NYC hits Lake Lanier

It’s been ages since I posted something on the blog. Seems like airports are the best places to catch up on personal writing. So here I sit at Hartsfield in Atlanta, while Fay and Olivia are finding food, Justin already left on AirTran and we are all ogling the stud sitting in front of us. But we realized he wasn’t more than eye candy when he pulled out an eight-track cell phone. Hello, no Blackberry or iphone?

See, I’m already loosing my Southern gentility and I’m not even out of Atlanta yet. But lets recount our halcyon weekend, shall we? This was Olivia and Fay’s third annual summer trip to the South. We have spent St. Patrick’s Day here and usually spend a day at the farm riding. But this year was all lake time and it was heaven. We invited Justin for this round and he proved amusing enough to invite back next year! Justin, you at the grocery store causing a debacle with the cashier was classic, not to mention mom and dad adore you.

I arrived on Thursday and took care of lots of friends and family time before the crew descended late Friday night. Justin and I had a drink on the dock at midnight and the girls invaded the now famous gift-wrapping room before we all hit the hay. Saturday morning we lounged, mother made fruit salad and a massive gooey cinnamon-y monkey bread that we devoured. Calories be damned! At 11:30 we headed downtown for lunch with my grandparents, Pop and Dorothy. They had just returned from a three-week tour of South East Asia and the Middle East and provided a cournucopia of stories to regale us with. Justin and Dorothy had especially a lot in common with their shared love and talent in the art world.

After lunch (where we splurged on mozzarella sticks and nachos!) we zoomed back up to the lake for serious respite. Dad took the boat out and we motored over to our favorite spot, Cocktail Cove. There we were both disturbed and delighted by the cigarette boats, massive yachts and barely there bathing suits worn by some of Georgia’s less appealing peaches. Fay’s favorite boat was named ‘Slap & Tickle’, naturally. We took the sun, plunged into the water, drank some Budweiser and simply enjoyed life.

After several hours it was time to putter back for dinner at the club. We bathed, changed, packed up the booze (mother made Charleston Tea, a recipe from Southern Living consisting of whiskey, rum, Triple Sec and iced tea-yes please!) and drove down the road for dinner. Our feast was rather uneventful but pleasant, mostly because we were all stuffing ourselves on steak, potatoes, booze and the salad bar. But once we were wrapping up, a pile of club goers wobbled into the dining room and plopped down at our table. The Duke's and their English friends Robin and Trisha had been drinking from the cup of Bacchus for several hours while making pizzas at the Dukes house (they have a pizza oven in their backyard!) and decided to come by for a hello. Drinks were poured, desserts were ordered and vivacious voices persisted for another hour until we were all fairly tight and decided home was the best idea. Of course with Dad not drinking he was a steady pilot for the five-minute drive home, so Mom could take one more swig of the Charleston Tea!

Fay and Olivia decided the fireplace was the newest spot for a photo shoot and the Missus Clauses’ never looked so good. Justin passed out (that boy can sleep!) and we all had a nightcap and a walk down memory lane in many a scrapbook.

This morning we were awake in time for CBS Sunday Morning, mother made cinnamon toast and we lulled until it was time to head to the dock to lull some more. And that was that really. A weekend of complete relaxation save for the major exercise of fork and cup to mouth repeatedly. We did take a trip to Publix for sammiches for lunch (and where Justin made the cashier turn red with his purchases- hey they are cheaper in the South!) and I took a dip around the dock. But most of the day was simply spent catching up on gossip, on reading, of watching the ducklings patter around and soaking in the sun.

I always promise myself I will come back more often to this land of serenity, silliness and seclusion, here is hoping to one or two more trips before Christmas!

Thanks mom and dad for another love filled Southern sojourn.