2023 :: week 21

Summer Week #1

May 21

Sunday evening we celebrated Jake's upcoming birthday (5/24) with tuxedo cake for dessert. It was pleasant enough outside for most of the boys to eat theirs outside. Arthur, Mikey are Miles are part of the run of five boy Crane cousins in five years. (1-Elliott 8/2015, 2-Mikey 9/2016, 3-Caleb 11/2017, 4-Arthur 8/2018, 5-Miles 3/2019)

May 22

For the first time since her stroke, Memaw attended a sporting event! She brightened Lauren's spirits by coming, and treated all the younger sibling spectators to a treat from the concession stands. "Making up for lost time," she told me. 

May 23

The last day of school and our annual "jumping off the school sign" photo. All four kids worked hard, made friends and grew physically and emotionally. We took this photo on our way to the airport as we headed to Atlanta for the rest of the week. When we didn't make any plans for spring break I got the itch to go somewhere. We had such a great time last year exploring Philadelphia, all of us were interested in going somewhere we hadn't been before. Though we passed through Atlanta on our way to a John family reunion in Florida in 2019 and Tony had traveled there on business, that didn't do it justice. It was our first time flying out of the new airport and it is very nice, though it took a bit longer to get to our gate. We experienced relatively pain-free travel. Our only instances of annoyance were that our flight was delayed an hour and the car seat that we gate checked was erroneously sent to the baggage claim. We made it to our hotel, the Hyatt House near Truit Park and the Cobb Galleria, around 10pm. 

May 24

Wednesday was our first full day in Atlanta. After enjoying the free hotel breakfast (which received two thumbs up from Elliott by virtue of its waffle maker) we set of the visit the Martin Luther King Jr., National Historic Park. We watched a video about his life and walked through a museum that chronicled events in his life and also what life was life for black people in the south after the Civil War. We also got tickets to come back later in the day for a tour of the home MLK was born in and where he spent his formative years. We walked across street to the Ebeneezer Baptist Church where King's father and grandfathers were pastors. Because we had a few hours we picked up some groceries, ate lunch and then went swimming at the hotel. We underestimated Atlanta traffic and almost didn't make it back in time for the home tour, but we made it and we were so glad we did. The tour was fantastic and a highlight of the entire trip. Our guide was knowledgeable, frequently going off script to add extra nuggets of information. The tour went much longer than we expected so we had to quickly grab a bite to eat at Chick-fil-A before heading to Truist Park to see the Braves take on the Dodgers. It was a fun game, with lots of home runs--including one by Elliott's first baseball love, Mookie Betts. The weather was nice and park had a nice atmosphere. Miles was most excited when he caught sight of Brave's mascot, Blooper.

May 25

We slept in a bit on Thursday, but were up in time to eat breakfast before it closed. Our first adventure of the day was hiking Stone Mountain. Stone Mountain is about twenty miles east of Atlanta, though it took us about 45 minutes to drive there. It is an monadnock (an isolated hill made out of rock millions of years ago, that is all that remains after the surrounding earth has eroded way). Though not the only mountain of this type, it IS the largest piece of exposed granite in the world. There is a relatively easy trail (1 mile up, 1 mile down) that we hiked for the most part without incident. The view from the top is beautiful and we were able to see Atlanta and other landmarks in the area. I packed a picnic that we ate at the top. We had a scary moment when Miles let go of Anthony's hand as we descended the mountain and he lost control and tripped and rolled about fifteen feet. We went to the Visitor's Center and learned about the geological history of the mountain, then briefly drove by the Confederate Relief on the back side of the mountain. Since coming home Anthony has done a deep dive into the history of the mountain and its ties to white supremacy and the "Lost Cause." After our hike we drove back to Atlanta and visited the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library. I was pleasantly surprised by how engaged our kids were while we were there. Our younger boys were very excited that both Star Wars and the Muppets arrived while he was president. I enjoyed learning that my dad has a lot more in common with Jimmy Carter than he thinks. ;) At this point we were all starving so we stopped to eat at the Varsity. The Varisty has been around since 1928 and serves basic American fare--plain burgers and hot dogs--that you can add chili, cheese and bacon to if you want. We also ordered fries and onion ring that our kids devoured. After that we returned to our hotel, went swimming and most of us headed to bed. Anthony and Will went to the lobby to watch the Celtics beat the Heat to win Game 5 and keep their playoff hopes alive.

May 26

Friday we were all starting to feel a little tired. Our first stop of the day was at the World of Coca Cola. The first half hour of the tour is basically a commercial for their brand. Eventually we made our way to the tasting area where memories were made. In the testing area there are soda machines with Coca Cola products from around the world. The Italian beverage "Beverly" is famous for its bitter aftertaste--I thought it tasted like biting into the peel of a grapefruit. The John family consensus worst flavored beverage was the Chinese Fanta Sour Plum. It tasted like carbonated barbeque sauce. There were also machines that dispensed most of the Coke owned beverages in the US which our kids really enjoyed. After all that soda we were hungry, so Anthony led us to Max's Coal Oven Pizzaria. It was delicious and the fact that the waiter gave Lauren an adult sized glass and Will a glass with a lid brought a smile to her irritable face. We were all less irritable after pizza. That afternoon we took a brief nap, then headed to Newnan to visit our good friends, Pat and Stephanie Zysk. Stephanie and I were close friends in high school and then Anthony became good friends with Pat when we lived in Springfield and they lived 15 minutes away in Nixa. Even though they had had a busy week with school ending and McKenna graduating from high school they welcomed us with open arms. Our evening visiting with them was a highlight of the trip.

May 27

Saturday we had to get up early (6am) to leave for the airport. We rented a minivan through TURO and made plans to park the van in the short term parking. The only problem was when we arrived at the airport cones were blocking the entrance to the lot. Our TURO host Walter worked with us to find a solution, but in the end other drivers just pushed the cones aside and we parked there as planned. The airport was very crowded due to Memorial Day weekend traffic, but we made it to our gate right before it was time to board. Our flight home was uneventful, and we picked up our van and made it home around 11am. My sisters had stopped by the night before and decorated my door with 40 memories of me from throughout the years (it was my 40th birthday). They also left a batch of my favorite rice krispy treats on the counter. That evening Will invited friends over to watch game 6 of the Celtics/Heat series. I took this picture right before the Derrick White tipped the ball in right before the buzzer to win the game. After he tipped the ball in Will ran outside and screamed.