That said, Valentine's Day 2014 was a step in the direction towards changing my mind about February 14th (I refuse to refer to it as a holiday) because my wife and I took a weekend road trip over to Duluth, Georgia. Right about now, you might be asking yourself "Where's that and what's there to make the drive worth it?". Duluth is about an hour or so north of Atlanta and it happens to be home to Medieval Times Atlanta which is the only MT location in the southeastern United States we hadn't yet visited.
A month or so prior, we received an email from MT that contained an offer for a Valentine's Day package. The offer was actually a really good deal considering the usual cost of admission and what was included; for $99 we would receive our meals, a tour of the dungeon, a split of champagne (in etched keepsake flutes), a framed 8" x 10" photo, cheering banners (read, flags on sticks), and what I can only describe as a light-up "wand". ("Wand" is the only word I can use to describe it with eloquence; it looks like a fluorescent tube light bulb only shorter and it flashes with various colors when turned on.) The special package and the fact that we had the opportunity to take in an experience that was familiar but yet still new were more than enough to get persuade us to hit the road.
In describing my/our road trips in the past, I've mentioned how I prefer to take back-roads as opposed to interstates and main highways. Driving can be such a stressful thing these days - I figure why not enjoy it, if you can, by taking in sights and scenery between where you are and where you're going? Duluth presented us with an opportunity to do more of this kind of travel as we would leave our base of operations in Saint Matthews, South Carolina and head west via SC highway 6 before hitting I-20 west for a stretch only to then get back off the main road as we made our final approach.
The drive was very enjoyable for me as my wife is always great at maintaining a conversation. We talk all the time as is, so the fact that we were cooped up inside my truck for a few hours only gave us more of an excuse to rattle on about anything and everything. One area of contention we will probably never see eye to eye on are our favored radio stations. For me, it's usually either rock (I'd say hard rock & metal but you hardly ever see a station on terrestrial radio fitting that description) or sports talk whereas my wife prefers country. Not that I can't listen to country, it just starts to sound silly after a while (said the guy who listens to a number of bands known for wearing masks, face paint, and assorted costuming).
We'd had breakfast earlier in the day at a Sonic Drive-In and since we knew we were bound for a bountiful supper we opted to grab something from a convenience store while we'd stopped for fuel as opposed to a full-scale lunch. I forget what town we were in but I do remember that the store was a Flying J truck stop for two reasons: 1) they had a soda fountain capable of dispensing flavored shots into your beverage such as vanilla, lemon, cherry, and others and 2) they had a chill-chest embedded in the checkout counter that was stocked with, among other things, hard boiled eggs.
I'm not a huge fan of eggs in any form (other than scrambled and even then they need a healthy compliment of cheese or various other proteins to make them edible), but boiled eggs are about my least favorite food, ever. The consistency and flavor of a boiled egg is just this side of wretched. I saw them and all I could think of was some trucker making his way on the interstate, chowing down on those things and stinking up his cab to high heaven with sulfurous ass-gas. I hate to drum up a stereotype of trucker culture but it's difficult not to given that there's apparently a market for such food items in stores such as these.
I made the comment to my wife before we left home that I've made more trips to Georgia in the past year than I have over the course of my entire life, which was an entirely true statement. (Purposeful trips to Georgia, that is - it would've been a horrible lie if I counted the number of times I passed through with my family as a youngster on our way to Florida.) We stayed overnight last May in Covington, GA for our anniversary trip that included stops in Atlanta and Porterdale. In July I got to spend a week in Atlanta as I was in town to attend a pair of training classes. And here we found ourselves going to another Georgian city, that being Duluth.
I couldn't tell you much about the town other than to say that Duluth is one of many cities that benefit from their proximity to Atlanta. What little bit of Duluth we did have time to see (we were only in town for one night, after all, and our arrival was delayed after we wound up having to take a lengthy detour to get around the scene of an accident that happened on a bridge we needed to cross) appeared to be incredibly busy. Traffic is something that folks living near Atlanta seem to have gotten used to over time, so as an outsider I'll say that the volume of traffic we encountered was a bit startling. Duluth's not that close to Atlanta, but even though there aren't any high-rise buildings nearby it sure felt like Atlanta.
Our hotel for the evening was the Duluth Hyatt Place. I'm not sure how old the Hyatt Place is as a chain but we've now stayed in two of their locations (the other being in Charleston, SC) and been very pleased with them both times. You get a modern, no-nonsense room fit for travel geared towards business or leisure at a price that would make you think its quality wouldn't be anywhere near what it is. It's almost like they took the sensibility of a franchise like Microtel and combined that with the luxury of a Hyatt. What's more, they have a great continental breakfast with plenty of variety - no do-it-yourself waffles, though.
