Atlanta

In 2017, I visited Atlanta for a week long work trip. Driving in rush hour in Atlanta is absolutely horrible; it’s crazy how bad the traffic is because the highways are really wide. Atlanta is divided up into three large areas: Downtown, Midtown, and Bucktown. I stayed at the Atlanta Marriott Renaissance hotel in Midtown, which was so nice and beautiful. The hotel was very close to the Georgia Institute if Technology. We drove through the campus and it was so nice. We tried restaurants in Midtown and Bucktown; we had delicious food and a great time.

In 2018, I visited Atlanta for work again, and I stayed right downtown again. I went to the Deloitte office there, and the lobby was so beautiful; I had to snap a photo!

In 2024, I visited Atlanta again, and met up with one of our best friends from California, and Mike’s best friend. We met at a restaurant in Buckhead called Lenox Square, which is a high end shopping area. It was really nice! Mike’s best friend lives in Milton, GA, and we stayed in their beautiful home for a night as well.

Chattahoochee Hills

My very first trip to Georgia was in 2013, with a group of my friends to a small town about 30 minutes outside of Atlanta for a music festival. We left the Detroit area at 7 pm on a Wednesday, and we got down to Atlanta around 7 am on Thursday; just in time for morning traffic. Luckily, the boys drove through the foggy night, and I was able to sleep a little bit. I was sitting in the middle seat in the back of a Lincoln pick up truck. We had the back of the truck packed full with camping gear, food, drinks, and alcohol. When we were 20 minutes outside of our final destination, all of a sudden out of nowhere, all of the cars in front of us slammed on their breaks. Joe was driving and somehow swerved from the middle lane to the left lane with out hitting anyone. The smell of burning rubber was so strong, and all of us were jolted. We got off the highway on the next exit to take a breather. That was the scariest moment I’ve ever experienced.

Once we finally made it to Chattahoochee Hills, we had to have our car searched, and then we entered the camp ground. We met up with two other cars that drove down separately. The boys all went ahead with most of the stuff to find us a camping place, and Danielle and I stayed back with the truck to watch the remaining of our belongings. Little did we know they had to walk a mile in the scorching heat with everything. Once we finally all got settled in, everyone was happy, and we ventured off to the first night of the music festival.

The music festival required that attendees are 21 and older, which was amazing. This eliminated so many of the nonsense younger kids that do not know how to handle themselves, whether they drink too much, or they are pushing and shoving and being rude. The whole vibe of the festival was peaceful, happy, and relaxing. The festival lasted from Thursday to the following Sunday. Over this time, we had to pay to take showers if we wanted to; Danielle and I woke up pretty early every morning to go shower before they ran out of hot water. The festival had food too, but none of it was very good. Thankfully we brought snacks, water, and Gatorade. During the day, the temperatures would get into the 80’s, and at night it would get into the 50’s, which was so cold. It was important for all of us to stay hydrated.

The festival was the first time it had been in the US, and it was put on by the same promoters as the famous Tomorrowland in Belgium. We saw all of our favorite big name DJ’s like Tiesto, David Guetta, Hardwell, Armin Van Burin, Axwell and Ingrosso, Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike, and some smaller names as well like Seven Lions, A-Trak, Carnage, and Adventure Club.

An other reason the festival was so fun was because we had a big group of about 20 people from Michigan who all hung out the whole time. At times, it was hard to coordinate meeting at different stages, but overall we did a good job of mostly sticking together. The best part of TomorrowWorld is that it is where Mike and I first met. ☺

The Ritz-Carlton Reynolds, Lake Oconee

In 2021, my husband’s best friend got married at the Ritz Carlton in Lake Oconee. Located about an hour and a half from the Atalanta airport, the resort sits perfectly on the lake. The resort grounds were beautiful with so many activities. The facilities for the wedding were beautiful as well. I would definitely love to come back here sometime for a vacation to relax and get away for a quiet and relaxing retreat.

Lake Lanier

Lake Lanier is about an hour north of Atlanta. The lake is massive, and it is known as being haunted. I thought it was beautiful with the red clay; I had never seen red clay near a lake, but apparently Georgia is known for it.