Thanksgiving in Atlanta

Our friend Sharon is currently camped in Georgia and we were hoping that we might get together over Thanksgiving. We learned that she had plans to spend the holiday with her friends in Atlanta, but before we had made other arrangements we found ourselves invited to join in their celebration. So we drove west to a Army Corps of Engineers campground not far from Atlanta. The McKinney campground is really nice - big sites well spaced, and reasonably priced, much like a state park. We got a nice back-in site on Allatoona Lake:


Thanksgiving Day arrived and I found that the shirt I selected was wrinkled. For want of an iron, I improvised: a heavy-bottomed saucepan heated up with a little water on it for an iron, a damp cloth on the counter for a board - wrinkle removed!


We arrived at the address we'd been given to find ourselves at a beautifully restored city home. We greeted Sharon and met our hosts and newfound friends Conni, Paul, their son Alex, and their dog Sparticus. Here are Conni and Paul behind the amazing spread of fabulous thanksgiving dishes they had prepared:


Harley (Sharon's dog) and Sparticus were happily wrestling and sparring, but when they'd had enough rough play we brought in Kinsey and Toby. What commenced was a conga-line of urination and butt-sniffing, which was hysterical.
Sparticus largely ignored the two terriers, but Harley found them fascinating, and his affectionate advances to both dogs earned him a few snaps and snarls until he lost interest. It was fun to let all of the dogs socialize while we scarfed down a variety of savory snacks and sipped champagne.


Among the amazing variety of succulent dishes laid out for dinner was the largest, deepest lasagne that I've ever seen. Here Sharon digs deep to extract the first piece:


We gathered for the feast, and everything was so good. It was a meal to remember, and we left the table suitably happy and engorged:


Of course we missed being with our own families back in Connecticut and Maine, and we look forward to being with them over the Christmas holiday. But Sharon's friendship and Conni & Paul's gracious hospitality and generocity was touching and much appreciated. We will always remember this Thanksgiving away from our home, and think of our new friends with fondness and gratitude.