Georgia on my mind

---

---

Well, I must admit, I've got a hate on for my computer right now. After being almost at the end of my post about Atlanta, my computer keypad reacted and reloaded the page - deleting all of my words. We'll see how the re-write goes!

So anyway, after promising myself that I would never again come to Atlanta after a bad trip here in 2005, I find myself here again. HOTlanta. I'm trying to keep an open mind about my trip, since I do have two friends who moved here and obviously like it here. So maybe it's not all bad - we'll see if I like it any better when I leave!

For the first time ever, I was on a domestic Continental flight that left on time. I couldn't believe it. And although crowded, they upgraded the guy next to me, so there was an empty seat. I did have to listen to the complaints of the girl behind me who had "never been on a plane that small" in her life (relax dude, it's a short flight - talk to me when you're on a plane with the same seat sizes and it's a sixteen hour flight). I had forgotten that Hartsfield Airport is so huge and intimidating - I had to take a tram to get from my terminal to the baggage claim! But by the time I got there, my bag was making its way around the carousel, so I was able to grab it and head out for a taxi. The taxi stand was crazy busy, but the line moved fast, and I soon met up with a woman here for the national math conference. Their conference is apparently large enough to rate the Omni Center, so it must be bigger than my conference! We agreed to share a cab to our respective hotels, and despite their usually being nasty traffic here, it didn't take too long to get downtown. Although, we're lucky we got here at all - our cab driver was exceedingly nice, but his driving was more of an adventure than I would have liked.

Finally, we arrived at the hotel - I'm staying at the Westin Peachtree Plaza, which I had high expectations for since I quite enjoyed the night I spent at the Westin Times Square. I think I was sold on the hotel as soon as I saw the Starbucks on the main floor - although not a huge Starbucks drinker, I've been reading all of these murder mysteries centered around a coffee place. And when they describe all of the different kinds of coffee, I get a huge craving for something fancy! So I've promised myself a nice big cup of coffee tomorrow morning before the conference.

When I went to register, I met a very nice "young man" - I hate to say that, since I'm not very old myself, but this guy was about seven years younger than me, so he really was a "young man." He was a big fan of my glasses, so we discussed the expensiveness of Lens Crafters, before I learned that he was born in Alaska, then moved to Detroit, and then came to Atlanta for his last two years of high school. Now he's in his second year of college - very friendly guy. Being the nice guy he was, and because I'm a Starwood Preferred Guest, he thought he was doing me a favor by putting me on a floor with a view - aka, a high floor. Did I mention that the Westin is the tallest hotel in North America? Oh yes. 72 floors of craziness. And I'm on floor 57. (And don't worry - I'll make it up to 72 tomorrow when I host a little lunch at the restaurant up there) I should also mention that I'm wildly afraid of heights, although I'm trying to get better about it. And this hotel is unfortunately one of those who believe in the school of thought that a good view should be highlighted with floor to ceiling windows. I actually get sweaty palms when I'm close to the window.

But the room is quite nice - there is a lot of focus on color and texture, which I can appreciate. The walls are covered in a tan textured wallpaper, which sets of the dark furniture nicely, but does make the entranceway a little bland. There is a dark kidney-bean shaped desk which takes advantage of the view (if the curtains are open, of course), and a light cordoroy couch, also kidney-bean shaped. The bed is one of those Westin "heavenly beds" and it lives up to its name. Second only to the beds at the Hotel Arts in Barcelona, this bed is gently soft without giving too much. And the experience of lying on it is actually improved by getting under the duvet. I'm looking forward to a delicious night of sleep (if I can ever finish this blog and my ironing!) The bed faces the huge wall of windows, and from there, I feel safe enough to enjoy the view. Over the bed, and as big as the bed, is a stunning black and white of the city. The only other piece of artwork in the room are two black and white photos that showcase the architectural features of the building.

The only real downside is the bathroom, which is depressingly small. The bathtub is cheaply American, and in all honesty, a little bit dirty. But the wallpaper is a warm brown, with a faux finish (which I can appreciate even more after my weekend of painting lunacy), and the hot water does make it up to the shower quickly. And of course, there's no window to the room in the shower like in India! All in all, I'm happy with it.

