Two yutes
Today was exactly the kind of day that I needed. I fetched my two youngest cousins, Amie and Daniel, from Cobb County early this morning to expose them to the wonders of the city of Atlanta. It was such a unique experience for me, getting to show two people who really had very little experience with a city such as Atlanta all the hotspots that I wish I had known about when I was fifteen. We started out with an obligatory perambulation through Little Five, hitting Junkman’s Daughter and Criminal Records, of course. When that turned dull (who knew Little Five could be so lifeless on a Saturday… at noon?), we decided to take a drastic turn and head downtown.
Though the first two years of my life in Atlanta were spent downtown, the neighborhood still has a sexy mystique for me. We headed to the Museum of Design, a somewhat disappointingly-small museum (and yes, I could pore over miles and miles of design galleries) where we checked out their exhibits on sociopolitical posters for the betterment of civilization. EXCITING? Moderately.
When that activity petered out after 30 minutes, I decided to show them around some Atlanta architectural landmarks. We started at the Marriott, where we encountered hundreds of Pentecostals checking in for what I can only assume would be a weekend of speaking in tongues and snake-handling (prejudice? check!). We snuck onto an elevator and made it up to the 74th floor where we got to check out some incredible views of the city and then make the sickeningly quick trip back down the elevator to the ground floor. After that, we wandered through the Westin, sat on some sumptuous couches at the Ritz Carlton, and drank the most expensive Vitamin Water in the world in the ultramodern lobby of the Hilton. IT RULED.
Anyways, this is getting rambly. After that we went to Earthshaking Music so Daniel could noodle on some guitars (I had never been) and then went home to play Uno, eat some El Azteca, and then took in some incredible improv comedy at Dad’s Garage (their first time).
So this isn’t really the point. THE POINT is that we had a great time together. It was such a joy to not only show these kids some of my favorite things in Atlanta for the first time, but to also do alot of things with them in the city for MY first time. I can’t believe how refreshing it was to sneak around the Ritz-Carlton unnoticed (and cheap!). I would have to recommend it to anyone looking to kill an afternoon downtown. This whole thing helped me to fall back in love with this city (just a little bit) as well as gave me an excuse to use more parentheses (and awkward grammar). There’s also something to be said about spending time with younger family members without the older generation around. It’s nice for us to all treat each other as adults and help cement a familial relationship that one hopes would persist into true maturity.
Plus it rules getting to say “fuck” around your cousins without anybody getting angry.
