Also when I was waiting for my shuttle to the airport, one of the bellhops started a conversation with me about my Harry Potter t-shirt and it turns out this 6’ tall broad black dude and I have a ton in common for Harry Potter nerdom, re-reading the whole series every so often, an enthusiasm for weightlifting, and growing up as adults to not be embarrassed about the things we’re into.
Food
The speaker dinner was across the street from the hotel at Alma Cocina, which had quite good Mexican food! The shrimp enchiladas and the spicy chocolate cookies for dessert were especially tasty.
I discovered The Food Shoppe when I was trying to find a breakfast place nearby for meeting up with my Opportunity Scholar. They didn’t open up early enough for us, but the Yelp reviews were so effusive that I was determined to make my way there for some other meal. They really do give out samples for pretty much everything! The mac & cheese tasted delicious and of course I had to get the bread pudding, even though I knew I wouldn’t be able to finish the whole serving. My favorite was probably the corn bread though, it was spicy and cheesy and not-too-sweet and way more amazing than this crappy photo:
At the airport, I followed this airport foods guide (did you know that airport food guides are a thing? How helpful!) and went to a different terminal than where my gate was actually at to get dinner from Paschal’s. The fried chicken is indeed surprisingly good for what looks like a cafeteria buffet line. A little too salty for my taste, but not as salty (or crispy, really) as the fried chicken I had at Willie Mae’s in New Orleans.
Transportation
I used Super Shuttle to get between the airport and the hotel. It was pretty quick and convenient, though it seems I could’ve also just taken the MARTA since it has a stop right by the Westin we were at. Speaking of MARTA, I used it twice to get to the Thoughtworks office and it was plenty efficient/clean/inexpensive for big city public transit.
