The First Class Experience

 

I wasn't planning to post this but...because it's important enough to both Astrid and me "for the record," here it is!

It starts with the fact that because it's my 80th-birthday year, The Universe conspired to gift both Astrid and me a celebratory upgrade to First Class/Delta One on our just-completed Atlanta trip.  

You know me.  I HAVE to show The Experience in photos!

The Experience began in Amsterdam at the KLM Crown Lounge (with Delta partner access) before the flight:

Our flight to Atlanta was at 10:10 a.m. that Thursday, October 16.

After a very speedy check-in and security, we had at least 2 hours to relax and eat breakfast...

and wander around to take photos, even in the upper, smaller bar lounge.

But it was the luxury and attention and food and HORIZONTAL rest of the flight that was...to die for!

Our wheels were turning.  We could get used to this once a year, every trip to Atlanta!

**  Intermission now for Our Atlanta Trip 2025, from October 16-November 4.  **

Then it was the trip back home, with the same excitement and anticipation for The Experience again, this time starting in the Delta Sky Club in Atlanta's international airport:

This time our flight left at 5:10 p.m., so our arrival at the lounge was in plenty of time for a good lunch.

In fact, I ate way too much and gave myself a note to pay attention next time!

See what I mean by eating too much for lunch?  I couldn't eat half of the delicious dinner!

This time, because of the overnight flight, we we SO THANKFUL for the horizontal rest.

And because of all that food, we both opted for only a banana at breakfast, before

landing in Amsterdam at 7 a.m.  And, yes, we had Wi-Fi!

You know what I'm going to say now (besides THANK YOU to The Universe for that Delta One gift for my 80th birthday):  We have decided we're "too old" to NOT make every Atlanta trip, from this year on, a Delta One experience.  We'll figure it out!

And as Astrid says, it's time for us to give this as a gift to ourselves!

Our Atlanta Trip 2025

 

Just like clockwork almost every year, 3 weeks starting in mid-October, it happens--this time from October 16-November 4, and in these following 3 phases:

1.  At Amy's in Roswell, October 16-23: 

First of all, Nacho is now a year older and totally in charge...and just as adorable.

As you'll see later, with Nicholas now gone (as I write this), he (the cat) will be The Companion.

Speaking of g'son Nicholas, age 25, he's off to work here in his last Atlanta days...

off to Phoenix, AZ, by the end of our visit (while we're in stage 3 with Mark).

Not that any of this is confusing, of course.

We arrived in Atlanta on Thursday and, on Saturday, during our stay with Amy, son Mark and Melissa stopped by to pick Astrid and me up for the Oct. 18th NO KINGS protest in nearby Marietta:

That's Melissa and Mark with Astrid and me, top-right!

These are Astrid's 2 collages:

Needless to say, it was HUGE, country-wide, with 7 million protesting!

We were thrilled to be part of the resistance to what's happening in America right now!

And then that evening, still Saturday, all 6 of us, including Amy and Nicholas, gathered at J. Alexander's (where Nicholas works as a manager) to celebrate my 80th birthday (June 13)--their treat to both Astrid and me:

No one, including me, once thought to take photos of Astrid and me enjoying it all!

On Sunday, the next day, Amy treated Astrid and me to her new favorite Japanese restaurant:

Man alive.  Talk about feeling wined and dined!

On Monday, October 20, Amy found a new "best-kept secret" to visit, this time in Calhoun, GA, an hour's drive north of Roswell at The Rock Garden:

Totally worth the experience (reminding me of Barcelona's Gaudí)...

including the therapeutic 1-mile walk through the woods nearby:

Tuesday the 21st was our repeat-visit to the Six Feet Under restaurant in Atlanta...

so we could enjoy our shrimp-boil (Astrid and me) and king crab legs (Amy)...

followed by another walk in the Oakland Cemetery, Atlanta's oldest public park across the street.

It's become an annual tradition.

ALL OF THAT in our first phase with Amy, with lots of Five Crowns (cards) interspersed throughout, as well as walks by Astrid and me throughout her neighborhood ('tis the season!):

2.  At the Cabin in the North Georgia Mountains near Blue Ridge, October 23-27:

YES.  THIS PLACE.  OUR HAPPY PLACE!

