I Went to the Atlanta Olympics in 1996

It was a last minute trip. I unexpectedly finigled a weekend off from work so I took off after night turnout for Georgia. I drove all night and I timed my arrival in Atlanta perfectly. I had no idea where I was going but I knew the men's marathon was the first thing in the morning so I stopped at a rest area just outside of Atlanta. I bought a newspaper and plastered on the front page was the marathon route.

I didn't even have to drive out of my way. I drove straight to the a street that was just off the exit ramp and parked. I was only about 20 blocks from the Olympic arena. It was 8 am and time for the race to start. I knew the runners wouldn't make it to where I was for a little over an hour. I walked a couple of block and happened to look over at a street that was several blocks over and they had barricades along it so I decided to walk over and see what was happening.

I got there just as the first runners were leaving the stadium and running by. I cheered with the crowd until they all ran by. Then I started back toward the street where I was parked. I found a bar that was open and they had a full crowd watching big screen tv's following the marathon and they were serving breakfast and beer for all. I hung out at the bar until it was time for the runners to come by on their way to the stadium.

I cheered the runners on to victory until most of them went by and then I went back to my car and started back for good ole WV. I still had a day and I decided that I was too close to the Mississippi River not to go check it out.

That's what I did. The weird part is that I got lost alongside the Mississippi river than I have just about anywhere I have ever gone. It didn't make sense because I knew I was driving alongside it, I just couldn't see it because of the levy. I almost ran out of gas before I found a gas station and I found a spot where I dipped my toes in the Mississippi River and came back home.

My brother and his wife wanted me to go with them to the Olympic games but I knew I wouldn't be able to stay as long as they were staying. They saw the Women's Gold Medal Basketball game which the US won. My brother said he paid scalpers $600.00 a ticket and he would have bought me one if I had been with them. (He would have had to because I would NEVER pay that much for ANY ticket. My niece and nephew would have pressured him into buying me one even if he didn't want to..haha)