The girls and I had the best time on a long weekend away with Carrie & Allie Claire.
We left straight from school on Thursday afternoon and met up in Lake City.
By the time we’d made it to Valdosta, we declared it supper time and stopped at the Texas Roadhouse. 
After a couple more hours in the car, it was time for another pit stop. This time it was Chick-fil-A for an Ice Dream.
We made it to our hotel, and were all glad to see that shower and beds! 
My bed partners for the trip. It was halfway through the first night when I decided on the next girls trip we might have to get our own room, so the girls could share a bed and momma could have her OWN. That little spot on the edge is where I slept. 
The next morning, we woke up bright and early to head out to the Yellow Daisy Festival at Stone Mountain. Carrie had gotten the girls matching yellow daisy shirts that turned out adorable. Everyone kept stopping us to tell us how cute they were. 
We had purchased Early bird tickets, so it wasn’t crowded at all. 
The crisp cool air felt like fall and it was a great morning. We walked all through the shaded park and looked at all the vendor’s tents, picking up a few things along the way. We stopped for a while in the kids’ corner and let the girls do some crafts, before calling it a wrap at the festival. 
On our way out of the park, we stopped at the top to see the actual monument. 
Our next stop was a late lunch at Atlanta’s famed Varsity. 
The afternoon was spent checking into our downtown hotel and then shopping at the Ballard Designs outlet. 
Sadly, we didn’t find a thing we couldn’t leave without. Except some massive bookcases that I would have brought home had we been traveling with a trailer.
That night, we met up with Tettie and the gang for dinner in an old train depot. 
After visiting with the Georgia girls, we made our way back to Atlanta to the hotel. It was late and we were all exhausted. We got to our room only to find our toilet was broken. It was almost 10:00 and we were glad the repair man came quickly. After the toilet fiasco, Carrie hopped in the shower first and while she was in there, I heard a howling noise. At first, I thought it was the girls, but then I heard it again and I knew it wasn’t coming from any of them. My next thought, was something had happened to Carrie… it was kind of a moaning howl and I got scared something could be wrong with the baby. The howling continued and I opened the doors and finally realized it was a DOG. A dog in the NEXT ROOM. A dog in the next room who continued to howl throughout all the girls baths and my shower and at 11:15, I finally decided to call someone. I had no idea hotels were pet friendly, although, I’m not surprised, considering all the places I’ve seen people take their dogs lately. Insert my eye roll there. After another hour, I decided I’d go down to the front desk. It wasn’t my finest hour and I had to apologzie to the desk clerk for loosing my cool over it when he told me there was nothing they could do about our situation. The next morning, we checked out and the Atlanta Downtown Hilton will never have to worry about us darkening their doors again. ;)
We had planned to hit the World of Coke on our way out of town, but first we walked to the closest breakfast spot. The girls were introduced to the Waffle House. 
After filling our bellies with waffles and bacon, we headed to the World of Coke. It was the girls’ first trip, and I haven’t been since they relocated and renovated it. It was fantastic! 
We enjoyed a coke while we listened to the history of our favorite carbonated beverage and then all got teary eyed as we watched the movie in the Coke theatre. 
After the group was dismissed from the theatre, we were free to visit all the other areas on a self guided tour. We enjoyed seeing all the old memorabilia, 
and even got to see the vault where the secret formula is locked inside…
After we had our picture made with the polar bear, we hit the tasting room. 
This was the most memorable part for me from when I visited as a child. The girls loved getting to see all the names of different Coke products in the different countries and getting to taste them. I can still taste how awful “Beverly” was all those years ago, and I warned AB it was TERRIBLE. She had to take the field trip though, and see for herself. She said I was right…it tastes like hairspray smells. 
We ended it on a good note, at the giant Coke bottle where Coca-Cola Classic flows non-stop all day long. 
The tours end with another Coke to take on the road with you. 
We stopped South of Atlanta for lunch before making the drive home and the girls were excited to eat at the Chick-fil-A Dwarf House. 
I’ve been before, but never sat on the full service side before. I had no idea they had a whole different menu and you could get everything from hamburgers to classic nuggets, and they have all different sides, too. 
It was a fun girls trip and we can’t wait to plan the next one! 
~amw~
