Charleston Princess
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2008
- Messages
- 21,444
You know how some times you have a “brilliant” idea, and then, when you act on it, it doesn’t seem quite as brilliant?
You know how there are just some trips that you wish you hadn’t taken?
Well, both of those things happened yesterday when we decided to go to Athens, Georgia for the day to show Chelsea the University of Georgia campus since she has decided that she wants to go there for college.
She has wanted UGA for awhile, but it took some serious persuading to convince Charles that this would be a good choice. He has always said that it is too much of a party school for his only daughter, and every chance I got, I was showing him statistics on the difficulty of its programs of study and how it is ranked as one of the best educations for value in the United States. Coupled with Chelsea’s own persuasive techniques of always being able to wrap Charles around her finger, we finally wore him down.
Now, neither Chelsea nor I have ever visited Athens and the campus, so I thought it would be a fun way to spend one day of our Spring Break.
Charles agreed as long as we could eat at the Varsity there.
We decided on Thursday, and the night before I told Charles we would be leaving at 8:00.
Now, let’s keep count of all the things that didn’t go quite right yesterday.
Remember what Charles is like in the morning when it is nearing departure time?
Yep, he did it to me again. At 7:00 he was ready to go, and by golly, the rest of us better hurry up. (Number One)
We were on the road by 7:30. It takes about two hours to reach Athens from where we are, but it takes driving through Atlanta traffic.
We ended up in a horrible accident-related back-up of traffic on I-75. Bumper to bumper, and apparently there were five lanes blocked. (Number Two)
We decided to get off the interstate and go the back way through Marietta/Roswell to hook up with I-285. We got lost despite the fact that this is where Charles had grown up. Things have changed in that area in the last fourteen years. (Number Three)
It was 11:00 when we arrived at the UGA campus -- the trip took an extra hour and a half, and I was already twitchy. (Number Four)
The UGA campus is HUGE and CONFUSING. There is no rhyme or reason as to how it is all laid out. It is so big, it even has its own bus system. Not little buses, either, but big buses like the ones at Disney. I got turned around within two seconds of being on campus. (Number Five)
I felt great relief on finding the Visitors Center and parking.
Meanwhile, Chelsea was pitching a huge fit. (Number Six)
Chelsea: I don’t want to get out of the car.
Me: Why? We can’t see anything if we stay in the car.
Chelsea: We are going to look so dumb. Nobody goes to a college campus and walks around.
Me: Sure, they do. That’s why there is a Visitors Center.
Anyway, this went on for a few minutes. I knew it was because Chelsea is at that age where she is so self-conscious that she thinks everyone is looking at her and judging her, but, for Pete’s sake, she had been looking forward to this. We practically had to drag her into the Visitors Center where we picked up maps and directions to what we wanted to do.
Back outside, she turned on her smile for the camera, although she was still in a frumped-up mood. Don’t be fooled by that hundred-watt smile.
You can see how big the campus is from the map. Apparently it has over 300 buildings.
Chelsea found the pool.
We got back in the car to find the Student Center and Bookstore.
Guess what? I got lost again. We saw a LOT of the campus from the car before we finally found the Tate Center and the Bookstore. (Number Seven)
We parked and explored. I was two strands away from completely unraveling. All I could think of was, “How will we ever be able to come visit Chelsea -- this place is completely confusing and overwhelming.”
That look on my face? Yeah, pretty sure that summed up my feelings for the day.
Chelsea cheered up once we hit the bookstore. She had fun picking out a pair of Georgia Nike shorts and a t-shirt. Connor was disgruntled that there wasn’t much for him. (He has his sights set on attending Georgia Tech and wasn’t interested in any Georgia gear.)
Afterwards, we stopped by the stadium to peek in. For those that aren’t huge SEC football fans, Georgia’s field is surrounded by hedges, so they always play “between the hedges.” I wish I had gotten a better picture of them. I was such a nervous wreck, I am surprised I had the camera pulled out.
Connor complained that the sun was in his eyes. (Par for the course so I won’t assign a number to that.)
