With 10 days between games, I’ve been able to catch up on some valuable (and much needed) rest and relaxation down in beautiful Atlanta Georgia.
I first arrived here at the beginning of August when I made my way down from Richmond Virginia, where I checked out their downtown area before the 6-hour trek down to Charlotte North Carolina.
In Charlotte, I would grab a quick bite to eat and also check out another NFL stadium “Bank of America Stadium” which is of course home of the Carolina Panthers (the NFL team is named this way to represent both North and South Carolina).
Once this was done, it was a straight shot down South on the 85 through South Carolina (where I made a quick pit stop to check out the University of Clemson’s football stadium “Death Valley”) before cruising into Atlanta and some of the heaviest rain I’ve ever seen in my life on the way to Dave’s place in Buckhead – a northern part of Atlanta about 20 minutes from downtown.
As mentioned in the opening stanza, I’ve had 10 days before the Atlanta Braves game (aka game 27/30), and have been able to do a whole bunch of cool stuff while being down South (which in hindsight probably warrants its own blog but with a whole bunch of stuff going on it was put on the back burner so you’ll get the high-level stuff here).
In order of what I’ve been doing:
– Hanging out with Dave and my other old friend Kyle at the local Buckhead bars
– Walking and hanging out with Dave’s awesome dog “Bear”
– Brunch on the Beltline
– Local softball games
– Grilling beef ribs Southern Style (low n slow – 10/10)
– Driving into Alabama and checking out the famous Talladega NASCAR track
– Driving deeper in Alabama and visiting Tuscaloosa, aka the University of Alabama, its campus, town and stadium (everything you’ve heard is true, the locals literally live and breath Alabama football and it is everywhere you go)
– Visiting the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons new Stadium “Mercedes Benz Stadium” and taking the guided tour. This place was incredible and will host this seasons Super Bowl (shoutout Larry Cohen – please get me on the field again)
– Drove to Athens Georgia where the University of Georgia is located. A great little college town with plenty of Southern charm
– Hitting Ponce City Market (an old warehouse that has been converted into an awesome multi-purpose space on the Belt Line)
– Witnessed some awesome progressive Bluegrass music at the Sam Bush concert
– Visiting “Stone Mountain Park” which is an enormous rock that has the carvings of three Confederate figures – Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson.
Dave and I discussed the carvings, and given the controversy surrounding it (as some commentators suggest it glorifies the Confederacy), many people in Atlanta recognise this and there have been suggestions that a carving of legendary Atlanta hip-hop duo Outkast be placed next to it – something I’m sure we can all get around!
– A Shabbat dinner at the Cohen household
After all of this over the last 10 days, it was finally time for game 27/30 where the Atlanta Braves would face off against the visiting Milwaukee Brewers on a warm Saturday night down in Dixie.
The stadium the Braves play in, “SunTrust Park”, is a brand new ballpark in its second season (with the Braves previously playing in the stadium built for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
The park not only has everything you’d expect from a brand new stadium in terms of facilities and technology, it also includes a special section called “Monument Garden” that contains artwork detailing important moments in Braves history, memorabilia from past players and the centrepiece of it all a giant statue of Hank Aaron, who not only broke Babe Ruth’s home run record, but is still doing big things in statue form like caving in Dave’s skull!
Further to all of the cool things within the stadium, SunTrust Park is also surrounded by an area known as “the Battery”, where there are a whole bunch of restaurants, bars, shops and apartments with a lively atmosphere – they’ve truly done a great job and this multiuse area is likely what the future of all stadiums will be like.
Before I get into the game, it would be highly remiss of me to not mention how well the Atlanta Braves looked after me, specially their Guest Services expert Maryalice Roberts.
Not only did Maryalice hook me up with “Diamond Infield” seats on the third base line, but she also arranged for Dave, Kyle and myself to participate in the Braves Alumni Home Run Derby. This gave us access to the field during the pre-game festivities, where they gave us each a glove so we could catch the balls being hit by Braves legends (for the record I caught zero but Dave and Kyle were all over the place grabbing them).
It truly was a unique and incredible experience and I am truly grateful to Maryalice, the attendant who looked after us on the day Michael, and the rest of the Braves staff who made sure it was memorable and a whole lot of fun – thanks again!
After we’d finished up on the field, we met up with our other friend Matt (who was there in Chicago and Dallas), grabbed a couple of refreshments and settled in for the game.
The game started as hot as the Georgia sun, with both teams trading runs in the first inning to have the game tied up until Atlanta was able to get another in the fourth for a 2-1 advantage, sending the crowd wild and bringing out the infamous “Tomahawk Chop”.
Following this, both teams had difficultly getting runners on base and the game remained at 2-1 throughout the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings. This was until the Brewers were able to get some guys on base and with some exceptional hitting finding the gaps in the field, were able to bring in 3 runs for 4-2 lead.
Before the game ended, I had one of those moments where I was completely star struck as I got to meet a hero of mine “Marlins Man”! The guy is a lawyer who similar to me travels around the country visiting baseball stadiums always while wearing the vibrant Miami Marlins jersey (as that is where he was from). Marlins Man was extremely humble and it was a pleasure to meet him.
Back to the game, and despite the Braves best efforts in the eighth and ninth innings, the Brewers were able to hold on for a 4-2 lead, disappointing the Braves faithful and sending the scattered few Brewers fans in attendance into celebration mode.
While there was the aforementioned disappointment, it would not last long, as the four of us immediately hit one of the bars within the Battery and drowned a few of our sorrows before all returning back to Dave’s place and gouging ourselves on McDonald’s (3/10 and did not feel good the next day).
I’ll be hanging out in Atlanta for a few more days, before Dave, Kyle Matt and a few others will make the journey North into Tennessee and attend what will no doubt be a highlight at the NASCAR event held at Bristol Motor Speedway.
No doubt it will be a ton of fun and I’m looking forward to sharing the experience with you guys.
Thirty before 30 