After we checked in, we relaxed in our room for a short while before making our way to Medieval Times. You might read between the lines when I say that we, a young couple on a Valentine's Day jaunt, "relaxed in our room" but the funny thing is we sat there, watched TV, and played around on our phones. Bear in mind, we were still emerging from ICE-OCALYPSE 2014 and we'd been without cable or internet for most of a week. Suddenly having access to those creature comforts was too much to pass up for us, I guess, although that probably speaks to there being a larger problem of our addiction to content and the gadgets we use to consume it than anything.
Medieval Times Atlanta is an anomaly in terms of its setup when compared to other MT locations in that it's attached to a shopping mall, the Sugarloaf Mills. (The name is taken from the fact that the mall sits on a road called - you guessed it - Sugarloaf Parkway.) As far as I'm aware, all the other MT castles are stand-alone structures. That it's connected to the mall detracted from its presentation somewhat for me, not because the decor was sub-par (quite the opposite, actually; MT ATL is one of the more authentic-looking MT castles we've visited as the interior of the lobby is made to look like the walls are constructed from stone and wood) but because Sugarloaf Mills is essentially an ultra-high end flea market. We were shocked to find that a majority of the shops there seemed to specialize in cheap baubles and knock-offs. There were big chain stores but the landscape was dominated by what came off as fancy flea market booths. In all fairness, I can't not be critical of our home castle's location as well seeing as how Medieval Times Myrtle Beach sits in between a deserted shopping mall and an abandoned theme park. At least MT ATL is a part of a still thriving outlet.
We'd arrived at MT ATL about an hour before the doors were scheduled to open so we killed the time by browsing a few stores. Like I said in the previous paragraph, we couldn't help but laugh when we saw the sort of stores that make up the majority of Sugarloaf Mills. The only one that was all that interesting, realistically, was a Sears that had nothing but appliances, most of which were of the scratch & dent variety. We made a lap of the mall and by the time we got back to MT a line had formed at the gate so we took our place in the queue.
Right before the gates opened, a number of serfs & wenches (read, the MT wait staff) appeared before the crowd. Their presence was heralded by a pair of trumpeters as well as the Lord Chancellor who drew attention to the event by making an announcement of the tournament and feast to come that evening. The Lord Chancellor's role is more or less that of an emcee, which made this moment all the more fitting. If I remember correctly, I believe they do something similar to this at MT in Myrtle Beach but it's more of a walk-over in that the King, his daughter, the Lord Chancellor, and a few other players make a public walk from one side of the castle gates to where the crowd enters the castle just before guests are let into the building.
Not long thereafter we were allowed to enter. The admissions staff won't always honor this type of request but we asked to be seated in the Black & White Knight's section as it's in the middle of the arena and makes for ideal viewing. After we had our crowns we got our picture taken then made our way to an area that was set up for patrons who'd purchased the Valentine's Day package to pick up the accessories that came along with it, including our split of champagne. I'm not a connoisseur of wine or champagne by any means, but the champagne we were served was not like the champagne I've had in the past. By that I mean it tasted bitter and dry, and it left me willing to sip my wife's Diet Pepsi just to get the taste out of my mouth.
We toured the dungeon, which was exactly like every other MT dungeon we've seen in that it has the same set of replica torture devices on display. I must say that the setup in the pre-show bar/lobby area of MT ATL is quite the sight to behold. The bar itself is an impressive visual but the real draw is the absolutely massive fireplace that dominates one whole section of wall. It's a fantastic addition to the room and a useful one on a chilly evening like this.
As an aside to the story I'm telling, I'd like to say this. If you're a parent taking a child to MT, I encourage you to do all that you can to make the occasion memorable, but for the love of God DO NOT BUY A TOY SWORD FOR YOUR CHILD. We watched a group of kids whack at each other mercilessly with plastic, light-up fencing swords for a good 15 minutes. They were beating the bejeezus out of one another, meanwhile every sensible adult nearby was looking at them wondering "Where are their parents?" who, of course, were nowhere to be found!
Finally, we were called into the arena. Guests are seated by section according to the color of crown you were given at admissions; the procession is always red-green-red & yellow-black & white-blue-yellow. We usually will wait until almost everyone is in the arena before we enter because you're more likely to wind up with a seat at the end of a row, which allows me to have a little more leg and rump room than I would otherwise (me being the Rubenesque fellow that I am). We thought we'd timed it right but I wound up being in the middle of a row - it wasn't bad, though, because the people who were seated next to me acted like I had the plague or some other communicable disease as they immediately began shifting their plates down the table.
