My Weekend Update

I was supposed to leave work early yesterday to attend a book reading, signing & tea. The book is Silver Sparrow and the author Tayari Jones. Wouldn't you know something broke & I had to bring my new director up to speed. So I didn't make it. *wipes big tears from eyes & blows nose*

However, Friday evening I did attend her reading & signing. The event was awesome! I enjoyed hearing her read. (it made the chapter seem more vivid than when I read it) The questions that other readers asked, and hearing Tayari's thoughts & writing process was soo exciting. Sheesh I'm going to miss Atlanta, because I don't see my future home city in her events past or future.

Of course the other thrilling part of the evening for me was that I finally met the very entertaining LadyLee. I might not have read Silver Sparrow or known about Tayari Jones if not for Lee stalking her & "introducing" me to her books. I was also hoping to meet the great Dr./writer/cookie baker extraordinaire. So my Friday evening was wonderful, and a little bittersweet, because Atlanta is a unique city, and it's been my home for almost 20 years now. And I have to move by the end of the summer. Oh & look at the page that was signed for me!

We Are!

I have another commercial that makes me crack up every time I see it.
And since I finally have a phone that brings me into the current century it is even funnier to me.



I'm not advertising but it makes me laugh & my service isn't with them any way.

Tourist in Chicago

This is the first in my "fast trip" series of posts. Chicago is such an interesting city to me. I guess in part because of the river that flows through the city. I know that there are other U.S. cities with rivers, but they aren't Chicago. Maybe I'm also intrigued with its attachment to Lake Michigan. Also it meets my requirements for a "fast trip."

On my last trip to Chicago I decided that I wanted to take a boat tour of the city. The most interesting to me at the time was the Architecture Cruise. I'm sure the Fireworks Tours & Sunset Cruises are exciting, but I hadn't planned to be in the city beyond 6:00 PM. I'm not sure how many different companies there are that offer cruises, and each company has many different theme cruises. In the various brochures there was everything from a Chicago in the Movies tour, to tours for beer lovers and evening Jazz tours. I think most have an Architectural Cruise of some sort. The walk up fare for the cruise that I took was $25 and it was a 75 minute tour. For those that plan ahead almost all of the companies have an online discounted fare.

I didn't realize how many buildings were built within the last few years. Many of the new buildings are residential, and very expensive places to live. The tour guide of course was funny and I think the jokes got cornier as we went along. The perspective from the boat of many of the buildings is different from just walking or driving through the city. Of course I couldn't help but envy the people that lived in the buildings that had parking below for their boats/yachts.

Getting to the dock for the tour was amazingly easy. From Midway airport I caught the Orange Line train to State/Lake station I already had a transit card from a previous trip, but round trip on the train is less than $5.00 to downtown & back. You can purchase a transit card, pick up a bus and rail map and get information all there at the airport Midway Orange Line station.

What I discovered waiting for the cruise to start is that the water taxis are an option for a quick ride on the river & much cheaper than the cruises. Of course it's without the commentary, but a week and a half later I don't remember many of the buildings mentioned in the tour. I might try the water taxi the next time I go and catch one to Navy Pier on Lake Michigan. There are soo many things to do in the city. A tourist really could spend a LOT of money. I might have to go back with a plan to highlight some of the free things to do there. Oh like maybe transportation & food for $20 or less in a day. That will take some planning. It can't be spur of the moment.

Hmm where will the next "fast trip" take me and what will I do? I hope you stop by to find out. Hopefully my son will bring back my camera & I can include some pictures as well.

New Fast Trip Blog Post

I've been thinking about adding something more informational to my blog. My goal is to maybe twice a month highlight a "fast trip" in a city. It might be a tourist attraction, or the hunt for a food that the city is known for (usually something unhealthy).

My plan is to include cheap and easy in Atlanta and usually cities that have inexpensive, fast (train) public transportation directly from the airport.

Even a few years ago when I had to do my quarterly or 2x a year business trip, I sometimes had a few extra hours in a city. A business trip to NYC allowed me to squeeze in the Statue of Liberty and I think that was a summer trip, because I had my son with me. We didn't do a lot of traveling, but we did a few things on a tight budget and or worked into a business trip. (I saved on MY airfare.)

My tourist attraction visits will usually be on a weekday, so all of my "Fast Trip Visits" will be completed in 4 to 6 hours start to finish. Lodging or transportation to the city won't be included. It will be a work in progress and done on a whim. So hopefully it will be helpful, interesting, and if nothing else I'll have fun.

Coming soon...the tour I took in Chicago this week.

Movies, Movies, Movies!

Over the past 2 weeks I have gone to the movies to see. a) Everybody's Fine, b) Up in the Air, c) Did you here about the Morgans? & d) Armored.

Why these movies? There really are quite a few more that I want to see. I guess they each had an actor I like for one reason or another, well, one of the movies...I just really needed to see black people after those choices. LOL Actually, I knew about Armored before the others, but I saw trailers and added them to my list. I didn't realize that Sam Elliott was in 2 movies until I saw them. He's another actor that I enjoy seeing.

If it wasn't for the $5 matinee before noon...I wouldn't go so much. But I need to make sure that when I go to another theater that isn't my normal stop. I should know the matinee price & hours. Also theaters don't advertise when they change prices or times for the bargain matinee so I guess I should check often.
a) I liked the trailers & and I am a fan of R. De Niro. The movie was ok. It's your normal holiday family with issues movie. Just the kind of mix that I like funny moments, serious moments & happy moments. The entertainment that I needed.

b) Another movie that after seeing the trailers & the lead actor, I just had to watch. I thought that the fact that some of the people used in the firing scenes had actually been fired recently was interesting. It also doesn't totally follow the “Hollywood” formula. I enjoyed it, it won't be a classic in my book. I am sure that there is someone more deserving of an award for best actor, but I'm not voting so what I think doesn't matter.

c) c)Well, obviously Mr. Grant is in this one...I must have wanted to see a romantic comedy. Guy does something stupid, guy loses girl, girl & guy work it out, guy gets girl in the end. No, I didn't ruin the ending for you. You know the formula...But I liked the movie. And Sarah outside of New York city was funny.

d) Diversity in the cast. Oh boy! I don't think that it was entirely believable but it was entertaining and a good movie overall. Bad guys never prosper & the hero does. :-)