel good” moments like a serviceman from Afghanistan making a video and then he appears at some sports game [cue family breaking down] or an upper middle class white heterosexual couple placing a stroller with some message outside of the parents’ place and ringing the doorbell. Then they come out and learn they will be grandparents and break down (as I rolled my eyes), all placed to this loud, driving, upbeat music. This video was two minutes and I was baffled at the end as to what the point of it was. Maybe it was a way to manage the flow of people? The rest of the museum was fairly interesting with most of the rest of the things encompassing history, imagery, a smelling room where you test how well you can identify fragrances, and the best – the testing room with 60 different flavors from all over the world, including watermelon, blueberry, and other odd ingredients. I also went to a place called the Juke Joint that had a really great live band playing old r&b tunes and a super friendly staff. I had fried green tomatoes and okra with cheesy grits and a peach cobbler. An odd meal but it’s what I wanted. There was a woman who came up and inquired about the book I was reading and we chatted a bit. Her daughter is writing a book, too. She disappeared and I didn’t notice her again until I glanced up on the video monitor behind the bar that showed the band. And there she was. On the stage with the band, dancing to their tunes. I laughed and pointed it out to the bartender who shared my same name and he laughed as well. Mostly though the restaurants have been out of this world expensive, which I know is in part due to inflation. I came back and at 4am was awakened by some insanely loud alarm going off. There was a message that I struggled to hear that informed to stay put and said that they couldn’t share any information at this time. Then the alarm went off in my room! This went on for about 20 minutes. Then this morning, I asked if it would be possible to check out a little after 11:00 as I had a work meeting I had to attend online that was starting at 10:30 and might last 40-45 minutes. Nope! And sure enough, they charged me for that damn internet access. I contested it but they ended up getting me to sign up for their free rewards program or whatever as it would also erase the charges. Again, why do people stay at hotels? None of any of that has almost ever been an issue at an Airbnb. I think the key to enjoying Atlanta is to get out of downtown. The neighborhoods seem to be more where it’s at.

July 22 – L’arrivee a Savannah / bar

Took a quick side trek to Savannah, which is really quite a lovely town. It feels like it’s about 150° outside but you expect it here so I weirdly don’t mind. The Airbnb host told me that it gets /hotter/ in August (!!!). While strolling about last night it felt so relaxing. I had fanciful ideas that I could live here. All the porches with chairs were beckoning for someone to come rock in them and drink some lemonade whilst fanning themselves. I discovered a great bar called Abe’s (on Lincoln Ave) that was playing the strangest music by what I would learn from the bartender to be the sadly since deceased (at like age 24) Charles the First. The music eluded the Shazam detectors so I had to inquire. You can hear his stuff at charlesthefirst.net. On the ceiling were post-it notes with “Abe Art” drawn by patrons. I love weird shit like that. I’ll take that over crappy dance music any day. But mostly just meandered, checked out the very charming houses. Tried to take a bunch of pictures but I don’t know that it fully captures the feel. You really have to experience it. Finally have been able to find some places with cheaper food like take-away pasties you can eat while walking around. I depend on those sorts of meals to make trips affordable! The drive down here was… not enjoyable. The scenery is slightly different but I think I forgot that this wasn’t taking a bus. This was four hours of driving one’s self. At one point the woman in my phone sent me on the interstate express lane. I didn’t mean to cheat the system, I was just following the map lady’s instruction! I’m hoping I don’t end up with some fine as a result as I think you’re supposed to be registered for that. It wasn’t very well marked and I was in the damn lane before I even realized what was happening. Then I got stuck in this horrible storm. I’m used to driving in bad storms being from the Midwest but those have mostly been on roads or terrain I am familiar with. This was a tad bit terrifying as I was trying to keep up with the truck in front of me and use his or her or their tail lights as a guide. I about freaked out when the truck exited. I think I yelled out, “Nooo” or something (not like Darth Vader, though) but thankfully the rain let up just about then. I was able to go to a state park and I’m hoping to possibly check out the ocean briefly and maybe a cemetery before heading back to Atlanta tomorrow. So that’s nice. Really it probably would have been nice to have had a car in Atlanta but it just seems like you shouldn’t need one in a metropolitan city like that. It annoys me that you do.