“I’m writing you to catch you up on places I’ve been…”

Friday, Aug. 3 – Sunday, Aug. 5, 2007

Atlanta
Fulton/DeKalb County, GA

One of my absolute favorite musicians is John Mayer, however up until now, I had yet to make one of his concerts. Well, that has finally changed! I managed to get a pair of tickets to his show in Atlanta over the weekend, so I packed up and went down. Fortunately for me, I have a friend in the Atlanta area, and she was willing to let me stay. So, to take advantage of my three-day mini-vacation, we filled the days with more fun stuff. Woohoo!

Friday
Travel Woes

My flight down was a mess. You probably don’t know this about me, but I’m a bit of a time freak. I canNOT be late. I have an extreme, deep fear of it and have always had it. As a result, I tend to get places well ahead of time, but I’m also used to waiting around. I arrived airport rather early, but I was also prepared to for that wait. I had therapy in the afternoon and didn’t have time nor did it make sense to drive home before the airport. The airport is in between therapy and home. Anyway, I figured I could find a nice, relatively quiet bench, listen to my iPod and journal for an hour or so.

Check-in was a breeze. There was no one was in line. I walked right up, checked my bags and headed over to security. Everything seemed okay. My flight was listed as on time. At the security check-point I found a nice surprise waiting for me – NO line. I made it back to the gates with plenty of time. I strolled around the airport wasting some time before going to my gate. I stopped in at a store to buy a drink and magazine. Things could not have gone any more smoothly, which was probably the first sign something was brewing.

Here’s where things began to go awry. When I reached my gate I noticed that the flight listed was headed to Seattle and left two hours after my departure time. No big deal. I assumed there was a relatively minor gate change. Happens all the time. Yeah, wrong! I rechecked the flight board only to find my flight was not only still listed at THAT gate, but also, on time. Confused I approached the representative at the gate. I mean, that’s what she’s there for right… to assist passengers? She turned out to be extremely rude, which I felt was odd considering the news she was about to tell me. Obviously, she knew what she was in for and had her guard up already. So, my flight was still scheduled to leave that gate but was delayed… [unnecessary dramatic pause]…[wait for it]… until 8:00pm! The only response I could muster was, “mmm… what? 8 o’clock tonight?” Yeah, that is what she said. It was only 4:00pm at that point and the flight’s original departure time was 5:30pm, which would have put us in Atlanta at 7:30pm. While trying to process the information, I asked why. Apparently, our plane had required a significant amount of maintenance, which put it behind schedule the entire day and doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence. I just walked away, but a two and a half hour delay seemed like a lot to me. We’d leave an hour after the later Atlanta flight.

Now, I understand these things happen, but here are a few of my thoughts regarding this situation. First, if this wasn’t a new, unforeseen development, then why was the flight listed as on-time when I checked in online? Why didn’t the representative who checked my bags mention it? Or, why was it still listed as on-time on the flight departure boards?? Obviously, if the plane was behind schedule ALL day, that information could have been passed along. If it wasn’t such a surprise, I could have planned better. I would have had time to go home. I certainly wouldn’t have arrived so early. Second, why is a plane that required so much maintenance that it’s still 3 hours behind for the day still in service? Isn’t there a replacement available somewhere? Atlanta is the carrier’s hub. Third, where was my free drink coupon for the flight for tolerating such an inconvenience??

As 8:00p neared, the flight was moved back again to 8:45p and the gate was changed. We were allowed to finally board, however, just as we began to pull out, they realized the plane had no service items. While they filled us up on snacks and drinks, we had to sit at the gate for over 1/2 hour. It’s a two hour flight, I’m sure everyone on there would have forfeited their pretzels and soda to get going. Our final arrival time in Georgia? 11:00pm. What a nightmare. I was so tired and annoyed. Enough with my travel woes, onto the good stuff – my vacation.

Saturday
Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield

First thing on the agenda was a morning hike at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park. The battle, part of the 1864 Atlanta Campaign, was fought between MG William T. Sherman’s Union armies and BG Joseph E. Johnston’s entrench Confederate Army of Tennessee.

The plan was to catch the shuttle to the summit, then walk about down the park trail. To us, after reviewing the park map, the summit appeared to be on the opposite end of the park from the visitor center, so we’d be able to walk the entire thing. Not the case. The summit isn’t even a mile away, making it a five minute shuttle ride and putting it barely in the middle of the park. Oh well. You live and learn.

Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield Visitor Center

While waiting for the next shuttle, we wasted time browsing in the bookstore. I rambled on and on about other Civil War battlefields I’ve walked through recently and spewed out useless trivia about the war. It’s probably a good thing we’re already friends or she most likely would never speak to me again after that performance. Fortunately, she was well aware that I’m a bit of a dork. We also glanced through a photo book of various battlefields, which was neat. Sadly, I could name most of the fields pictured before reading the caption. I actually have similar photos I’ve taken. That has to be a good sign I’m doing something right.