I wanted to walk down to the see the famous Georgia arch, but Charles didn’t want to walk down there. Grrrr. We saw it in passing when we drove to the downtown area. (Number Eight)
Here is someone else’s picture of it…
At this point, it was almost one, so I figured some food might make us feel better. We headed toward the Varsity which I had found on the map and figured I would be able to find with no problem.
We did indeed find it -- in a rather seedy part of Athens. Go figure.
Now, for those unfamiliar with the Varsity -- it has been a Georgia tradition since 1928 -- there is one near UGA and one near Georgia Tech. They serve some of the greasiest but yummiest food ever. I could feel my sanity returning with two chili slaw dogs and a Frosted Orange.
Lunch was lovely, and we were ready to tackle the downtown area.
Where. There. Are. No. Parking. Spaces. To. Be. Found.
Where. You. Circle. Endlessly.
Endlessly.
(Number Nine)
Finally finding a parking space, we went exploring. Very cute downtown area with lots of little shops.
One little shop, in particular, was the backdrop to Number Ten. Connor wanted six dollars worth of fake lottery tickets. I didn’t let him get them. Not like he could use them more than once. Instead he picked out a six-inch Godzilla and a bottle of bubbles and treated us to a heavy dose of grousing because Chelsea had been allowed to spend more money at the UGA Bookstore.
It was time to cut our losses and get out of Dodge.
Back on the road, the rest of the family decided they had a great time.
Really? Alrighty then. I decided to keep my opinions to myself.
Except Charles said, “I think we should have spent more time on the actual campus.” He couldn’t have mentioned that before???
(Number Eleven)
At one point I turned around and Chelsea had changed into her new UGA stuff.
Not. Even. Going. To. Ask. (And thank goodness for tinted windows.)
Lots of traffic on the drive home (Number Twelve), but we made it, and I collapsed for a two-hour nap.
Dinner was Peeps s’mores at about 8:00.
And a silly girl modeling her UGA spirit.
Next time I am heading to Disney instead.
You know how there are just some trips that you wish you hadn’t taken?
Well, both of those things happened yesterday when we decided to go to Athens, Georgia for the day to show Chelsea the University of Georgia campus since she has decided that she wants to go there for college.
She has wanted UGA for awhile, but it took some serious persuading to convince Charles that this would be a good choice. He has always said that it is too much of a party school for his only daughter, and every chance I got, I was showing him statistics on the difficulty of its programs of study and how it is ranked as one of the best educations for value in the United States. Coupled with Chelsea’s own persuasive techniques of always being able to wrap Charles around her finger, we finally wore him down.
Now, neither Chelsea nor I have ever visited Athens and the campus, so I thought it would be a fun way to spend one day of our Spring Break.
Charles agreed as long as we could eat at the Varsity there.
We decided on Thursday, and the night before I told Charles we would be leaving at 8:00.
Now, let’s keep count of all the things that didn’t go quite right yesterday.
Remember what Charles is like in the morning when it is nearing departure time?
Yep, he did it to me again. At 7:00 he was ready to go, and by golly, the rest of us better hurry up. (Number One)
We were on the road by 7:30. It takes about two hours to reach Athens from where we are, but it takes driving through Atlanta traffic.
We ended up in a horrible accident-related back-up of traffic on I-75. Bumper to bumper, and apparently there were five lanes blocked. (Number Two)
We decided to get off the interstate and go the back way through Marietta/Roswell to hook up with I-285. We got lost despite the fact that this is where Charles had grown up. Things have changed in that area in the last fourteen years. (Number Three)
It was 11:00 when we arrived at the UGA campus -- the trip took an extra hour and a half, and I was already twitchy. (Number Four)
The UGA campus is HUGE and CONFUSING. There is no rhyme or reason as to how it is all laid out. It is so big, it even has its own bus system. Not little buses, either, but big buses like the ones at Disney. I got turned around within two seconds of being on campus. (Number Five)
I felt great relief on finding the Visitors Center and parking.
Meanwhile, Chelsea was pitching a huge fit. (Number Six)
Chelsea: I don’t want to get out of the car.
