Our Getaway!!

Because my mom was in town and insisted she could take care of Amelia for 24 hours by herself, we took advantage of the opportunity to have a night to ourselves! Going to a nice restaurant! Staying in a hotel! Having a full night's sleep! Woohoo!

First, let me say that Amelia, who turned 8 months old yesterday, decided to accomplish the major milestone of pulling up to a standing position by herself about 45 minutes after we left the house:

Figures.

Anyway, our first stop was the new World of Coke museum. We just wanted something to do that was "different" and that wouldn't kill the whole afternoon. I guess the museum is worth a visit; it kept us entertained. And the kids there seemed to enjoy it a great deal. However, if any of you had been to the old one...I think the old one was better. To me, one of the cool things about the old museum was the coke that shot in the air from one side of the room to the other in the tasting exhibit. The new one doesn't do that. :( That made me sad.

After the museum we got settled in our hotel room at Twelve, which is located at Atlantic Station. Twelve is a fairly new hotel that really markets its "modern" decor. We actually had a suite (all Twelve has is suites), and it probably would have been really great for a week's stay; the kitchenette featured new, stainless steel appliances and the furniture was really modern. The TVs were flat screens. However, what struck us most about the decor was how it just felt unfinished...bare concrete in places, a wooden ceiling that still had the builders' notes written in pencil on the wood. Interesting. Oh, and our room featured a spectacular view of the really strange Roman-like arch in the middle of it all, which apparently is the Millennium Gateway of Atlanta. Whatever. Here's Darryl looking at the Millennium Gateway from our balcony. Is it me, or is that arch just a bit out of place?
Last night we had a wonderful, fabulous dinner at The Capital Grille in Buckhead. We have been there a few times before and have enjoyed it, but I think last night's dinner was the best yet. I swear I have never been this full after dinner, not even after Thanksgiving. We started out with prosciutto-wrapped mozzarella with tomatoes. Holy cow. There are no words to describe it. Simple, but good. Then we shared a crock of French onion soup. Even if you are not a big French onion soup person, you might like theirs. It is hands-down the best I've ever tasted. I was already feeling full by this point, but we went on with our entrees; I had the beef filet and Darryl had the Delmonico ribeye. Again, delicious. I ate probably half of mine, though, because I wanted dessert, which was coconut cream pie. I love coconut cream pie, period, but this was fabulous. The crust was wonderful; my guess is that it possibly had some cake mix in the crust--which may sound weird--but it tasted very similar to the crust on the cream cheese bars I make, and that crust has cake mix in it. Anyway...I thought I was going to have to be fork-lifted out of the restaurant. (Also, is it just me, but when you eat a lot at a restaurant--like A LOT--do you almost feel as though you need to say to the waiter, "I don't normally eat like this" or "I haven't eaten anything all day." I don't say these things, but I really, really want to.)

After eating that delicious dinner, we walked around Atlantic Station for a while. The walk did absolutely nothing in making us feel less miserably full, however.

But of course, this morning (and I'd like to add that my eyes popped open at 6:30 on the morning I had an opportunity to sleep in!), we ate breakfast. We went to Silver Skillet, which is this old diner-style restaurant that is known for its good hearty breakfasts. The fare is pretty standard, but it was delicious, too. (I know... you may be marveling over the fact that we could even hold food at this point.)

Then we came home. It was wonderful to have some "us time," and we hope to do it again soon. And, of course we were happy to see our girl when we returned!