The World’s Longest Freedom Review: Part 2featured

Wow! Thanks, you guys, for all of the kind words on Cruise Critic. I really, really appreciate them and I hope this review is as enjoyable as the others were! 🙂

After a long day of driving and touring the day before, it was nice to be able to sleep in, even if sleeping in only meant sleeping until 8:30 am. While we only had a four hour drive to Atlanta, we wanted to get there early so we had time to do whatever we wanted to since we’re always so tired when we get to Atlanta. We grabbed some muffins at the little coffee shop in the lobby for breakfast and then we spent a little more time exploring the hotel before checking out.

We got on the road around 10:15 am. Thankfully, while the skies were gray, it wasn’t raining or snowing as we managed the grades through the Tennessee mountains. We made what might have been the quickest stop we’ve ever made at the Pelham Stuckey’s to stock up on Vitamin Water and grab some pecan rolls (and to take our obligatory We’re At Stuckey’s picture).

The bulk of our driving was through the mountains and while Mom hates driving through it (and the ear popping isn’t really fun), I love the view. There’s so much beauty in this part of the drive.

We hit Buckhead around 2:30 pm and made the familiar drive through the tree-covered streets, past these gorgeous (and HUGE) mansions to Peachtree Street, where our hotel (the Intercontinental Buckhead) was.

The last time we stayed at the Intercontinental Buckhead was back in 2008. It’s a pet-friendly hotel and although the property (and the rooms) are absolutely stunning and well-appointed, I thought my bed smelled like dog. And that grossed me out. I got us the hotel off of Priceline for around $100 for the night (including fees) and I was more than willing to give it another shot.

We parked the car ourselves ($20/night) and went to check in. The staff was SO friendly and helpful. They even offered to sign me up for a rewards card since we’d be staying there again on the way home and I got points for the stay even though I booked through Priceline. The only downpoint was that the only double bed rooms they had available were on the smoking optional floor. This would only really irk Mom as Stephanie and I aren’t bothered by smoking and grandma is an ex-smoker, herself. They told us if the smoking was bothersome, we could come back and they’d try to work something out.

As it was, we couldn’t detect ANY discernible smoke smell on the main areas of the floor or in the room, so it wasn’t an issue. And, much to my relief, there was no “dog smell” in the room. The room was gorgeous, just as I remembered it, with clean white linens, black furniture and the biggest hotel bathroom I’ve ever seen in a standard room, with a HUGE soaking tub and a separate shower. And did I mention there was a doorbell to the room? Such a tiny thing but I love hotel room doorbells!

Stephanie and I went down to the lobby because cell phone reception was wonky and I wanted to call my bestie before we got on the boat. I love the open areas of the ICB. They’re so open and airy and there’s an understated elegance to them.

We were getting hungry for some lunch, and luckily for us, I had it all planned out. As someone who watches the Travel Channel way more than they should, I’ve seen many segments on the Varsity, a drive-in in Atlanta that I’d heard was a local favorite. A legend. Someone told me once that the Varsity was to Atlanta what Superdawg is to Chicago (and I love me some Superdawg). And we’d always wanted to try it but never quite made it there so I jumped at the chance to go try it out. When you’re in Rome, you do as the Romans do; you eat as the Romans eat. When you’re in Atlanta, you go to the Varsity.

The Varsity was a quick 10-minute drive from the hotel. I swear, I stepped inside and almost felt like I was in Grease. I loved it! And being the well-prepared person I usually am, the second I heard the famous call of “Whaddya have, whaddya have?” I already knew what I’d order: an MK dog, an order of chili fries and their famous orange soda. Mom also had an MK dog (a hotdog with mustard and ketchup) and fries, Stephanie had a chili dog (a hotdog with chili) and an order of fries and grandma had a slaw dog (a hot dog with cole slaw on it) and a brownie.

Born and bred in Chicago, we know good hotdogs (well, Stephanie would argue that I don’t because I order my hotdogs with ketchup on them- which is sacrilegious here- and with only mustard and pickles). Chicago hotdogs are big, 100% beef franks in a steamed bun and they’re dragged through the garden- mustard, onions, relish, tomatoes, hot peppers and a sprinkle of celery salt. These hot dogs were an experience for sure. They were much thinner than Chicago dogs, but certainly tasty in their own right. Grandma said the slaw on her dog tasted like KFC cole slaw, but it was a different experience eating it on a hotdog and she really liked it. The chili cheese fries were ah-mazing. I’m not much of a chili fan (or a fan of ground beef in general…don’t care for the texture), but chili + ooey gooey cheese + crispy fries = pure deliciousness.

After lunch, we had a little disagreement on what to do next. We were right near Olympic Park, where I wanted to go. We were also right near the World of Coke museum, where Stephanie wanted to go. Mom will never, ever want to go to the Centennial Olympic Park because of the 1996 bombing (something I clearly don’t understand LOL) and grandma didn’t really care. We decided to just head back towards the hotel and go to the Lenox Square mall. I love visiting the mall in Buckhead. We go there so much that I actually know it pretty well. Mom and Stephanie really wanted to try out that huge soaking tub so we went to LUSH so they could get some bath bombs. I love the staff at the Lenox Square LUSH. I actually worked at a LUSH store when I was in college and so it’s always fun to talk to other associates. They’re always so welcoming there, offering to cut me whatever samples I wanted for my trip. This time, they gave us a TAG card to give to our local LUSH for a free bath bomb.

Stephanie and I had some errands to run, so we dropped Mom and grandma off at the Intercontinental to rest for a bit and Stephanie and I ran to Target to grab all of the last-minute things we forgot and to Publix to grab some croissants and Vitamin Waters for breakfast the next day. The last time we were in Buckhead, they had these huge, delicious-looking cupcakes, but we were too full from our meal at Maggianos to get any. This time? There were no cupcakes. Oh well. Maybe next time.

We went back to the hotel and watched some TV for a bit before discussing dinner. Grandma was tired and told us to just bring her back something and while my vote was for our usual (Maggianos), Mom and Stephanie didn’t feel like pasta. We ended up heading back to the mall to go to California Pizza Kitchen.

Despite the fact that the mall was an hour or so from closing, California Pizza Kitchen was pretty busy, especially for a weeknight. Mom and Stephanie split a pizza blanco and a cobb salad and I had a cup of soup and a small wedge salad. The food was alright. We’re not big fans of CPK in general. We took a pizza to go for grandma and retired to the hotel to the evening. As it was a Wednesday night, naturally we were all watching American Idol.

I took a shower and then spent the night on my phone MSN-ing with some friends while Mom and Stephanie took turns enjoying the bathtub. I probably shouldn’t have stayed up so late because we had a long drive ahead of us the next day to get to Florida. But we had an extra day to enjoy Florida…I’d catch up on my sleep…eventually.