Week 2 - Atlanta (Hotlanta)

Hello Family and Friends,

Brett and I are starting to narrow down things that are important for us as far as proximity and living. We have decided that we want to be walking distance to a grocery store, playground and elementary school. Brett was able to find a tool that overlaid these categories on a map.

One morning the ducks came to visit the pool outside our balcony. I think they were a little confused.

While driving around various neighborhoods in Old Fourth Ward we just happened upon this super cool tunnel. This tunnel is actually a part of the Atlanta Beltline that we have become very fond of. Local artist are encouraged to display their art there. The art then continues along the beltline in a neighborhood called "Cabbagetown".

Krog Street Tunnel

Felt very encouraged by this piece (Cabbagetown)

Our last week in Atlanta some friends invited us to celebrate their son's 7th birthday. He requested crab legs (such a humble kid). We were very happy that his taste were so refined. And you can't hang out with the Willis family without playing some games. The game of the night was an old game with a new twist, Uno No Mercy. It came down to Brett and I, which was very cool (beginners luck). But then Brett beat me, which was not cool. He was a very gracious winner and gave us, the McKinneys, credit for beating every one else. But I was having none of that 2nd place winner stuff (If you can't tell, I'm still salty).

Another super cool experience is that we visited the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. We arrived just in time for the first day of their Orchid display. Also we were able to walk through an edible garden in which most of the items are donated to local schools around harvest. It was neat to see the food we eat growing in the ground and be able to even recognize some of them.

Atlas exploring the edible garden his way: on the edge

These reminded us of the lego orchid we put together for Nathaniel's celebration

Alice in Wonderland's Queen of Hearts themed display for Valentines day. We were there a little too early for the bloom

Just having fun!

We are also making an official ranking system with an app called "Choicepro". Now if you guys know Brett at all, you know he is very analytical. If it was solely up to me I would just have a feeling and go with that. But thank God for Brett, because our system will have a very linear and mathematical way to compare locations. Let's just say that there are 21 categories and only 2 are based on "feeling". We also are weighting the categories according to importance. The app then will create a score that allows us to compare each neighborhood. Once we have the score for each Atlanta neighborhood, we will definitely let you guys know.

Now that we are leaving Atlanta it feels like we are ready for the next place. Even though we don't have a score yet, I feel that we all enjoyed Atlanta more than we expected. Prior to this sabbatical, Brett was not a huge fan of Atlanta. I was ready to skip Atlanta as way to save some time because we were running 2 weeks late (Don't even ask me how you run late for a schedule you made). We had been to Atlanta multiple times before and didn't really ever see ourselves living here. However, I'm really glad we kept an open mind and made time as we found some true gems in "Hotlanta". Check out the photo section on our website for more pictures (Brett says I take too many. I don't think I take enough).

Next Location: Mini Atlanta aka Charlotte, NC