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Published: March 21st 2016
Observations from the air
Interesting agricultural patternsUp at 3am and ready to head back to LAX for our flight to our next destination Atlanta in Georgia. It has been almost 24 hours since we arrived and I miss flying ! Well we both agreed the beds at 4 Points Sheraton LAX were amazingly comfortable. Shame we only got half a night to sleep there. Will be back here again no doubt as they allow you to check in for 24 hours from your actual arrival (i.e. arrive at 7am and stay until 7am and only pay for 1 night stay). Only 10 minutes to LAX with free hotel shuttle so good for connections. Anyway we got to the Airport and check in was a breeze. In fact with Southwest Airlines you print up your own baggage labels and stick them on yourself and just drop them at the counter. Much better than waiting in line. Security was tight as you would expect but soon enough we got through to the gate area where we grabbed some bananas and fruit salad for breakfast from La Brea Bakery in the terminal building. Bananas were only $1.29 each and tasted great. Bananas at home seem to have been lacking in
Atlanta
View of their tallest building I think flavor for a while now ? Arrived at Gate 12A at 5.10am and started boarding at 5.25am. Southwest Airlines has a unique system for boarding where everyone gets allocated a number (we had A24-25 as we paid for early bird check in where the Airline automatically check you in 24 hours before the flight leaves with priority). Hence we were 24
th/25th getting on board (assuming A1-A15 were actually allocated as I think these spots are reserved for their super frequent flyers who don’t always book seats on every flight). Once you get on board you choose whatever seat you want. I think they have A1-30, then B1-30, then C1-30. If you have C30 allocation bad luck you are getting whatever is left! Our flight was empty leaving LAX so we got a good seat close to the front. We will have two other flights with Southwest later and these planes will likely already have people on them who were not on direct flights so who knows what will happen then ? The plane left on time and you got a sense how organised they were. The plane had Wi-Fi access with over 20 channels streamed to your device for free
Atlanta
What a lazy lamp post. and only $8- if you wanted full internet access. Kerry had the window seat in about Row 6 (no idea really as the seats did not appear to numbered !). I did the right thing and sat next to her. We left in darkness but as we headed off toward Atlanta the sun rose and we first saw light as the sun rose on the snowcapped peaks of the Rocky Mountains. Kerry said it was an amazing sight looking out at the variety of landscapes we saw. The main steward was an older lady which is quite unusual for us as Australia airlines seem to always have a younger crew. She was so good at what she did with a beautiful southern drawl for an accent and made us very relaxed. We arrived just before 1pm in Atlanta (3 hours’ time difference) where it was sunny and warm around 28 degrees. This airport is huge ! We arrived in Terminal C I think they start at A and go to F. Our terminal was mostly Southwest planes and I reckon there was about 20 planes docked here of just their own planes. You then go down an elevator underground to
Aquarium Pictures
Whale Shark from underneath ! get a train that goes first to Gate B terminal, then Gate A and finally to Baggage Claim. The train goes really fast and when we got to the Carousel our bags were right there first out (that has never happened before !). I wasn’t feeling my best so we waited a while outside getting some fresh air before buying some train tickets to ride on the MARTA system to Peachtree Station. It only cost $3.50 each and plenty of room for the 30 minute ride. Once we got back above ground on Peachtree Street in downtown, we had a short walk of 400 metres mostly downhill to our Hotel. The lady at check in was Tatiana and this was the 2
nd time I had met a Tatiana. The last one was at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 if you remember our famous Pole Vaulter of Russian descent (Gregoriava if I recall correctly). She along with other check in staff were very friendly here. We are staying 2 nights here in Atlanta at the Best Western Plus – Inn at Peachtrees. We had to wait about 15 minutes as our room was not quite ready but then off we went.
Stayed in Room 227 on Level 2. Building is quite old and dated but here it is all about location being central to everything we are doing. It was now about 3pm and we had nothing booked in case the flights were delayed but our plan was to try and get to the Georgia Aquarium for Imagination Nights if possible. This is a promotion for heavily discounted tickets if you come in after 4pm, so we used Kerry’s new smartphone to good use by calling to book this over the phone. It was only a short 10 minute walk to get there and we were so glad we did it. There were some amazing sights including a couple of 10 metre whale sharks, some rare albino looking whales (one of who did the hugest poo right in front of us and ruined the visibility for everyone !), lots of different zones where they had different fish species some of which we had not seen before. This place was built in 2005 so it is pretty new. Lots of people were here and we did not realise until later that this is the considered the best Aquarium in USA and Atlanta’s
# 1 tourist attraction. We decided not to stay for the dolphin show at 7pm as we wanted to get ready for dinner. It was recommended by hotel staff to go to Max Lagers Wood-Fire Grill and Brewery only 50 metres away but when we went in they said the wait was 1 hour. We decided to head up Peachtree Street and saw Hard Rock Café but they too had people waiting for an hour. What the hell is happening here we think ! Turns out it’s St Patrick’s Day which is a huge thing over here. Every second person is wearing green and looking for a big night out in downtown. I can’t quite see the connection the large African-American population here might have with the Irish but who cares if it’s a chance to drink and be merry I guess. It seems a bit like NYE back home. Next door was Hooters and in we go. Again a 45 minute wait ! We decided to wait and after about 15 minutes a table was available looking out the front window. It was actually a table for six but who cares ! The food was OK here but other
Aquarium Pictures
Whale Shark & friends than seeing waiters in skimpy orange pants which was a slight distraction for me our attention soon turned to the sidewalk where a police car pulled up. A couple of police came in and chatted with the staff and we presumed they were ordering some dinner for takeout, but after they went back outside and soon we saw one of them walking some guy back to his car and he was handcuffed. He stood alongside the front of the police car and the policeman started searching his pockets looking for stuff. The guy played it cool showing no reaction to the frisking search at all. Nothing seem to be found but he was placed in the back seat. After a while another guy was escorted to the same spot (a bit taller and older) and this guy was a bit more edgy. Policeman pulled out about 4/5 packets of what looked to be from our viewpoint as sugar but who knows ? He was duly escorted to the next police vehicle where we assume he is now assisting police with their enquiries. Time ticked by and the two vehicles were still here. After another 15 minutes a waitress goes outside
and gives him about 3 or 4 large bags of food. Enough to feed a few shifts I imagine. I think there was some Basketball games on the TV screen inside but our entertainment was most definitely right outside the window. Only in America they say. Short walk back to our room, hopefully now St Patrick’s Day is over things might get back to normal here now. Tomorrow we spend the day in Atlanta sightseeing.
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