Still on the Road (Birmingham and Atlanta)

This is my fourth post in a series about my 11-day family road trip.  At the moment, I am sitting in the Marietta, Georgia home of Ken Cook, my BlogTalkRadio co-host on Social Media Edge, listening to him play guitar for all of us.  I just completed two days at RE Tech South, which I'll write about in another post sometime soon, perhaps after returning to Austin. 

So, to pick up where I left off before, we spent most of Tuesday in Birmingham, Alabama.  My wife Pam and I fell in love with the Inverness/Hoover area, where we stayed.  It was hilly and treed and lovely.  Even the air smelled sweet outside our hotel - it seemed to be a fragrant tree of some sort.  The weather was just about perfect that day, clear and sunny and about 70 degrees.  In fact, I haven't experienced a day like that in awhile.

We decided to spend the afternoon in the Birmingham Zoo, after reading some great reviews online.  We were NOT disappointed.  In fact, it might have been the finest day at the zoo that I have ever had, although part of that was almost certainly because of the weather.  The drive there from our hotel took us through a portion of town that felt like a charming small village with blooming springtime foliage.  I felt a little bit like I was in the movie "Pleasantville" (if you haven't seen this one, it's a long explanation). 

Following our visit, we tried to find a local restaurant via Yelp (and some other websites) that would be somewhat authentic and good, but the place we chose was out of business.  So much for that idea.  We ate at O'Charley's instead, which turned out to be....not all that clean and...pretty expensive. 

We drove into Atlanta and arrived here Tuesday night around 8:30pm. 

I find it to be an amazing tribute to the power of social media that I first met Ken in person that evening, yet I brought my entire family to stay at his home for almost a week.  Read that sentence again.  Yes, he invited all of us to stay here without ever meeting us in person.  :)  Ken and his wife Myra have been more than gracious hosts, and I will truly miss them when we leave.  We've had a terrific time so far, and we'll be back on the road Sunday.

Funniest quote:

From Abby (4) - "There's no giraffes or pigs, so I don't like this zoo."  I can't honestly say that I have ever seen a pig in a zoo, but there you have it.

Next stop: Mobile, Alabama