Georgia On My Mind...

Howdy friends!! I'm back in the great Lone Star State after my long weekend in Atlanta, GA! It was so much fun! Oh, where to begin. First of all, as I mentioned in previous posts, I'm not a big fan of flying. I think I did okay. We started the trip with a 45 minute delay leaving DFW (I think it was either mechanical related or weather related. we never did get a straight answer). The flight itself was pretty good. My friends and I all had our Mp3 devices and books to keep us occupied. I noticed after about an hour and 45 minutes it seemed we were going in circles. It turns out we were. Due to storms in Atlanta and  the surrounding areas, we were having to circle until we were cleared to land. I'm not one to get motion sickness, but maybe the circling on top of my nerves kinda upset my stomach. Thankfully I didn't get sick. Although when we finally started to land, we hit some turbulence which caused my stomach to feel like I was riding The Viking Ship ride at Six Flags. If you've never ridden it, basically it felt like my stomach was in my throat!

I won't bore you with ALL the details (if you really want to hear them, feel free to email me and I can share more). Friday night we had dinner with my friend Beks' family (we were staying with them). They were also our drivers for the weekend. (they were such wonderful people, I had a blast getting to know them). They were very sweet and rearranged their schedule so we could go tour Turner Field Saturday afternoon (this was mainly for me). We toured the museum, Braves Hall of Fame and the actual ballpark. Yes, I turned into a giddy 15 year old. For those new to my blog, for the 1990s and the 00's (I don't know what to call the new decade after the turn of the century), I mainly watched Braves baseball on TV because I couldn't get Rangers games where I lived. Make no mistake, the Rangers are my main true love in baseball, but the Braves are my second favorite (seeing that they are in different leagues, I think it's okay that I love both). But if by some miracle both landed in the World Series, the Rangers would have my full support.

Anyways, I'm typing more than I had planned because I'm about to bombard y'all with a lot of pictures. I know it seems like a lot, but I took over 400, so y'all are coming off easy!! Yes, I went "picture taking happy" on my trip!! Thanks for letting me share!

Waiting to board the plane

Me and Beks killing time during the delay at the airport

A view from the plane

 

 

My Steve Avery Braves jersey (I've had it since I was like 15 or 16) And yes, the Avery in the "Averyfan" in both my blog address and my Twitter account are for him. I swear I'm not a stalker, just a fan! :)

 

Arriving at Turner Field

Had to represent Texas and wear my Rangers cap!

  

Group shot with Monica and Beks

  

An insanely giddy Rachel standing by Steve Avery's signed jersey. It was almost embarrassing how excited I was (yes, I'm a nerd, let's move on!)

 

I thought it was funny that Steve Avery's and Mark Wohlers' jerseys were next to each other in the display. My BFF Mandy will understand the significance of that. I might explain it another day!

 

The Three Amigos, err, Amigas. Who would have thought that three girls would travel to another state just to see a baseball game? And yes, I have a Texas Rangers purse!

Greg Maddux, Hall of Fame pitcher

The 1995 World Series trophy

 

The display about the Braves on TBS (the reason I started watching Braves games)

 

The land of the free...and the home of the Braves (that's what the sign next to this said!) :)

 

The tour took us up to the Sky level of Turner Field

 

Possibly my favorite part of Turner Field- the tomahawk chopping Chick Fil-A cow. I got video during the game of it, I'll try and upload it later this week!

 

View of downtown Atlanta from Turner Field. For those who don't know, the 1996 Summer Olympics were held here. If you look in the background towards the right hand side, you can make out the Olympic "rings". The blue wall in the background is the original wall from the Braves old stadium. It's now in the parking lot of Turner Field.

 

View from the Braves TV announcers booth-so many of the announcers from TBS have sat here!

 

Sitting in one of the TV announcers chair. I could so do this job!

I have now had my picture taken in 2 different MLB dugouts!

 

Beks, me and Monica along the side of the dugout

 

Standing by the field. We were told not to get on the grass. I may, or may not, have accidentally "tapped" the grass with my foot as I was walking away. ;)

  

The entrance from the Ballpark side of the Museum and Hall of Fame

 

Yes, I realize I'm a nerd. Moving on...

 

There is a Chick Fil-A INSIDE Turner Field. Chuck and Nolan: can we please get this at The Ballpark in Arlington?

  

A view from our seats

 

Texas girls at a Braves game!

 

Chipper Jones had season ending knee surgery on Saturday. :( This is his press conference saying he's hoping to come back to play one more year in 2011. I'm SO going back to Atlanta if he does! Rumor has it that during Alumni weekend Steve Avery usually makes an appearance. That would be a great time to go! :)

 

Top of the Braves dugout

 

Braves manager Bobby Cox for the past 25 years. He is retiring after this year.

 

Instead of the Dot Races (like we have at The Ballpark), they have a Tool Race where mascot tools race around the park.

  

I really liked the big screen!

This is Braves Country- that slogan was everywhere around Atlanta!

Like I said, I have tons of other pictures, but I'm sure this was enough to bore y'all. On Sunday we went to Bulloch Hall in Roswell, GA, which was the childhood home of Teddy Roosevelt's mother. I will try and post pictures from the rest of our trip tomorrow.