Our Atlanta Trip 2026

 

Once again, like clockwork, we made our annual 3-week trip to Atlanta to spend time with my children in the 3 usual places as listed below:

1.  At Amy's in Roswell, October 15-22 (Thursday-Thursday): 

First of all, both coming and going, we once again flew Delta One,

enjoying the extravagance of good food, lying-down rest and pampering.

At our age, we've decided to choose nothing less for such a long haul!

But back to Amy:  she and Nacho are the "reason for the season."

We love seeing them together.

 

Wasting no time, the day after arriving, Friday, I voted early in our Midterm Elections.

And, YES, this time my vote counted for the Blue Tsunami that followed after we left for home.

Each year we arrive just before Halloween and enjoy the decorations 

while walking Amy's neighborhood.  

And, as per usual, we partake of Amy's weekend tradition of visiting her favorite Kona restaurant...

plus a Saturday afternoon MICHIGAN football game, which, yes, we won!

These things are important, you realize!

The BIG SURPRISE this year, however, was when my sister, Ruth, and hubby Don visited us

on their way to Florida from Michigan, giving us all a chance to catch up.

Even my son Mark joined us one of the evenings.

Don and Ruth joined us for our annual tradition of eating at the Six Feet Under restaurant...

before crossing the street to walk part of the Oakland Cemetery, Atlanta's oldest park from 1850.

Don and Ruth stayed until we left for the cabin on Thursday, in order to see g'son Nicholas

that Wednesday, arriving from Houston, TX.  Mark and Melissa invited us all for dinner that evening.

[left column at Amy's; right column at M&M's]

2.  At the Cabin in the North Georgia Mountains near Blue Ridge, October 22-26 (Thursday-Monday):

It's our favorite "neutral place" of the trip and our 3rd time at this favorite cabin!

The place where those of us up early enough see the morning break every day!

The place where Amy still wants to cook our breakfast and dinner every day!  Lucky us!

And THIS TIME g'son Nicholas (age 26) showed his own chops a couple of times.

He's now the head chef at the J Alexander's in Houston, TX, and we're all proud of him!

It's the place where we play lots of games together (mostly Swoop this time),

inside or out, if the weather is warm enough...

and evening movies, of course!

One time Astrid and I even shared a special "whiskey-bottom" moment with Nicholas,

to catch up with what's going on in his life these days.

The last morning, Monday, following tradition, we ate breakfast at the Waffle House.

It still remains one of Astrid's favorite memories of the entire trip!

3.  At Mark and Melissa's in Marietta, October 26- November 3 (Monday-Tuesday):

Straight from coming down the North Georgia Mountains, we drove to M&M's lovely home,

so cozy at this time of the year, especially in the evening hours.

Mark and Melissa are a good team, with Melissa cooking and Mark cleaning up.

Melissa happens to be vegetarian, but lives peacefully with those of us who aren't,

including Mark, who once again cooked a brisket on his pellet grill for their D&D group

(who ended up not coming because of "emergency" situations--long story).

Actually, we're all learning to love Melissa's vegetarian dishes!

Speaking of Melissa, she's a cat "savior," especially for the elderly ones who can't care for themselves

--in this case Lulu, who has arthritis and can't always clean herself.

This was a tender, educational experience for me to watch.

And, yes, speaking of watching, we "experienced" Mark's new home theater,

which would blow your mind if you saw it in person.  OMG.  What a thrill!

Once again, like last year, Astrid and I enjoyed 2 walks with Mark

along the Chattahoochee River at the Cochran Shoals Park.

How therapeutic at this time of the year!

[You can probably see from Astrid's face that she's not doing well....**]

An added highlight this year was a trip on Saturday, Halloween, to the Renaissance Festival

in Fairburn, GA, 44 miles away, a first for Astrid and me and a delight to experience...

especially as it started getting dark by early evening.  A great memory!

In between everything, we played lots of 5 Crowns (Mark, Astrid and I)

and lots of Swoop (our new favorite game), even with Amy, when there were 4-5 of us.

In fact, for those who know Swoop, this was my proud moment of only 24 pts. after 7 rounds,

which is the equivalent of 0-3 pts. in a 5 Crowns game.  Some of you will get it!

Too quickly it was time to fly back to the Netherlands, after almost 3 full weeks, leaving on Tuesday, November 3, Midterm Election Day, and arriving in Amsterdam on Wednesday, November 4.  Just before midnight Georgia time, while on the plane, I saw the news that the Democrats had already won back the House and the Senate.  And since then, all of us in Europe are breathing again!

