OPA! and the void.

Good Morning All!
What a day, What a day.....

Fell out of bed at 2:30am (not literally...but it felt like it). Got dressed and stumbled into the living room....Hallway lights are on, living room lights are on, kitchen lights are on....
"Can we leave yet?"
"Yeah, as soon as my eyes open".
"My bags are in the car already".....
That's how my day started. My daughter's flight to California left at 5:30am. My youngest is on the west coast again. I miss her already. Everything went smooth at the airport....should by now, we've done it enough. There were no tears this time around.
She's getting her esthetician license in California. Soon she will be a working young lady. It's hard to believe....they grow up so fast.
I miss you! And I hope you find everything you are searching for!

Arrived back at the house about 5:45am.....still way too early. No words, just straight to the bed. Crashed until 9am. "Is it really 9 already?"
Up and moving....COFFEE!!!
Decided we were going to the Fairburn Festival (instead of the Cotton Picking Festival).
"Where'd your mom go?"
"She decided she wasn't going with us"
Out the door and into the car...
"Did you call Connie?"  No? well, why not??
Out of the driveway and down the street. Man, I feel like I've been dragged by a horse.
Five minutes later arrived at Connie's........*ring, ring*  "You ready?"
"Uummmmm, wait, let me get my shoes on" Out she comes smiling and all happy to see us. :)
Off we go, Fairburn is about a 45 minute drive.....
There it is! I see lots of people. LOTS of people. Streets are blocked off, pedestrians everywhere.
Around the block three times to find a parking place. The backside of an insurance company. Only a couple of blocks to walk. YAY, not too bad.
Damn, theres a lot of people out here. Dodging people on the sidewalks, working our way through the crowds.............
Stood there with our mouths hanging open......
ALL THESE PEOPLE AND THERES NOTHING HERE.......
It was a block long. Up one side was 'crap' booths, newspaper vendors, insurance agents, etc. trying to sell things. On the other side was food vendors. That's it. That's all there was. Oh wait, I forgot the half a dozen Corvettes that were set up in the middle of the street.
We just looked at each other.....'We drove all this way for this?'
What a let down. Back to the car......'Next'??

Off we went.....into Atlanta to find the Georgia State Farmers Market. Fairburn had the roads blocked so it was quite the round about trip to get to the highway. Finally found it though. Another 40 minute drive....

"There it is!"
Quick left turn.....Damn, the enterance is the next light. U turn. Almost got hit sitting at the light....some guy making a left turned in front of oncoming traffic that was not slowing down. If the other guy hadn't swerved they would have landed right in our laps.
Round the corner and into the Market. I've never been here before, all I can say is WOW! This place is huge....huge to the point that you don't get out of your car. You drive around and stop when you see something you want.
Up one isle, Down the next....back and forth. Of Course, the Pumpkins were all the way on the other end. What?? Why did you think I came to the market? Fruit? Vegtables? Yeah, right. I came for Pumpkins. And I was not disappointed. They had lots to choose from.....little ones, medium ones and GREAT BIG ones.
So we parked and got out (except Sally, she's a party pooper) and dug thru the bins. All you could hear was "look at this one"
"No, look at this one!"
"OMG, look at the size of this one"
Green ones, white ones, blue ones, yellow, pink, multicolored, and ORAGNE ONES!!!
We found at least a dozen that I wanted to take home. The prices were really reasonable too......However, if you use your card (credit or debit) they want to charge you an extra fee.....Not happening. I will wait and come back with cash. Even though I didn't want to go home empty handed.
Oh well, we kept looking.....Pumpkin Butt!!! HAHAHA. You gotta see this......

Stole this from Connie's FB

we laughed!!

Back in the car.....'Now where?'

The Greek Festival is going on today........'OK'

Back to the highway. 'Does anyone know where we are going?'  Of course not, that would be way too easy.

After not being able to find the location of the Greek Festival we stopped for food. If that's what you want to call it.....McDonalds. I knew it was a mistake when we got out of the car. Within 15 minutes of eating I had a screaming headache ~ All the cutting down on sodium really makes me 'aware' of how much is in the food we eat.

Back on the highway. Wrong direction, turn around......CLAIRMONT ROAD! HURRAY!!

Got off the exit and there were cars as far as the eye could see. People walking up the side of the street.

Pulled into the enterance...nowhere to park. So I asked "where do we park?"

The man said "go back past the highway and park in the Continental lot, theres a bus that will bring you back"

Off we go again....got to the lot (about 2 miles down the road). People driving aimlessly trying to find a place. "LOOK!! someone's pulling out". We don't have a large car...but the spot was small.

Pull in, back out, pull in, back out, pull in, back out.....finally. "Do you have enough room on your side?"

Opened the door a crack and squeezed out.....then I realized that at least a half a dozen people thought I was leaving and they were waiting for the spot.....HAHAHAHAHAHA.

Off to stand in line and wait for the bus. There was a steady stream of buses.....short vans, cruise buses and ours.....school bus. I sat in the very back on a one seater. It was broken and aimed towards the floor. That brought back memories...ones that I would just assume forget.

Back to the Orthodox Greek Church....."I swear we were just here........"

Lots of people.....and the smells......MMMMMMM, greek food smells so good. It made me hungry even though I was stuffed from McDonalds.

We wandered around and looked at all the food and shops (that were inside the church, looked like class rooms). Then we heard "they're going to start dancing"....off like a shot to the band / dance area. Found a seat about half way back. Then Sally and Connie left me....they went and sat on the ground about 10 foot from the dancers. They started with the kindegarden / first grade kids. They did a great job. Then we moved up to the middle school kids. Wow, they were really good and actually looked like they were having a good time......not like it was a chore. Then came the highschool kids.......I was thouroghly impressed. They were very good and took it very seriously. I managed to get a couple of pictures (from my phone). I got plenty of the rude woman in front of me who couldn't decide if she was gonna sit or stand or sit......

then we went back inside to the shops....there was a lot of jewelry and clothing. I guess it counts as clothing...it was more along the lines of gypsy dresses (the kind the bellydancers wear) and lots of the coin chains that jingle from the women's hips. Some of the jewelry was really nice but overly priced (way out of my range). I did get a couple of tee shirts. A short sleeve tee and a baseball jersy.......it was the only one and everyone standing around me looking kept waiting for me to set it down.....Not happening. :)  Even the woman running the stand said "don't sit that down if you want it. It's the only one here".

Back on the bus....got a short van this time. Much better ride.

These are the middle school kids. Large group broken into two.

These are the highschool kids. Did an amazing job.

And then we went home. Had a great day! Except for my daughter leaving....she would have liked the Greek Festival. But I know she was eager to get back to what she knows.

My Halloween decorations are up. I haven't taken any 'night' photos yet. Maybe later on today I will. When I do I will post them.

Have a great Sunday!

TTFN

p.s. ONLY 28 DAYS! YAY!! Did you notice my new header and background? Hhhmmmm? Betcha did now.  :)