Within an hour of arriving that Thursday afternoon, Nicholas joined Astrid and me on a walk.

He was very aware this might be our last time to see each other for a while, following

his move to Phoenix the following week and perhaps no cabin for him next year?

Even though (or because!) it's the same-ol', same ol' every year, it truly is our Happy Place.

And we love THIS cabin (the same as last year) of all the ones we've rented since 2009.

Perfect for all our needs!

And yes, don't forget the annual tradition of  Waffle House for breakfast when we leave on Monday!

3.  At Mark's and Melissa's in Marietta, October 27-November 4:

That breakfast at Waffle House is the segue from phase 2 to phase 3 each year, but this time to the new house where Mark now lives with his girlfriend Melissa (whom we're freely calling our daughter-in-law!), less than a half-hour's drive from Amy's.

With their FIVE (5) cats!

Mark's aged-lady Piper (top-left) is still figuring out how to navigate the house, with/without the others.

Melissa's aged-ladies, Pixel and Lulu, do just fine with Piper, but the 2 young lads,

Nova and Tundra, are way too frisky for Piper.  Let's just say it's taking time!

(That's Pixel and Lulu in my lap, center right.)

While Mark worked on Tuesday, October 28, just that one day, Melissa took the day off for a girls' day out:

First up was lunch at a favorite hangout in her former neighborhood...

in Whittier Mill Village and Park, a place I didn't even know existed in Atlanta!

Then it was a brief drive to the Constitution Lakes Park to walk the Doll's Head Trail:

The park itself is quite large, with the Doll's Head Trail being a small loop in the middle,

approximately 1.5 miles total for our walk that day.

OMG.  Who thinks these things up??!!

Talk about another photographer's paradise!

The interesting part is that ALL the "displays" are from objects found in the park!

By Wednesday on, it was all Mark and Astrid and me, just BEING together and playing lots of games while Melissa worked most of the time, except for fixing lovely vegetarian meals for us, watching the Great British Bake Off in the evening, and stopping by to chat a few minutes whenever possible:

And, yes, Amy joined us on Saturday for football, wings and Swoop (bottom-right).

Oh, and don't forget the lunch out with Mark the Thursday before. 

We really did a lot of eating out, didn't we!

But the finale was Monday's "Last Hurrah," for Mexican, before we left the next day.

In between all of that, Mark and Astrid helped prep the basement for finishing,

which work has now begun since we left, not only for Mark's remote office

but for the master home theater he plans to set up, like he did in his last house.

When we visit next year, it'll be a sight to behold, I'm sure!

(And, yes, those are the NO KINGS shirts Melissa bought for Astrid and me, bottom-left.)

Now back to Nicholas!  That Saturday, November 1, he arrived at Mark and Melissa's, with his dad, to pick up some last things on his move to Phoenix, AZ:

By 9:30 a.m. they were on their way (arriving at his new apt. on Monday evening).

A tear and a smile, as the Big Boy helps manage a new J. Alexander's in Chandler, a Phoenix suburb.

We're all so proud of him!

The next day, Sunday, while Melissa mastered a Dungeons and Dragons campaign, the 3 of us took a therapeutic walk at the nearby Cochran Shoals Trail:

We all needed it!

And so, just like that, another year with My Kids came and went.

We left Atlanta late afternoon on Tuesday the 4th and arrived in Amsterdam at 7 a.m. Wednesday.

Amy is already booked to be with us the week after Xmas, as well as next Easter,

and Mark & Melissa (M&M) are planning their own trip by May...

all before we go back to America again in October of 2026!

This is apparently what happens after you turn 80???

50 Years of Mark

Three years ago it was daughter Amy, when I made this book for her (on my sidebar).  Now it's son Mark's turn!  

He makes the math easy for me:  at 30 years younger than I am, I add 3 years to his age to figure out Amy's age.  I do like how easy he makes it for me!

Anyway....

