Greetings from beautiful Atlanta, GA! I am here to present at a conference this week (more on that to come). This morning I had the pleasure of rising early to drive to Bismarck, ND to catch a flight to Atlanta via Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN. I found the Bismarck Airport to be quite nice. All the curves and the glass of the entrance are appealing, as is the light blue ceiling inside with white clouds painted on it here and there (it truly does look like a North Dakota sky).
The Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport is much larger, of course, and offers exponentially more to look at than the Bismarck Airport. I enjoyed using up some of my layover time by walking the concourses from one gate to the next rather than taking the light rail transit available through the airport. I got a chicken sandwich from a fast food joint and then sat down to people-watch and to catch highlights from the news channel that was playing in the waiting area outside my gate.
The Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International Airport is pretty big, too, with gorgeous marble tiles for flooring that make it look less like an airport than a high-end shopping mall or business complex. Again, I was in no rush to get anywhere in particular, so I walked through the airport to the luggage carousel rather than taking the airport's trains from one end to the other. There is a section of the airport set up with displays of African sculpture and art work with tribal-sounding music playing on the overhead speakers as one walks through the corridor; it was nice to have plenty of time to look at that on my way through.
It was easy to find my luggage and then the area to wait for the shuttles to local hotels. I'm staying at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel Atlanta Airport, and I found its shuttle right away and got a ride to the hotel just a few minutes away. Friendly, efficient front desk staff got me checked into my tenth-floor room (lovely, by the way: modern decor, flat-screen television, beautiful view) and invited me to return to the lobby for a complimentary wine tasting at 6:00 P.M. (Eastern time, that is . . . two hours later than my watch shows). I was happy to oblige!
I asked to try the Riesling, but the sommelier recommended a zippy Chardonnay instead. As he poured, he assured me that, if I didn't like it, I could still get a glass of the fruitier Riesling. Well, I ended up enjoying a glass of each! Those glasses of wine plus the cheese, crackers, and fruit that they served along with the wine served as my supper tonight! Tomorrow: the conference begins.
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