View from the summit

Confederate Artillery, resting in the remains of the Rebel breastworks

The Confederate troops positioned on the mountain were well entrenched during the battle. Having the advantaged of a strong defensive position on the high ground the Rebels were able to hold off a much larger Union force.

During the battle MG George H. Thomas lead his Union Army of the Cumberland in the main assault on the center of the Confederate line held by MG William J. Hardee’s men, with two secondary assaults on each side. The Army of the Tennessee, under MG James B. McPherson, attacked Little Kennesaw Mountain to the left and the Army of the Ohio, commanded by MG John Schofield, charged LTG John B. Hood’s Confederate soldiers to the right. The Federals suffered three times as many causalities, making it one of the only Confederate victories in the campaign. The armies sat in a stalemate until Sherman began to flank the position, when the Confederates, on the high ground, saw the movement and successfully withdrew.

Some of the earthworks on the mountain have been well preserved. It was interesting. Seeing places where the soldiers actually left a visible mark on the field is amazing. It really brings it home that this was in fact a battlefield.

We ended up losing our trail or at least so confused by which trail we were following we weren’t sure which way to go. At this point, it’s become an uncomfortable pattern for me to get lost. I don’t like it. Considering my minor scare at Manassas wasn’t that long ago, we opted to not chance it and took the road back to the Visitor Center. It was a little too muggy and hot anyway.

Saturday’s Flickr set: battlefield photos

Sunday
Chattahoochee River Park

In the morning, we hiked through part of the Chattahoochee River National Park.

Chattahoochee River

We strolled along the river and chatted for a bit, until we found a nice cool rock in the shade to sit on. We sat with our feet in the water talking for a couple of hours. It was a great way to start the day. It was so calming with the only thing breaking the stillness of the woods was the sound of the river peacefully flowing by. I snapped a few pictures, but my main focus was just enjoying the time.

John Mayer Concert

That gets us to the main event of the weekend – the John Mayer concert. Personally, I’m a huge fan and have been since his first album Room for Squares. I loved every track on the album. I anxiously awaited his sophomore album, which did not disappoint. Deeper Things had a different sound, but still worked. I’ve wanted to see him perform since Room for Squares, but after watching his concert DVD, Any Given Thursday, I was determined. Once again, I was on edge waiting for another album, therefore another tour. So, Continuum came out, but I wasn’t able to go to the first tour. Fortunately, he’s back on tour and I scooped up a set of tickets!

I roped my friend into the concert. I don’t think she cared much for him as an artist prior to the show, but, she was a trooper. I begged and she gave in. I missed his concert in my area, but managed to get tickets for his show in Atlanta. After the concert, she admitted her brother had given her a hard time about going to a pop concert.

We arrived in time for both opening acts and for me to stand in line for a “program” without missing anything. The program isn’t really a program, as with any concert, it’s just an expensive small collection of random photographs, but who cares. I wanted a souvenir and that fit the bill. I’m not a big tour t-shirt person and didn’t want a poster, so the booklet seemed like the best option. I almost gave up on it though, because the line was SO long and moving SO slowly. We had to wait for a bunch of young girls ahead of us to try on EVERY t-shirt the station had, then sort out the complicated matter of everyone getting the perfect one without any duplicates. Then, to make things better, we also had to deal with the already drunk older adults in front of us. What a pain. In the end, I paid my $20 and got my program, so that’s all the matters.

Our seats weren’t too bad. They obviously could have been much better, but I was worried they’d be terrible. We were sitting in the 300 section, which surprisingly wasn’t that far away. We could still seeing the stage and were directly in front of it. Additionally, we were close to the end of the row and only two rows back from the front of the section.

James Morrison was the opening act. We missed part of his set while standing in the souvenir line, but we still heard all of it and saw most of it. I thought he had potential. The sound wasn’t great in the arena, but, again, the potential was there. I’ve since listened to his album and love it. The supporting act was Ben Folds, who was a big disappointment. He had a lot of energy on stage and sang his most popular songs, but I just didn’t think he sounded good and it wasn’t just the arena’s terrible acoustics. My friend even agreed that he butchered the songs. It just came across as a lot of jumbled noise.

Enough, enough, let‘s move onto the good part… 9:00p rolled around and John Mayer came on.

Well, I was not disappointed at all. It was a great show. He has an unbelievable amount of energy. The music was amazing. Singing – great. Guitar playing – incredible. Song selection – awesome. He played until 11:00p, and I was not ready for him to stop. Even my friend enjoyed it. She agreed he sounds better live. As an added bonus, he even played an acoustic version of my favorite song on his newest album.

