Relax — I’m not referring to a crash in the automobile sort of way, lol. I’m talking about 20 days on the road finally catching up to me physically…
Let’s face it – I’m not in my 20’s anymore. I’m thirty years young and just can’t hang like I used to in college. Can’t drink like I used to… Can’t stay up late like I used to… Can’t survive on coffee and cigarettes like I used to… And today my body decided it was time to smack me upside the head and remind me of that.
In this alternate universe I’ve been living in the past few weeks, my “job” has been to drive. Get up early, pack up, and hit the road for an average of six hours a day. Don’t get me wrong – I’m not complaining. I love to drive and I’ve been having a blast out here. But I’m getting to the point in my journey where the driving part feels like a “job,” and after 4 straight driving days since leaving Jackson, I was really ready to come off the road. Atlanta is a 2-day stopover, so I didn’t have to drive at all today. It was like having a day off work, and I treated it as such.
I had such ambitions for what I wanted to experience in Atlanta — this is a great, huge city with tons of stuff to do and see. Stuff of great interest to me. I got in around 9pm on Thursday night and was treated to a queen’s welcome by Berhan – a good friend of me and Bill’s from college. Once again, this southern hospitality thing is wonderful, and it’s kind of wild to have men all over the place bending over backwards to attend to my every need (Baby, you were right – I have to raise that fucking bar, LOL). He had cold beer waiting, a clean towel so I could shower, a huge comfortable bed to rest in… Awesome. After we hung out and caught up, I showered and we headed out to meet up with his cousin and another friend from college, Benito. So nice to hang out with these guys, share my adventures, and reminisce… It was very chill and I got lots and lots of material for my book. But about an hour into the kickin’ it, I felt myself starting to crash…
Benito and I went out to get some dinner (I was hoping food would perk/sober me up), and had more laughs and great conversation, but I was still fading fast. All the peeps back at the house were gearing up to hit the strip club (which under normal circumstances I would have been all over), but I was just out of gas. I had to call it a night.
Still didn’t get home and into bed until after 2am, lol, but the next morning, when it was time to get up and explore the city, I could not move. My limbs were heavy, my eyes were droopy, and it soon became clear that I wasn’t going anywhere. I slept until noon, layed in bed until 1pm drifting in and out of consciousness, flipped on the TV at 2pm to watch soaps, laid in bed watching TV for another 2 hours, and then finally dragged myself out of bed at 4pm to take my ass down to Jiffy Lube to get an oil change… EXHAUSTED. Needless to say, I wasn’t able to see much of Atlanta at all. 
I did meet up with James Reid from the Black Writers Conference for dinner, which was GRUB, complete with southern hospitality (he even opened my car door for me! Sweet!). Once again, I love hanging out with my writer friends, and that was the best shrimp linguini I’ve ever had. But after a full meal, the ‘itis’ set in, and I was ready to go back to bed… Oh well.
Tomorrow I head off for Nashville, where I will be seeing Tim and Faith in concert again. I managed to find a McFriend who had a 3rd row ticket she needed to get rid of (thanks Paige!), so I rearranged things so I could attend the show. Serendipity ~ I’m telling you, stars are just lining up! Can’t wait to see Iris, her aunt, Colleen and Mama Karen again too! 
Okay, heading off to bed. Long, exciting day ahead tomorrow…
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