(Click here to view the book, and then click on the book, after which

you then click on "Full Screen" in the top-right corner.)

The book is 11 x 14 inches, 77 pages.  And, yes, it covers 50 years of his life,

as told through MY eyes...the eyes of his mother.  It's now added to my side bar, above Amy's.

However, it's not at all like the book I did for his sister, which was historical and chronological.

This is how I explained it to him in my Introduction:

This isn't a history of you, per se, nor a chronological anthology of events,

stories or memories, making up 50 years of the life you've lived.

Rather, this is more of a smorgasbord of ingredients making up the delicious

bits and pieces of your life that makes me, your mom, LIKE who you are.

How can a mother not LOVE her son!  Indeed.  But it's the LIKING of all

these 50 bits and pieces that makes me smile at you with great pride and joy.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY,

Mark Daniel Tiffan!

              

Garderen Sand Sculptures 2025: "Amsterdam 750 Years"

For how much Astrid and I both LOVE LOVE LOVE the Garderen sand-sculpture themes ever year, it's hard to believe that the last time we were there was in 2020.  And then COVID hit and we haven't been since...till now!

As in 2020, this was Astrid's birthday (August 24) request, which we celebrated last Thursday, August 21.  It was a no-brainer to see how they'd celebrate the 750th year of Amsterdam...with sand sculptures!

We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day, both cool and sunny!

Immediately after entering the front gate, you start seeing "Amsterdam" everywhere,

often having nothing to do with the sand sculptures.  They have lots of wood carvings, which I also love.

In fact, part of the charm is all the reenactments totally apart from the sand sculptures,

sprinkled throughout the walking route.

But the sand sculptures do have a distinctive start, and this was it for this year's theme.

How an Amsterdam canal looked back in the good ol' days!

And from that point on, it was a total of 97 scenes (!) of sand sculptures covering 750 years!

At the beginning and...

at the end.

As you'd guess, everything you could imagine was shown:

famous people, like Jaap Heinen and his Delft Blue, the King and Queen's wedding, 

Anne Frank, Rembrandt and paintings of the Dutch Masters in the Rijksmuseum.

I especially enjoyed the larger displays, like the Beer Garden, from 1323...

The Disputes from 1346...

and the Kesbeke family-owned pickle company.

Don't you love the real props!

I also liked how, by following the route, you get the expanse of the place.

See what I mean (and the props)?!  

At one point, before continuing the route outside, we stopped for our obligatory latte.

See how even there the theme was continued.

They've figured out how to protect the sand from the elements, obviously!

Remember that there are 97 scenes, with a sign explaining each.

How's this for "Bike and Windmill Friday" for my photoblog!

Speaking of bikes, they make perfect props for any Dutch theme.

This was one of my favorite sculptures of them all, because of the look on her face!

She represents #45, the Banking House Hope & Co, founded in 1762 by the Scottish family Hope.

How fun to show off the ARTIS Amsterdam Royal Zoo in this way.

It's the oldest zoo in the Netherlands and the 5th oldest zoo in the world.

I was especially interested in the Johnny Jordaan and Tante Leen sculpture,

because in my past life with Donica, we lived in an apt. near the Johnny Jordaan Square.

Okay.  Enough is enough.  You get the point.  We were short of eyes.

But by the time you pass all 97 scenes (supposedly with more than 150 sand sculptures),

you get a real feel of the 750 years of Amsterdam!

One last thing....

Call us surprised when we passed this scene and saw a worker inside,

apparently repairing a "damaged" spot.  Who knows what happened.

But it was a reminder why they often have signs to not touch!

And on that note, here's a good video to give you a sense of how they create all of this,

using professional sand sculptors from around the world: 

At the 2.40 mark you can see how this place comes to life each year.

And at 9:28 you see two of Garderen's "challenged" employees, among the

many who work there, who find joy and satisfaction in their contribution.

It all blows my mind!

And, yes, of course, we finished it off with a delightful lunch in their Rose Garden restaurant!

What a great HAPPY BIRTHDAY gift to Astrid, at her request.

We really should do this every year!