ATTENDEE COMMENTS/MEMORIES

Nancy's Diary

Here's my take on the weekend that was...The Global Gathering-Atlanta style! This is kinda long!

Friday 9:00am EST: It was time to hit the dusty trail for Atlanta...well not quite. I had breakfast with one of my best friends here in Charlotte. After a nice-get your morning started breakfast at IHOP-I went home and packed up my car, loaded my dog Sheridan(he's my baby)and off to the vets we went. Sheridan was checking in for the weekend at Casa del Clearcreek (my vet's office).

He gave me the most pathetic look as I was leaving..."I'm coming back...honest!" I made it back to my car and plugged in my portable CD player and cranked up my travelling music...Rockapella-Live in Concert!! One more stop and I am outta here. After a quick trip to my bank, I finally hit I-85 and began to rock on down the highway.

My trip was fairly uneventful. I was driving from Charlotte, NC to Atlanta, GA...usually takes about 4 hours, give or take an hour depending on traffic. I was in and out of the rain all thru South Carolina and I only had to stop once when I hit the Georgia state line. The Welcome Center was very welcome and I grabbed a drink and some chips and hit the road again.

I made it to the hotel alittle after 4pm I think. I was so nervous, but I grabbed all my stuff and wheeled my way into the hotel lobby. After inquiring at the desk-and getting a very strange look from that lady-about the GG whereabouts, I was informed which room they occupied.

I came off the elevator to the sounds of laughter. It floated down the hallway and I knew right away where the ladies were gathered. I knocked on the door and everyone stopped talking(hmmm...that was weird) I introduced myself and right away one of my roomies Holly, jumped up and directed me to our room.

After dropping my stuff off, I came back to the room and seated myself on the floor. I was the last one to arrive...or so I thought. Kimber ended up being the last arrival, but she had the farthest to drive. Anyway I know I was rather quiet to begin with. I loosened up after awhile and began to contribute to the chat.

Cat gave me our GG welcome pack and I was really thrilled with everything inside. It was soooo cool. Later, gifts were handed out...I got a wonderful book "Secret Missions of the Civil War" and some really cool battlefield maps of the Battle of Atlanta. For those of you that don't know I'm a HUGE Civil War buff. So this was by my way of thinking a really neat gift. The other ladies received some nice gifts too. Pocket watches, original dime store novels, spurrs, Dale movies and other things.

We ate around 6pm. I was too nervous when I first arrived to eat anything...and trust me...Cat and Amy went all out with the food, drinks and snacks. We had plenty! After eatting the group sat down and started working on some really cool key chains. We had a great time with them. Then we watched Serpents...Ginger...who I must say is one of the funniest people I've ever met...made a few select comments. Actually several of us did. I had to remember that Emily hadn't seen this ep yet so I tried to keep my comments to myself.

We watched Ginger's music video's then started watching ROTKT. I felt myself getting tired as I didn't sleep well Thursday night, so I left and went to my room and got ready for bed. My other roomies, Holly, Emily and Debby showed up not long after that.

We started talking and Debby sat down in what we thought was an ordinary chair. Well it turned out to be a lounger and Debby was almost scared into another life when it opened up. We couldn't stop laughing after that. We finally made it into our beds around 2:30am, but we continued to giggle and laugh about the chair. Then Holly told me about the story someone wrote about Chris and the chicken bomb. Well that did it...we continued to carry on for another half hour. For some unknow reason I dreamed about a recliner attacking Vin...not sure why!

Saturday: I don't know how, but I managed to crawl out of bed around 7am and take a shower. I wanted to go down for some breakfast but never made it. I grabbed a drink and a muffin and then we headed for the zoo/cyclorama. I was driving this day. My car was designated Bevis. I followed Holly and we soon arrived at Grant park. Kimber showed up a few minutes later.

I had always wanted to see the Cyclorama but never had, so I was kinda excited. The civil war memorabilia they had inside was really cool. The short film we saw was also neat. It was narrated by James Earl Jones and gave an overview of the battles leading up to the Battle of Atlanta.

We then climbed many stairs(Debby wasn't kidding about that)into the room that housed the painting and the diorama. It was really neat and the explaination afterwards was interesting too.

When we left the diorama room I headed for the gift shop. I wanted to see what they had. The other ladies went to the second floor and had their pics taken in front of a cannon(thats why I'm not in it).

We then had a group shot in front of the cyclorama building before walking over to the zoo. We split up into a couple of groups as we toured. Somehow I lost the group I was with and saw the rest of the zoo alone. I went back to the gate and waited for the others to show up. Which they did.

We made it back to the hotel and I went to get ready for dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory. I developed a terrible headache at the zoo as it was very humid and it turned very nasty. I decided to stay at the hotel as I was feeling really ill by this point. Someone else will have to relay the goings on at dinner.

I felt a little better when the gang returned so I came into the room for the White Elephant game. I ended up getting a CD with music vids on it...very cool. Nee did a nice panel discussion on Hurt/Comfort. We messed around some more and I left and went to bed early...well earlier than the previous night. No demented dreams about recliners attacking Vin...not sure were that came from...LOLOL!!!

Sunday: Rose early again, showered and made it down for some breakfast. It was really good. I rode with Kim today and as we headed off toward Stone Mountain, it got darker and darker. When we arrived at the park it was raining(I hate walking around in the rain, most of the time)and after driving around looking for Cat and the others we finally found where we were suppose to be. The train ride, altho wet, was kinda fun. We managed to entertain ourselves and anyone else who was near us. We had a quick draw contest to see who was quicker with the camera snap. Not sure but I think Kim won.

When the train arrived back at the station we decided to split up. Some went shopping, some went on the boat tour. Kim, Wynde, Nee, Jilly and myself went to Stone Mountain Village to shop but we didn't feel like walking in the rain so we ended up at the Mall of Georgia. We went to the Build a Bear shop and made ourselves some new friends. I chose a tiger and named him Vin Tanner. He's very cute in his cowboy hat, boots, vest, scarf and binoculars(in place of his spy glass)

We made it back to the hotel alittle after 4pm. I went to get ready for Agatha's as we had decided to dress for the occasion. The Ladies all looked really nice and we piled once more into our cars.

Agatha's was a murder mystery dinner. This night it was 2001 A Space Oddity. We were met at the door by Admiral Smirk. He was really funny. The other player for the night was Ambassador Layla, She had on her white Star Wars robes and buns strapped to the side of her head(very strange) Dinner was very good and we each had something to do during the show. We either had a speaking part or we sang. It was a tremendously fun evening.

After arriving back, we had another panel. This one was on Feedback. It was a great evening and I had a total blast. I packed up my belongings after going back to my room so I wouldn't have such a chore in to morning.

Monday: Got up, showered and went down for breakfast. Ate with Jilly and Nee and we had a great chat about RPG's and writing in general. After going back upstairs, we decided to order a pizza for lunch. I stuck around till 12:30pm. I would have loved to stay later but I had a doggy to pick up at the vets. So I said goodbye to the wonderful friends I made over the weekend and headed for home.

I had a great time and want to thank everyone for the most fun I've had in a long time. Cat and Amy ya'll did a wonderful job putting this all together. It was worth the wait.

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