Set List:
- Why Georgia, Why (an obvious selection since we were in GA)
- No Such Thing
- I Don’t Trust Myself (With Loving You)
- Vultures
- Covered in Rain
- Bigger Than My Body
- Belief
- Dreaming With A Broken Heart
- I Don’t Need No Doctor (I hadn‘t heard this one before, but I liked it)
- Heart of Life
- Waiting on the World to Change
- Gravity

Encore: Slow Dancing in a Burning Room

Encore:
- Slow Dancing in a Burning Room (acoustic) (Yayee!!!)
- Comfortable (also acoustic) (another classic)
- I’m Going to Find Another You

Excellent. I can‘t say it enough. It made my travel woes well worth it. Hopefully, I’ll be able to make it to his next tour, whenever that is. My friend took a few pictures while there, which I’ve added to this post. Some turned out fairly well with all things considered.

Monday
Oakland Cemetery

It was slow day, but we did get out for a short trip in the early afternoon. We went to the Historic Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta. I realized that might sound slightly depressing, but it was an interesting place.

A small family plot

The cemetery was founded in 1850 and some of the first graves you encounter are that old. It certainly contains an eclectic mix of memorials. There were a variety of huge elaborate mausoleums scattered amongst very simple headstones. There were old tombstones with writing barely visible after decades of erosion near relatively recent pristine gravestones. There were influential figures, politicians, and generals beside everyday individuals and enlisted veterans.

The Confederate Memorial Grounds

The Confederate Memorial Grounds holds about 7,000 Rebel (and 16 Union) soldiers, with close to half of the Confederates being unknown. There are two Civil War memorials within the grounds. One is the tall Confederate Obelisk, raised by the Atlanta Ladies Memorial Association in honor of the dead. The other is the Lion of Atlanta, which guards the unknown soldiers’ burial plot. In addition to the enlisted men buried within the confines of the cemetery, there are also several Confederate generals, including MG John Brown Gordon and BG Alfred Iverson, Jr.

It’s a huge cemetery and we didn’t make it the whole way around. In fact, not long into our walk, we once again found a spot in the shade to chat some more. We sat amongst the Civil War soldier gravestones and talked politics. How appropriate, right? It’s not a topic I discuss often. I find people become too worked up over it and often reach a point of being so defensive it ceases to be a discussion. So, I tend to keep my views to myself. But, for whatever reason, what started as a conversation about the Civil War turned into a more general political debate between us and the discussion remained civil. We both had a chance to express our views, which the other respected as just that. We actually found two topics we agreed upon. It’s a miracle.

Monday’s Flickr set: cemetery pics

Getting Home

After our walk, we went back to my friend’s apartment for lunch and played card games for an hour or so. It was a nice laid back way to wind down from the weekend. We seemed to have stayed fairly busy throughout the entire weekend.

The end of the trip was rather hectic. Due to some last minute, unforeseen circumstances, I had to quickly find an alternative ride to the airport. I’m not a fan of cabs. I realize I have no reason to be afraid of taking one. It’s highly unlikely anything negative would happen to me during the drive, however, the idea of taking a cab makes me extremely anxious. What it comes down to is I have a hard time putting myself in a situation where I don’t feel in control and I don’t see a reasonable way out if I feel uncomfortable. For me, that’s what cab rides feel like. I’m stuck in a car with a stranger driving me. Once the car is moving, the option of getting out is taken away, unless I jump out, so I’m stuck. Also, I have no control over where I’m going. I just have to trust the driver. Again, not that I have any reason not to believe cab drivers are responsible and professional, I simply have a tough time trusting people in general. Under the given circumstances, with such short notice, it was the only means transportation I could think of and not surprisingly, it worked without a hitch.

I had a bit of a scare at the airport. I used one of the kiosks to check in, but the first one I used could NOT find my reservation. No matter which ID method I used, it came up blank. It had me worried. Before panic took over, I switched to another one, since there wasn’t a line. The first attempt at kiosk #2 gave me the same response. I was about to freak out, but then, the second time I put my confirmation number in, it worked. Crisis adverted. After that, things went smoothly. There was no one waiting at the check-in desks either, so I had no problem checking my bag. Very few people were in line for security, so that also went quickly as well. Hopped on the tram, went to my gate. My flight was on time. We boarded on time. The plane began to back out of the gate… and then wam. All progress stopped.

The plane started moving back into the gate area. The captain told they had to check to make sure we had the correct luggage. Umm… yeah, that would be nice. It didn’t take that much time, but, the delay made us miss our taxi spot (or something to that manner). We sat at the gate for half an hour “waiting for the traffic behind us to move on.” Great. Then, once we reached our final destination, our luggage took forever. We waited for around 45 minutes. It was crazy. We were literally the only passengers there! I didn’t make it home until 1:30am. I have no luck with air travel, yet, I’ll continue to use it. It’s the most convenient way to travel so I have to deal with the bumps. I’ll also continue to use AirTran, despite their hiccups as well, because they’re cheap.