Jeffrey and Lindsay

Marque was invited to Jeffrey and Lindsay's wedding so we tagged along. We were quite honored to sit at the family table with the groom's parents, and both sets of grandparents on the groom's side. An extremely lovely, fun-loving family.

The wedding took place at Briscoe Manor in Katy. Above left is the church, and to the right inside is the reception area.

L>R Bride's parents, Groom's parents, Groom's maternal grandparents

Jeffrey and Lindsay with Marque in front of the Four Seasons Hotel in Houston

Texas is for the Birds

Do Western Meadowlarks really appreciate West Texas so much that they chirp about it?

Lovely Beth, Fashion Show Maven

A Mardi Gras Celebration was the theme of this year's Willow Fork Women's Association and The Epiphany Ladies' Club Fashion Show. We enjoyed a nice lunch of green beans with shredded melted cheese, bowtie pasta and spinach, chicken and rice,and a yummy cupcake.

Beth was a vision of loveliness in the outfits she modeled.

Dinner and "Romeo and Juliet" on Valentine's Day

We started the evening with the Valentine Dinner special at Perry's Steakhouse & Grille in Sugar Land at Town Square. The play was also at Town Square in the Imperial Theatre.

This being the last performance of Romeo and Juliet - Erika and Katie are feted by the cast and crew

Dinner at Brio

To celebrate the Board meeting closure, we had dinner at BRIO tuscan grille.

Enjoying dinner with (l>r around the table) Cortes and Susan from VA, Sneed and yours truly, Richard and Lynn from SC, and Dick from OR
Cortes, Sneed, and Dick are Board members. Richard is a member of the Rebel Region and he and his wife (as did other Rebel Region members) joined us for dinner.

Swan House and its Carriage House

We toured the Swan House, a beautifully created mansion in Atlanta for the Inman family whose wealth came from cotton brokerage. Photographs were not allowed inside; however, there are some at the bottom of the Swan House web page.

We first enjoyed lunch at the Carriage House

My lunch - a piping hot bowl of yummy split pea and bacon soup with chicken salad and pimiento cheese tea sandwiches. For dessert, a swan on a meringue base.

Sightseeing with the Ladies - Stone Mountain

Way back in the early 70s when I worked for FDIC, our Tampa crew was in Atlanta to help with some bank examinations in the area. Over the weekend, a fellow examiner familiar with the area invited me to go see Stone Mountain. What I remember is not what I saw today. Back then, the only thing in the park was the bas relief of the Confederate officers and the Education Center. The park now has evolved into a year round family attraction. Seems to me it's not an area to be commercialized. The Stone Mountain carving has lost its significance. It is touted as the largest bas-relief in the world.

Stone, renamed Snow, Mountain for the chilly weather. Busloads of children were there to enjoy the manmade snow and snow tubing. - The carving in the granite depicts Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, and Jefferson Davis.

Sandy, Susan, Lynn, and Mary enjoying the warmth in the historical center. It was super windy and the temperature was in the low 30s.

See the snow flying out of the machine. The ramps on which the youngsters slide down into the snow and the ending point. The right side of the center photo has 2 steep ramps for large tubes with 4-6 people and one strong enough to maneuver the tube. The ramps on the left were for individual tubers.

Pre-Civil War plantation re-erected on the grounds

A day with only one photo...

Sneed went on to the host hotel for the Winter Board meeting that was starting today at 10am. Cathy and I went to the Antiques show, a totally overwhelming experience for me having never been to one before. We managed to come out with our hands free of any purchases and totally devoid of any photos as well.
On the way to the expo, we went through downtown Decatur. Here's Ted Turner's restaurant, eponymously named Ted's Montana Grill.

Cathie and Nellie

This was a first. We totally forgot to get a group photo with John and Cathy, or even just a photo of the two of them. I did get a photo of Nellie, the big cat, but didn't get a photo of her sister, Dottie.

Like Clyde, Nellie lies in wait for
leftover milk in my cereal bowl

Cathie and Nellie although Nellie is John's cat = )

Out and About in Atlanta

Westin Hotel in background, foreground is American Cancer Society - CNN and Omni Hotel - corner art

Georgia Governor's Mansion

Where some rich folk live

Olympic Park

In 1996, the Summer Olympics were held in Atlanta. I bought engraved bricks for our family back then. Today we found them on the brick walk. We also found the bricks for John and Cathy.

World of Coca~Cola

John was our tour guide today. Our first stop was the World of Coca~Cola. Oddly enough, even though one could drink as much as one wanted from 60 different varieties of drinks, I didn't have much as it has to be savored as it is imbibed. Time was of the essence so we moved to the gift store, and after purchasing a t-shirt, left.

The World of Coca~Cola facade..our Senior entry tickets (woohoo!)..a Coke bottle trash receptacle

Coca~Cola all around the world

Bottles decorated by various countries

The vault with the secret formula?

The evolution of the iconic bottle shape...one of the first headquarters. Ironically when I would be at the Atlanta FDIC office building, this triangular building was down the street and a familiar landmark so I could find the office.

Fun with the fizz...an old soda fountain...an original porcelain urn that was given to stores that ordered 100 gallons of syrup a year

Don't know what language "Ik ook" is - wonder what it means...I'd have no problem buying Coke from this man!

As the bottles came off this assembly line they were placed in an area from which we were allowed to take one as a souvenir. I took the plastic bag, put my hand inside and picked a bottle. It's been untouched by human hands = )

Our souvenir bottles, The Secret is Inside - John had a bottle from a previous visit that he generously donated for my collection

John Pemberton -  inventor of the elixir of the gods that is  more commonly known as Coca~Cola

On the way to the Airport

We're off to Atlanta for the Winter Board Meeting. Our flight left and landed on time. Our friends, John and Cathy, met us at the airport. We are staying with them tonight and Thursday night in Decatur.

Three cameras and a Hawk

Look what I saw outside today. A Hawk on the neighbor's roof!

I grabbed the first camera at hand, old trusty green Canon 1200.See photo left. The hawk was still there. Ran for the newer blue Canon 1300 with a better zoom - 16x compared to the green's 12x. To my surprise, the hawk stayed in place so I grabbed the big girl camera, the one Sneed uses to snag great close-ups...it has a 200mm lens. The following photos are with that camera. What fun it was to watch and snap away. Click on a photo and it enlarges.

New Mailboxes

The mailboxes at the end of our street had rotting posts. They were supposed to have been replaced Friday or Saturday but due to the torrential rainfall, the installation was delayed until this morning.
I saw a message on the boxes and went down to see what the informative instructions could be. Very clear until my patience was expended. Seems as if someone went postal and no one proofread the message!!