A Night To Remember

mom for some reason married dad seven years ago tomorrow, so we got a babysitter, for the second time in the year and a half since we landed in Georgia, to celebrate A Night To Remember.

You may wonder about the weird capitalization in A Night To Remember, and it's because we're trying to evoke a classic book. You know, the Walter Lord one. The one featuring incredibly refined luxury and high-class, well-attired guests. Most of whom die after the encounter with the iceberg. That night with the RMS Titanic was memorable. It's safe to say we won't forget the end of this anniversary.

Through a complicated set of factors, we wound up at a redneck country Irish bar. The bar owner later introduced herself, explained the Irish name was her familial name, her brother started the bar, and died two years ago Monday, and he was a bit of a redneck and she's still trying to turn things around. Apparently two years in, she's just about one week away from actually getting beer on tap.

mom upgraded her Diet Coke to a Malibu-and-Diet not long after this conversation. dad sought an Irish beer on draft and found a Yuengling instead.

It's worth noting that the front windows of the place are shared amongst shamrocks and Budweister signs, with a sole Miller sign to top it off.

So there's country music playing. And there's offers to let us sing karaoke, but we were worried we'd bother the other six patrons.

But other patrons began trickling in, including this one guy. Next thing we know ...

The bar owner's hopping on the microphone to say, "Hey, you all know me, and I'm not going to hold back. Can you check the bottoms of your shoes now for dog shit?"

That didn't work. Aerosol cans of some sort of chemical warfare agent were employed, but found ineffective as well. So then she has the DJ play "Who Let The Dogs Out (woof woof)" followed by a worse song with a chorus of "So you think your shit don't stiiiaiink."

But it wasn't dogshit, it was the guy. And at some point the owner dutifully reports that another patron reported someone's ass exploded in the bathroom.

After some strong drinks, this was funny. And it was a damned long leap away from finding out mom had a Diego sticker on her shirt through dinner.

We wound up having an appallingly good time at our neighborhood redneck country Irish bar. We laughed like we haven't in quite a long time. It wasn't exactly like we had planned, but it was fun in its own way.

We can't tell you what the hell we did for the sixth anniversary. This year's, though, truly, was A Night To Remember.

What a difference 47 months makes!

It's not really spring here, but the thermometer hit 65 degrees today in Georgia. (Massholes: Come visit. Really.) And what was today? A perfect day to celebrate 47 months with Lil' Genghis.

Yep, she's just one moon away from her 4th birthday. And she'll be in Brazil for that birthday -- unfortunately, away from dad, but fortunately, with like, a brazilian Brazilians and even some vikings, but that's a different story) for her birthday.

Anyway. Where were we? Oh. Today. 47 months. Springlike.

So Lil' Genghis wanted to go hiking, so we set out for Brown's Mount, a 500-foot, er, mountain rising opposite the Ocmulgee River from Macon, Ga. It's a nice relatively fast hike, unless you're Isabella, super explorer! She learned all about moss, and some other stuff, along the way. Let's take a look.


IMG_2948 from album 110213-Browns Mount, Ocmulgee trail, early sleep

Here she's guiding us up the hill. She also learned about trail blazes, and we talked some about trail blazers.


IMG_2949 from album 110213-Browns Mount, Ocmulgee trail, early sleep

Do you go around obstacles, or just over them? Another nice lesson ...


IMG_2953 from album 110213-Browns Mount, Ocmulgee trail, early sleep

Yes, she was running. She was happy!


IMG_2957 from album 110213-Browns Mount, Ocmulgee trail, early sleep

After she learned about moss, she started seeing it everywhere, and wondered who chopped down the tree. We learned about decay, and also stuff that's neat to touch.


IMG_2959 from album 110213-Browns Mount, Ocmulgee trail, early sleep
Mom wanted a picture, but Lil' Genghis wanted to keep looking around. Macon rises in the background.


IMG_2969 from album 110213-Browns Mount, Ocmulgee trail, early sleep
Holding hands, mom and Isabella thread their way between fallen trees, rocks and black bearsmoss.


IMG_2971 from album 110213-Browns Mount, Ocmulgee trail, early sleep
On the way down, she started to get tired. Gravity sucks.

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After we got off Brown's Mount, we went to The Hat (sorry, Aunt Sharon) for lunch. Then we went to The Ocmulgee Heritage Trail, which runs sorta through Macon.

Lil' Genghis picked up her first stalker there.


IMG_2975 from album 110213-Browns Mount, Ocmulgee trail, early sleep
The boy was determined to catch her. "I'm going to catch her!" he stated, vowing to catch her.

(Uncle Joe, sound familiar?)


IMG_2977 from album 110213-Browns Mount, Ocmulgee trail, early sleep
Lil' Genghis strains up a small rise as mom is left in her dust.

mom was busy taking pictures from other angles:


All in all, it was a beautiful, beautiful day. Lil' Genghis learned quite a bit about nature, a city she often visits, ancient seas and her inner strengths. She heard the relative quiet of woods, let her fingers drag across moss, climbed a rock, touched fossils, got chips and salsa, made several friends, ...

and most importantly, wore herself flat out.


IMG_2979 from album 110213-Browns Mount, Ocmulgee trail, early sleep