So after a little nap and some ironing, I was ready for my first evening out. Although I generally prefer to relax on the first night I arrive in a city, I felt it was important to do a little networking, and also to have something to blog about! Since I had seen the location for dinner on the way to the hotel, and knew it was across the street, I felt comfortable going there. I headed out to Pittypat's Porch. According to the invitation "When Scarlet O'Hara visited Atlanta, she always stopped by Aunt Pittypat's because Aunt Pitty was known for welcoming her travel-wearied guests with a cool drink and the best southern cooking around." I got there around seven thirty, the appointed time, and followed in a group I recognized as being from the conference because of their wildly obvious name badges (I don't have mine yet). The woman guarding the door was shorter than me, and wider, with untamed dark curly hair and too much make up. She herded us all together and her voice boomed as she instructed all the marketing people to follow her. So I did. She sent us downstairs and we were seated in a room that was reminiscent of a cafeteria and hunter's den, with loads of animal heads on the wall - even one deer head, whose hoofs were used as hooks for two large rifles!

I scooted in a few seats along the wall and met my dining companions after learning that they were expecting over seventy people. "Small group of guests?" I thought to myself. Yes, well, it turned out that there were TWO groups from the conference dining there that night. And I was with the wrong group - somehow I'd ended up at the west coast table. Being from New Jersey made it obvious, and someone finally asked me. I felt very foolish - although it did happen to a few more people as the night wore on. I was then directed to the correct table, where one girl was sitting alone. It turned out that she was supposed to be at the other table, so then I was all by myself. I took the opportunity to take in my surrounding. This room was overlooked on all four sides by an upstairs ring of, what else, porches! There was one side where you could wait for your table, sitting in adirondack rocking chairs, and another side where the guardian of the door would stand at her podium and microphone and call names. I focused on the large stuffed turkey across the room, and eventually was joined by another woman. We were just debating whether to ditch the dinner (since we did wait a full half hour for everyone to show up), after another two women had come and gone, when the main group arrived. I mentally let out a big sigh of relief, although hanging out in my room wouldn't have been a bad night either.

The group was an interesting mix. We had two from the same firm, but different offices - Austin and Washington; another two from the same firm in Canada, and one woman from New York, from the sponsoring organization. The man from Washington was the only man at our table, and he turned out to be German. So it was very international - which I generally prefer, except that one of the Canadian women had imbibed a little too much, and ended up yelling at everyone at the table for not having national health like in Canada, thinking Canadians were just like Americans (do we even do that??), and just being mad at our president in general. The rest of the table was liberal, but they even thought she went too far, and recommended to her colleague when she got up to use the ladies room that we cut off her wine supply. She went back to her hotel not too long after that, mercifully. Aside from that, everyone else was quite pleasant. I had a lovely conversation about Germany, and my love of Vienna with my German dining companion, and got to know my Austin friend a little better - she was very funny and open in a way that I wish I could be. She just knew how to make everyone feel comfortable - maybe I can learn something! Dinner itself was a true southern experience - we ate from the salad bar to start, and I had a carrot salad, some chicken salad, and regular lettuce with a honey mustard dressing. On the table was corn bread, a biscuit, and what seemed to be a chocolate chip muffin. Dinner was fried chicken or ribs - I had the chicken, although the ribs looked more fun! It was paired with a delicious mashed potato - maybe garlic, but not too strong - and finished with a peach cobbler, which I never got to try. No worries - I'm sure I'll have my fill of desserts in the coming days. All in all, a pretty good night for being out with a group of people I didn't know.

Tomorrow, I have the hurdle of finding out where the conference actually is - since it's in a different hotel. And tomorrow will also be the aquarium night - good thing we don't have to dress like fish or anything! Not like last year's 20's theme where I was one of about three people that took the costume notation seriously. Damn marketers...

---

Photos

It's quite something
You know, if you like that sort of thing.