Summer Road Trip: Day One

Atlanta, Georgia: We have been planning our summer road trip since early February.  We booked a 4-day, 3 night trip to the Smoky Mountains.  But unfortunately, Mother Nature threw us a curve ball in the form of Tropical Storm Colin.  Rather than cancel, the trip, we decided to head out before the storm and leave town before it came so we were not stuck missing the trip.

To make the timeline work out, we had two new days of vacation to fill so we decided to start the trip out with a return to Atlanta.  In addition to the trip expanding, so did our travel party as my mom and nephew came with us on the trip as well.

We hit the road bright and early at 3 am.  The weather forecast called for strong storms in the Atlanta area in the afternoon so we figured if we left early enough, we could still get in a good day of exploring.

We arrived into Atlanta to a light drizzle but decided to go to Zoo Atlanta anyway.  After our last trip to Atlanta, we decided we would go back to the zoo in warmer weather to see the animals that we missed during our cold and dreary winter visit.

The light rain kept some of the animal off exhibit, but for the most part, we got to see them and my nephew really enjoyed his first trip to the zoo.  By the time we were leaving the zoo, the sun began to peek through the clouds.

After leaving the park we headed to Mary Mac's Tea Room.  This was a restaurant that we found out after we returned home from our last trip.  The food was amazing.  Southern cooking at its finest.  I had the chicken and dumplings and it was really good.

Then we headed to check into our hotel.  The hotel choice for day one was Regency Suites in downtown Atlanta.  Despite getting lost trying to find the hotel, the hotel turned out to be a hidden gem.  The all-suites hotel was a welcomed home away from home while traveling with my infant nephew.

Before we turned in for the night, I had to make a trip to Hartsfield-Atlanta International Airport for a little planespotting.  We watched for a little bit from the cell phone waiting lot.  We saw quite a bit of action since Atlanta is the busiest airport in the country.  Although 99% of the air traffic was Delta, it was still a fun time.

We then headed back to the hotel to wind down for the night.  On the way back we too a brief detour throught the MLK Historic District.  Then just like the first time we went to the hotel, we got lost on this trip as well.  But after driving around in circles for a bit we finally found the hotel and retired for the evening.

Tomorrow we depart for Tennessee and our second bonus day of the trip.  Day two will feature Dollywood and we will be staying at the Dolly Parton DreamMore Resort.

Be sure to check back for more stories and photos from the trip.

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