Atlanta, Georgia
August 2, 2024
After a required stop at Buccee’s and a horrible rain storm, we arrived in Georgia and checked into our hotel before heading out to see The Coral Reefer Band’s (Jimmy’s band) tribute to Jimmy Buffett. You all know that I have always been a huge Jimmy fan. What you might not know is that Jimmy was the soundtrack to my childhood. Every song has a special memory associated with it and it meant so much for me to see this show. They were only doing three shows and we found out they would be in Atlanta about two weeks ago. I told Vinny we had to go. Jimmy died a few weeks after my dad and it hit me hard. Losing my dad was hard enough, then losing the man who sang me through every emotion growing up was a huge blow. We sang our hearts out, danced hard, laughed and I cried…a lot. It was such an emotional show, but I am so glad we were able to sneak it in. The most special moment was when they encored with “Brown Eyed Girl.” I know that it won’t make much sense to most people but that was the song I had my father-daughter dance to at our wedding. When I was a kid, every time my dad saw me he would say, “are your eyes turning brown?” Obviously they never did and I was the only one without brown eyes in my immediate family. This made the song perfect for us. This concert was the perfect way to finish up our trip. It is almost the 1 year anniversary of my dad’s passing and I think this trip really helped me process some major emotions and I am so thankful we had the chance to do it. I felt his spirit with us the whole time!
August 3, 2024
Today was the Georgia Aquarium day. We came here once when the children were small, but they don’t remember it. We had so much fun looking at all the exhibits and seeing all the fish. Of course our favorite was the dolphin show and the sea lion show. We finished the evening with one last dinner out and I got my required Margaritaville photo. We are staying in downtown so we were able to stroll through Centennial Park. This is our last night on the road. One more fun thing tomorrow, then I get to see my sweet kitty!
August 4, 2024
Today we visited the Coca-Cola Museum before hitting the road. I really enjoyed learning about the history of Coke and seeing all the memorabilia from over the years. We saw several signatures as well, including Jewel and Taylor Swift. I opted out of the smell test because it seemed very germy. We did do the taste test though and it was fun tasting Coke products from all over the world. Before we left we grabbed a photo with the Coke bear then hit the road. North Carolina here we come!
Wandering, Wondering and Wacky 
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