Anyway, finally we are on route to ATL...here comes trouble! So things are progressing along uneventfully, I'm writing stories, they are playing "the alphabet game," when suddenly the car jerks between the 2 lanes of I-75 and Jordan shouts "County...I saw county!" Well, if anyone knows the rules of this car game, you find words on signs beginning with each letter of the alphabet in order and race teh other player through to Z. Jordan was on the letter Y...dyslexic much Army boy? We're only 80 miles out of Valdosta at this point. If I don't return to Langdale, I leave Jimmy my computer with working internet and Lizzybeth my nice comfy bed for naps....
Okay, we got as far as McDonough without more major drama (although the image of Jordan walking into that gas station in his full dress blues, including the 50s diner style hat, will probably make me giggle and run through the aisles to find Anna for a long, long time) when the 2 geniuses in the front decide to play "the alphabet game" again! Come on children, can we not learn from our past mistakes? Honestly. Well this time we only make it as far as the letter K before the car is rattling. Why? Because we have shifted almost entirely onto the shoulder as Jordan strains to see a billboard. Umm, anyone mind if I crack open the liquor in the boot? I think I will definitely need some Dutch courage to last the final 30 minutes. At least Anna's dad is taking us to her house. I can't imagine the poor children Jordan would run down in a residential area...
So Friday night, Anna and I decide to hang out in Marietta, visit her family and get a free meal...but after all that, it's only 9 pm, and we really aren't good at a night without causing trouble...who do we call? Anna's motorbike-racing Jewish DJ friend Josh. But he has to shower first...so we parked behind Wendy's and watched the mariachi band leave work, then visited the highest point in East Cobb. (Honestly, this boy took longer to get ready than Brent!) Well, overall, Marietta was a bust in comparison to our Lowndes County adventures, though we did leave several clean U-turns of burnt rubber on Sandy Planes Road, and hid behind the playground of a part at 12 am from the cops. It wasn't until we were back at his house at 2 am watching "Uncle Buck" (if you haven't seen it, just know John Candy and McCauley Culkin and don't.) that any real excitement occurs...Anna's parents call to tell us they are off to pick Emily up at the police station. Emily is Anna's 16 year old sister. Even with all of our drama and adventures, we have never been arrested! Best part of this all was, Anna's parents weren't even mad! Can we swap please??
Saturday is the real day of trouble, we are going to Tech for the Clemson game and the chance to party at a few of the 30 frat houses. (Valdosta only has 7...what's this madness, we are so missing out!) It all starts out as we plan to continue, we get lost downtown trying to park at the Varsity. FYI, the Varsity is a huge, shiny, well-known building just off the highway in downtown, it's hard to miss. Plus Anna saw a lad get shot there (hey, it is downtown Atlanta) so she really should remember it. But who knows, maybe she was just having a Jordan moment, we were on the wrong side of the double yellow lines...in order to move back over and turn into the building that had been 10 feet away to our left, we had to travel for 8 minutes and 3 blocks north...it's so sad how hopeless we are sober!
Well in order to get into this football game, we used extra student tickets and decided on the ingenious plan to say our wallets had been stolen, so we didn't have our GA Tech student id...obviously they had heard this one a few too many times, because Steve (a Kappa Sig friend that we had been pregaming with) and I went to 3 different gates, all of who wouldn't let me in. Anna somehow got a free real ticket from an alumni in line behind her...I think she flashed him for it, like the Georgia football fanatic's version of Mardi Gras beads. Anyway, after battling with the ticket booth for 10 minutes because "steve lost his id we finally go me in...so much hassel to see the 39 to 3 lose.
Now, this post game time is more or less a blur...or a series of events I don't wish to post on the internet in order to incriminate myself. I did have some fun watching the Tech version of Tucker Max (go see the links), listening to Anna name EVERYONE...over and over and over, and seeing Chuck's drunk face (high school friend). But after a while, I decided I needed a change of scenery and set out to walk to the Phi Sigma Kappa house, where Stalker Nick from Kentucky is a pledge. So I set off, by myself, mildly drunk, at 1 am in downtown Atlanta, to some frat house a block around the corner...I love how my brain works while drinking...and I get lost. I'm standing 2 doors away trying to call Nick back on random cell numbers he used to call me because I forgot the name of his fraternity. (We don't have Phi Sigs in Valdosta...I was confused.) I was greeted at the house with a big cup of punch...I don't know what's in it, I don't think I should know what's in it, but I did have some fun there. I funnelled my first beer (okay, half a beer) and met up with Jimmy and B (it was a VSU reunion in downtown!) and then Nick and I decided I don't see enough black people in South Georgia, so we walk off to go see Club NV, where the Ying Yang twins had been playing that night. We are a half block from a mob of concert go-ers when 3 police officers personally escort us to the opposite side of the street and tell us to leave quickly...this might not have been one of our better plans...
Well Sunday morning provided our greatest challange, driving back to Marietta...we were definitely still buzzing...but we made it safely with only one brief (but necessary right Anna) stop and prepared ourself to face the long road home to Valdosta...with Jordan as our driver...for 4 hours...anyone up for sleeping in the car?
Overall, this was a great weekend. There are moments that will stay in Atlanta, or in our little Volvo station wagon, but maybe if you get us drunk enough one night, we'll let you know the rest of the high points...Line em up boys, we like whiskey sours on the rocks...
