EXPLORING DOWNTOWN ATLANTA WITH NO AGENDA TURNED INTO A WONDERFUL FRIDAY AFTERNOON FOR OUR FAMILY. Friday was a wandering day. School is out for summer, we had errands to do, and Mr. Mundane Magic wanted to show us the building where he would start his new job on Tuesday following the holiday weekend.

After we got new eyeglasses for Dave and Jordan we decided to park our car at the Sandy Springs Marta station and ride the traIn into town. It turned out to be a great decision since the roads were clogged with Memorial Day. As soon as we mentioned riding Marta, the kids were asking questions related to their last train experience in Chicago. They have such great memories of that 2010 trip. Having that past experience to build upon made Friday’s train ride so easy. They know to stay together. They understand the gate operations and most importantly, when Mom says, “Two steps back.” in a terse voice they know they are much too close to the edge of the tracks!

We made it downtown in record time. Grace kept marveling at the traffic beside us as we zipped on by using public transportation. There are a lot of good points to public transit and it is never too soon to teach your kids that lesson. William loves to read maps so learning to navigate the Marta map was enjoyable for him. Jordan is at the age where she envisions navigating a city as a college student. Each of them experience our travels in different ways.  First on the agenda, we walked half a block to see this:

and the building it accompanies. That’s where Dave will be working.

Then we decided to go check on the High Museum which was about 4 city blocks north of our first destination. Turns out that the museum was closing by the time we got there, but we decided to renew our membership while there at the counter. With Dave working downtown we anticipate continuing to visit the museum that Richard Meier and Renzo Piano designed. We all browsed the museum shop which has unique items. It was delightful to have time to wander and explore.

Grace and I lagged behind because we were enamoured with the children’s art book section:

As we came out we saw Dave, Jordan, and William peering into a small gallery where an art exhibit was being set up. Little did I know that would turn out to be the highlight of the day… tune in later for the conclusion of our little adventure. This unexpected moment REALLY captured their imagination and had them buzzing for hours. Even I learned something new today.