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ATLANTA PRIDE 2003 (June 27-29)
FRIDAY
I arrived in Atlanta around 7:30 and headed directly to Piedmont Park to
meet
Lee. He was in the park practicing with the band he
directs, the
Atlanta
Freedom Marching Band. Ironically, it also started
raining during their practice, so everyone was huddled up under a small
shelter, but the music they were playing still sounded good. Soon after, Lee
and I headed to to his house to clean up for the evening, and then met up
with some friends of his at "Joe's o Juniper" in Midtown. Lee lives
smack-dab next to the park and the restaurant, so everything was within
walking distance.
Because of Pride, the place was packed. We didn't get our food until about
10 and left around 11. We had planned on heading out to the Red Chair bar,
but we were informed that the line was a mile long and there absolutely no
parking left. It was getting late, and we were tired, so we opted to stay in
the rest of the right.
SATURDAY
I probably got more sleep then I needed, but Lee and I didn't get out of bed
until a late 11 AM. Lee was a great host and made a breakfast full of
omelets and waffles. Around 1:30, we headed to the park so he could play his
French horn in the
quintet he is a member of. While he was playing, I
met a few
friends of mine from Charlotte as they happened to
be passing by the gazebo. I then went along with some other friends from
Charlotte to walk around the park and enjoy the event. Actually, we ended up
heading to the place they were staying and watched "Clueless" while some of
them rested and ate lunch. After the movie, I headed back to the park to
join Lee. We had to go back to his place before dinner to return the horn.
That evening, Lee and I met up with my other Atlanta friend
Rik for dinner at "Tavern on the Park". We sat
outside, but soon the clouds rolled in and we had to move inside as to not
get soaked. we hung out at the restaurant for a while enjoying the company
and talking about the weekend. And since Lee and I were unable to make it to
the Red Chair the night before, we decided to make a go of it again that
night. Luckily, we got to the bar before a line formed and before all
parking was lost. We hung out with my Charlotte friend
Richard and a few other friends
Chad, Rob, Mike, Jason, Scott, and Eddy. A little
drama ensued between Mike and Richard, but I just watched the play unfold
before me. They all decided to leave around midnight, so Lee and I took off
as well and headed to a circuit type party hosted by
Electra. Actually, it was pretty lame. So 2 hours
and $25 later, we left. We would have headed over to
Blü,
but Lee had to direct the band the next morning in the parade, so we just
went to bed.
SUNDAY
Lee headed out early to get ready for the parade. I slept in and sat around
the house until a little after noon. I headed out with my camera to meet up
with my Charlotte friends to watch the parade. The plan was to watch the
parade and have a cook out. But as most plans go, things change or are
fouled up in some way. The procession finally made it in front of the
apartment around 3. We had the grill warming as the parade made its way past
us. There were a few notable entries in the parade. Atlanta Mayor
Shirley Franklin was in the parade, as well as
Delta Airlines. Tragedy almost
struck though when the grill caught on fire and threatened to engulf the
apartment in flames. Luckily, a fire extinguisher was handy and we were able
to put out the flames before the fire-trucks had to be called. Paramedics
did have to respond to an incident on the parade route though. Right in
front of the crowd, a man fell off an old fire truck onto the road. The
driver, not seeing the man fall, drove on and ended up running over the
man's arm. I had to look away from the impending disaster. Fortunately for
the victim, an ambulance was less than a block away and a stretcher was
dispatched to his location. The parade was held up for about 15 minutes as
onlookers watched the man treated. After they wheeled him away though, the
festivities resumed without delay. Of course by then, the mood had pretty
much been squelched (no pun intended).
The parade ended and I headed to the park to meet up with Lee. We walked
around a while and then headed back to his place so I could pack for the
trip home. After stopping off at a pool party to tell goodbye to Rik, I
drove home. |