Me: Why? We can’t see anything if we stay in the car.
Chelsea: We are going to look so dumb. Nobody goes to a college campus and walks around.
Me: Sure, they do. That’s why there is a Visitors Center.
Anyway, this went on for a few minutes. I knew it was because Chelsea is at that age where she is so self-conscious that she thinks everyone is looking at her and judging her, but, for Pete’s sake, she had been looking forward to this. We practically had to drag her into the Visitors Center where we picked up maps and directions to what we wanted to do.
Back outside, she turned on her smile for the camera, although she was still in a frumped-up mood. Don’t be fooled by that hundred-watt smile.
You can see how big the campus is from the map. Apparently it has over 300 buildings.
Chelsea found the pool.
We got back in the car to find the Student Center and Bookstore.
Guess what? I got lost again. We saw a LOT of the campus from the car before we finally found the Tate Center and the Bookstore. (Number Seven)
We parked and explored. I was two strands away from completely unraveling. All I could think of was, “How will we ever be able to come visit Chelsea -- this place is completely confusing and overwhelming.”
That look on my face? Yeah, pretty sure that summed up my feelings for the day.
Chelsea cheered up once we hit the bookstore. She had fun picking out a pair of Georgia Nike shorts and a t-shirt. Connor was disgruntled that there wasn’t much for him. (He has his sights set on attending Georgia Tech and wasn’t interested in any Georgia gear.)
Afterwards, we stopped by the stadium to peek in. For those that aren’t huge SEC football fans, Georgia’s field is surrounded by hedges, so they always play “between the hedges.” I wish I had gotten a better picture of them. I was such a nervous wreck, I am surprised I had the camera pulled out.
Connor complained that the sun was in his eyes. (Par for the course so I won’t assign a number to that.)
I wanted to walk down to the see the famous Georgia arch, but Charles didn’t want to walk down there. Grrrr. We saw it in passing when we drove to the downtown area. (Number Eight)
Here is someone else’s picture of it…
At this point, it was almost one, so I figured some food might make us feel better. We headed toward the Varsity which I had found on the map and figured I would be able to find with no problem.
We did indeed find it -- in a rather seedy part of Athens. Go figure.
Now, for those unfamiliar with the Varsity -- it has been a Georgia tradition since 1928 -- there is one near UGA and one near Georgia Tech. They serve some of the greasiest but yummiest food ever. I could feel my sanity returning with two chili slaw dogs and a Frosted Orange.
Lunch was lovely, and we were ready to tackle the downtown area.
Where. There. Are. No. Parking. Spaces. To. Be. Found.
Where. You. Circle. Endlessly.
Endlessly.
(Number Nine)
Finally finding a parking space, we went exploring. Very cute downtown area with lots of little shops.
One little shop, in particular, was the backdrop to Number Ten. Connor wanted six dollars worth of fake lottery tickets. I didn’t let him get them. Not like he could use them more than once. Instead he picked out a six-inch Godzilla and a bottle of bubbles and treated us to a heavy dose of grousing because Chelsea had been allowed to spend more money at the UGA Bookstore.
It was time to cut our losses and get out of Dodge.
Back on the road, the rest of the family decided they had a great time.
Really? Alrighty then. I decided to keep my opinions to myself.
Except Charles said, “I think we should have spent more time on the actual campus.” He couldn’t have mentioned that before???
(Number Eleven)
At one point I turned around and Chelsea had changed into her new UGA stuff.
Not. Even. Going. To. Ask. (And thank goodness for tinted windows.)
Lots of traffic on the drive home (Number Twelve), but we made it, and I collapsed for a two-hour nap.
Dinner was Peeps s’mores at about 8:00.
And a silly girl modeling her UGA spirit.
Next time I am heading to Disney instead.
) Maybe you've said before, because I have probably asked this question, but I'm old and forgetful. 
I have a friend with a junior daughter who wants to be a vet, and another friend's daughter (also a junior) wants to be a pharmacist. Chelsea will be fabulous at whatever she does, of course. 
We had forts all over the place. 
She ended up having a good time, though, thank goodness.
