Day Three ~ Aquarium and a Concert

We woke up in Atlanta and had to hurry to get to our ticket entry time at the Georgia Aquarium. This was our third time at this aquarium, but it had been many years since the last time. We were disappointed at how crowded it was. In fact, they are supposedly controlling the size of the crowd, but it was more crowded than we had ever seen it. There was no social distancing or mask wearing in most  of the crowd, and kids were pushing all around us. We did see all of the exhibits but decided to skip the shows. We spent much less time in the aquarium than we expected to, and it was by far the most uncomfortable place that we visited on this vacation. It was so bad from a COVID standpoint that I actually left a bad Google review, which I have never done before. I discovered that they had over a 1,000 negative reviews in the last few months for the same reason. I wish I had checked the reviews before going. Shame on them for suggesting that they are taking COVID precautions. 

The jellyfish were so beautiful and peaceful. We went through the exhibit twice. After the aquarium, we walked about a half mile away from the museum complex to make sure we escaped the crowds and then found lunch at Mellow Mushroom Pizza. Our plan worked as we had the entire restaurant to ourselves. We walked around a bit more before heading headed back to the hotel to get ready for the main event. 

We had purchased three tickets for the Hella Mega tour just over two years ago. Elijah didn't want to go two years ago, and I was relieved that he didn't regret his decision after all of this time. Tim has been a huge fan of Green Day since he was a young teen. He started trying to convert his siblings when they were barely out of preschool. He succeeded in converting Rebekah, who now knows more songs by heart than he does. So, they started dreaming about seeing a Green Day concert someday. Two years ago, the Hella Mega tour was announced, with not one but four bands touring (The Interrupters, Fall Out Boy, Weezer and Green Day), and they were coming within driving range. We snapped up three tickets. Then COVID struck and it was postponed. But finally the night arrived and we were able to finally see them. Some may think we were crazy to go during COVID times, especially with Tim's medical fragile status, but I disagree. It has been a tremendous balance to keep Timothy healthy and alive (especially in his early years) AND living a complete life filled with adventure. Sometimes you have to take a risk. So we took our fully vaccinated selves to that outdoor concert and Tim got to live his best life. A dream fulfilled. Hope those vaccines stick!

It was a six hour concert and worth every penny that we paid for it. I am so glad we were able to go. When we got back to the hotel, Elijah and Dad had watched television shows, and Elijah had painted his figurines. 

The next morning I gave Elijah the opportunity to do one more activity if he wished, but he declined. Between the outdoor choices being too hot, indoor choices too concerning after our aquarium experience and knowing that he had three days of full-time shifts starting the next morning at Target, he opted to just go home. 

It was a great vacation.

Blessings, Dawn