Our serving wench (I think MT may be the only place in the world you can get away with calling someone a "wench" and not wind up getting your teeth loosened) was an outgoing young lass with an accent that most definitely wasn't that of a Southerner. It wasn't even American, for that matter. I think I caught her off guard when she asked if anyone had questions and I chimed in with "Yeah, where are you from?" Her response was something about not being able to answer because it would ruin the illusion. If I had to place it I would say she was from somewhere in the United Kingdom. She would've fit in well as a cast member at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal Studios Orlando, for sure.
The food at MT is always consistent in terms of its quality and their chefs are to be commended for that. No matter how many times we've had it, we can never get enough of the roasted baby dragon (half of a rotisserie chicken), barbeque ribs, herb-crusted potatoes, and desert pastry. A slight difference to the usual bill of fare exists at MT ATL as we were offered Pepsi products, water, and sweet tea as beverage options. I guess it goes well with the culture of Georgia but we're Southerners too and we don't get sweet tea at our castle in Myrtle Beach - go figure. The only negative comment I have about the meal at MT ATL was that the vegetable soup we were served didn't seem to be as good as what we've had at other locations. This soup tasted kind of like watery marinara sauce more than anything. It wasn't terrible but it wasn't quite up to par.
Aside from one or two uncooperative animals, the show itself at MT ATL was fantastic. (As W.C. Fields once said, "Never work with children or animals.") I dare say it may have been one of the best overall performances I've ever seen at any MT as the knights were all in top form and did a spectacular job of not only connecting with the crowd but emoting & selling the action. I don't know how much "the art of selling" (selling as in professional wrestling where a wrestler acts a certain way to convince the audience of their character, injuries, etc.) is emphasized when these knights are in training but the crew at MT ATL appeared to have been giving it their all this particular night. Unfortunately, our knight (the Black & White Knight) was the first one to get "killed" during the tournament, which has become a trend the past few visits we've made to MT and one made worse when you realize these have been the knights for whom we chose to root. What can I say other than that we apparently don't know how to pick a winner?
By the time that the show was over Sugarloaf Mills had closed for the evening, and since it was a Sunday we didn't expect there to be much else going on around town which is why we retired to our hotel room for more TV and web surfing. We snuggled up and watched coverage of the Winter Olympics, which we had seen practically none of since we'd been without cable at home for so long.
Speaking of being without cable, before we left for Duluth I had called Time Warner Cable about our services being down and at that time they said the earliest they could send out a technician would be the Sunday we'd be traveling. That wouldn't work because the TWC representative I spoke with said someone had to be home when the tech arrives. The next available time was Monday between 2-3 PM. I half way hated to agree to that scheduling because it cut into the time my wife & I would have to enjoy the remainder of our trip, but it was better than putting off whatever needed to be done for another day, so I took what I could get.
Consequently the drive back to Saint Matthews was more than a tad rushed, but we still took the time to document a few roadside attractions we encountered along the way. Additionally, we stopped at the same Flying J store for more vanilla Coke and sustenance - yes, they still had plenty of boiled eggs for sale.
We got home in the area of 1:30 PM, meaning we were back in plenty of time to make our appointment with TWC. When we pulled into the driveway I checked my phone to see if our WiFi was functional. Sure enough, I had data connectivity. Going inside the house revealed that our services had been fully restored. On the one hand, I was grateful for everything finally being back to normal around the house after the ice storm in terms of our modern amenities, however on the other hand I was pissed off because we rushed home because I was told we had to. All I can say is that this is one more example I can add to my already lengthy list of examples of how poor TWC's customer service is. (To the credit of the technician they dispatched to repair our services, he did call our home phone later in the afternoon to make sure things were still up & running.) I can only hope things will get better once they're assimilated into Comcast but I've heard plenty of bad things about how that company does business as well, so we'll have to wait and see where the situation goes from here.
This was definitely a quick trip, probably quicker than either of us would've preferred, but even with that being the case it's better to be thankful for having had the opportunity to do something like this than not. We visited places that we'd not seen before and got to enjoy an experience we both get a kick out of - nothing bad about that, I'd say. It never fails that my wife and I manage to make the best of whatever we might encounter. It takes patience (a virtue both of us struggle with), confidence that whatever will be is what we were intended to find, and that we'll all come out for the better in the end.
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