O|A|R in the A|T|L again

It was a deja vu' for us this weekend as we traveled to Atlanta to see OAR perform again at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre just as we did last August at the same venue (see previous blog for August 23, 2009 ). The show was a few days earlier in August this year and it was on a Sunday night instead of a Friday which meant getting a room in the Atlanta suburb of Alpharetta near the venue and taking a vacation day on Monday.

We headed down Saturday and arrived in Atlanta early in the afternoon. Our friends, Will and Jenna, invited us to a cookout that evening at their house as well as allowing us to spend the night there. Will and Jenna went with us last year to the OAR show, but couldn't attend this year's show since they have had a big change in the lives since last summer with the arrival of their new baby, Payton. Turns out Jenna was pregnant at the show last August and didn't even know it. Don't be surprised if Payton turns out to be a huge OA\R fan, folks! Jenna is back at work now and didn't get off until 6 PM, so to kill a little time we sought out the nearby Atlanta Brewing Company who offers tours and opens their tasting room on Saturday afternoons.

Atlanta Brewing is a bit smaller than Sweetwater Brewing who we visited during our last trip to Atlanta (see previous blog: April 26, 2010), but their beer is pretty good. We skipped the tour since you can see the small production area from the tasting room and opted to just sit and enjoy our bountiful samples. For more info on the beer itself, check out Rob's beer blog. We had a great time at Will and Jenna's that evening reliving how we all met on a wonderful Mediterranean cruise a few years ago (preblog) and kicking around some ideas for a possible trip together next May when Payton's a little older and can stay with the grandparents. In order on our wish list of places to possibly visit are Tahiti, South America, Hawaii and the Mexican Riviera.

Sunday morning we slept in a bit. Well, we did, Miss Payton did not allow that so much for Will and Jenna. We made arrangements to meet one of Ashlee's childhood friends, Dana, who also lives in the Atlanta area, for lunch. She and her husband, Brad, suggested the West Cobb Diner in Marietta. The place is owned and operated by a neighbor of Dana and Brad's who hails from Louisiana. The food was great and we had a great visit Brad and Dana and their two children. After lunch we headed north toward Alpharetta and checked into our hotel: a nice Hilton Garden Inn in a quiet business park that we got for only $50 for the night - thanks, Travelocity.com! We relaxed in the room for a few hours and made arrangements with our friend, Rex, who was going with us to the OAR show, to meet for dinner in at a local barbecue joint called Smokejack. The food was delicious here as well. It had definitely been a great day of eating in "The Atl!"

Our hotel was only one exit away from the lovely new Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre (photo above). We got in and parked easily with just a short walk to the venue. After securing each of us a Sweetwater 420 Ale, we found a good spot in the general admission pit in front of the stage and caught a few minutes of the opening act, Citizen Cope. They/he were OK, but probably not something we would seek out again. The crowd thickened up somewhat and livened up a whole lot as OAR took the stage. These guys are easily one of our Top 3 favorite acts to see live. They put on another great show tonight despite a smaller crowd than last summer - Sunday night, bad economy, etc..

Monday morning we slept in soundly and got up and out the door just in time for some lunch at the nationally-famous Marietta Diner. It's been locally famous for years and now it is nationally famous thanks to being featured on the Food Network's "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" show hosted by Guy Fiere (where we heard about it). It lived up to its hype with a huge menu, huge portions and a lot of great tastes. We will definitely be back on our next trip to Atlanta to try more of their fare.