Hello Atlanta

English: Atlanta Metro (MARTA), station Peacht...
English: Atlanta Metro (MARTA), station Peachtree Center in Downtown Atlanta, Georgia (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have been to Atlanta, Georgia many times. Well, I’ve been through Atlanta, Georgia many times. Whether it was family vacations to driving destinations further south or transferring from one plane to another at the airport, Atlanta has not been a place I’ve stopped. Until now.

This year, the AAA/CAA Marketing/IT conference is here. Right in downtown at the Peachtree Center. Getting here is quite simple. From the airport, I skipped the expensive options for travel and went with a trip on MARTA. Despite getting turned around 2 times trying to get to the hotel, it was 25 minutes from the time I boarded the train till I was at the front desk. I thank you to all those who helped me on my way. The cost? $2.50 plus $1 for the card. I bought a two trip card, so the total was $6.

Nice. $10 in and $4 in dollar coins. I didn’t know they still made these things. Will have to save them for my return home to Cincinnati.

I had planned on hitting a Geocache or two, or a few Munzee scans, before the conference workshops started today, but leaving from Cincinnati was delayed and I arrived an hour later than scheduled. So is my experience with coming to Atlanta. I’ve never had a flight arrive or leave on time. Ever.

I first came through the Atlanta airport in 1986 when I was going back to the states from Stuttgart, Germany. I had lived there for three years and my father was still active duty Army. He was up for retirement in early 1987 and elected to stay in Germany for a few months. This left me as an unaccompanied 18 year old traveling on Army orders ( had them in my pocket). Customs was a little confused by me, but they managed.

It was August when I came through Atlanta and the layover was to be three hours. I found the USO and left my bags with them. The next few hours were spent wondering around the airport, eating and trying to remember what it was like to live in the States. I did approach an outside door and the blast of heat kept me inside.

The flight to Knoxville? It was delayed an hour. Typical and things really aren’t better. Atlanta is a busy airport. Many, many flights. Will this time around be different? Probably not, but it will be the homeward leg, so it doesn’t matter. There is no connection to make that might be missed. Friday will be time to relax and take in Atlanta one more time, before heading home.

 

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