But there you have it.  Another year under our belts celebrating my family back in America, my second home!  Astrid and I don't know how many more years we can make this annual trip but we will look forward to it as long as possible, thankful for the ways and means to make it happen.

[** After several months of not feeling well, and several tests later, Astrid will have a sleep test tomorrow for non-snoring sleep apnea, for which she has all the symptoms.  Stay tuned.]

Our Atlanta Trip 2024

 

So swiftly fly the years!

Once again, it's the schedule/routine we've grown to love:  one week with daughter Amy, a week at the cabin, followed by a week with son Mark.

1:  At Amy's, October 17-24.

First and foremost, we met her new cat, Nacho, her lover-boy!

And then reacquainted ourselves with her neighborhood on our daily walks

at this fun time of year, with Halloween and Thanksgiving just around the corner.

That first weekend we rendezvoused with Mark and g'son Nicholas for Mexican,

celebrating all our birthdays in one swell foop.

[photo credit:  Astrid]

And then Amy and I voted.  [More on that at the end.]

Even Nacho wanted to vote:  "Please, oh, pretty please???"

I think Kamala wanted to let him!

As we had done in 2015 with Dennis and Nicholas, we decided to go back to Six Feet Under,

the restaurant across the street from the Oakland Cemetery, with just the 3 of us.

Oakland Cemetery is Atlanta's oldest "public park," worth seeing over and over again,

which I'm sure we'll do maybe even next year...again.

But what was new for us this year was Gibbs Gardens in Ball Ground.

It's one of Georgia's best-kept secrets I never knew!

And we saw only part of the 300+ acres!

[photo credit:  Astrid]

2.  At the Cabin in the North Georgia Mountains near Blue Ridge, October 24-28.

It was a new cabin this year and, even before opening the door, I took this pano iPhone pic

and immediately said to g'son Nicholas, "This is the one!"

[photo credit:  Astrid]

4 bedrooms, 4 full baths, 1 powder room, for 8 people (but only 6 of us).

A kitchen for Amy (the cook) to die for, great walking access, and a view for the soul.

Absolutely nothing to complain about; everything to praise!

And we finally got to meet Mark's girlfriend, Melissa!

Sorry for the duplicate image but what a joy it was to meet her

and to see them both happy and in love with each other.

[right-middle image is from Mark's house the next week]

Speaking of good walking access, Astrid and I got back inside just before the only rain of the stay.

And, yes, that's actually a rainbow in that top-middle image.

One day Mark drove Astrid and me to the nearby Stanley Rapids off the Toccoa River.

[Melissa had to go back home early--long story--and wasn't with us, sadly.]

Lots of Swoop (new card game), movies, football, and GOOD FOOD,

thanks to Amy who loves orchestrating the breakfast and dinner meals.

All I did was bake Mark's all-bran  muffin mix each morning and wash the breakfast dishes!

3:  At Mark's, October 28-November 5.

First order of business once down the mountain at Mark's house

was getting reacquainted with Piper, his cat of 14 years.

As Nacho is to Amy, Piper is to Mark!  She's very loyal to him.

Besides lazing around and playing lots of Five Crowns, the 3 of us took 2 trips.

The first was to the quaint city of Dahlonega for lunch, 33 miles away,

followed by a visit to Amicalola Falls another 20 miles further.

Both were past memories I wanted Astrid to see.

The second trip was to the Cherokee Bluffs Park less than 5 miles from Mark's house

and a new place for all of us, which we will definitely want to visit each year

for the exercise and the therapeutic, soulful beauty.

We had one last chance to see Melissa, who came over for a game night,

while grieving the loss of her dog of 10 years, Watson, who had to be put down

because of terminal cancer (which was the reason why she had to leave the cabin earlier).

All that plus movies in Mark's newly-upgraded home theater, plus one evening of football

for GEORGIA (Mark) and OREGON (Nicholas) and MICHIGAN (moi).

The grand finale with Mark, 3 years in a row now, was his Dungeon's & Dragons potluck,

where Mark cooked a brisket on his pellet grill.  Enough food to sink a ship!

Needless to say, we left for home with full tummies and hearts and souls.

* * * * * * * * * *

That was the 5th, Tuesday, Election Day for America's Presidential Election.  We arrived home in the Netherlands the next day, finding out soon thereafter that Trump was to become our next President.

This is the only story I can tell right now, a week+ later, following the initial gut-punch:

Kamala Harris did NOT lose.  

She ran one of the greatest campaigns in American history FOR the middle class.

Trump did NOT win.

Sadly, it won't be long before Americans and the world find out why.

DISINFORMATION won!

And it's happening all over the world, including here in the Netherlands.

Can we figure out how to counter it?  I sure hope so!