Well it’s back to work after the long Fourth of July holiday weekend that is of course unless you are on vacation this week. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday with family, friends, a cookout and last but not least a firework show.

This year for the first time my wife and I went to The Mall of Georgia to take in the fireworks show there. It seemed as though it started a bit late…almost 10:00 but it was well worth the wait. I’ll let you be the judge…Mall of Georgia Fireworks.

Let me know what you think.

Thanksgiving Day is almost here and the beginning of the holiday season has started. I thought I would share some of my favorite things to do on Thanksgiving.

Smoked Turkey

My first thing actually begins the day before Thanksgiving. For over 33 years I have smoked a turkey for the feast. Several years ago my nephew decided he wanted to fry a turkey which we all agreed would be fine, I would just smoke a smaller one and there would still be plenty to go around. I must admit the fried turkey was very good with the Thanksgiving Day meal but left a bit to be desired for the much anticipated turkey sandwiches. My nephew still fries a turkey but I am back to smoking the larger turkey, somewhere in the 20 plus pound range. This years turkey is a 25 pounder and will take about 15 hours on the smoker. It will smoke over a fire of Mesquite chunks while being steamed by a mixture of water and white wine to keep it totally moist.

Thanksgiving Tradition

For as long as I can remember our family has had a piece of poster board or paper with the alphabet listed on it. Each person attending the festivities write something that they are thankful for next to the corresponding letter of the alphabet. The object is to fill up the page using each letter as the beginning letter of the thing you are thankful for. It’s entertaining to see what the children list as their items. They are more grown up than we sometimes give them credit for. Give this a try, I think you will like it.

Parade and Football

What Thanksgiving would be complete without the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and a good old football game. Nuff said about that.

Finish Off the Day

If you read my post yesterday there is no doubt what we will be doing tonight. We will be leaving for Lenox Square at about 5 o’clock. We will enjoy the pre show and the full entertainment of the Lighting of the Great Tree atop Macy’s. This has become a tradition for my wife and I. The temperature may be a little chilly but the show warms your heart, especially when the tree is lit. Come on down and join us and the other probably 100,000 people who will be there, hopefully you will enjoy it too.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

Thanksgiving Evening is a special time in Atlanta because the Christmas Holiday season is kicked off with the Lighting of the Great Tree atop Macy’s at Lenox Square. This years tree is a 70-foot white pine that weighs over 7 tons. It is decorated with red Macy’s Stars, white snowflakes and approximately 1200 multi colored basketball sized ornaments. It takes over 8 miles of wiring to get power to the 4000+ 11 watt bulds, flashing strobes, internally lite ornaments and the LED color changing star atop the tree. It takes a crew of 8 helpers to over 2 weeks to decorate the tree and make sure that it is securely fastened into it’s stand which is designed to withstand hurricane type storms.

This Years Entertainment

The entertainment for this years festivities will be provided by a cast of both local and national stars. Headlining the event is singer-songwriter Jewel. Jewel will be joined by Broadway and recording star Heather Headley, singer Michael Warren, local artist The Regulars Band, the Youth Harmony Chorus and Macy’s All-Star Holiday Chior. As you can see there is something for everyone at this years festivities.

Attend In Person or Watch on TV

As has become customary, WSB-TV carries the entire program live from 7 to 8 on Thanksgiving Evening. This year Jann Carl of Entertainment Tonight will be joining Monica Pearson and David Chandley of WSB in hosting the event. I must admit that I have watched the program on TV in the past, however for the last 3 years my wife and I have attended it in person. Last year a group of our neighbors attended with us and we had a blast. Whether you join us in person or watch on TV, gather with family and friends to kick off the 2008 Christmas Season with the Lighting of The Great Tree at Lenox Square. If you are going to attend in person, do yourself a big favor and get there around 6 o’clock. The performers warm up with the audience that is there and it is almost as good as the live show.

I hope everyone has a truelly wonderfull holiday season filled with the tresures that family and friends can bring. MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

This Thursday at noon the 2008 Fall Atlanta Home Show kicks off its 25^th year. Presented by The Home Depot Home Services, this years home show will take place at Cobb Galleria Centre. The show schedule is as follows:

• Thursday 9-25 noon to 6:00pm
• Friday 9-26 noon to 8:00pm
• Saturday 9-27 10:00am to 8:00pm
• Sunday 9-28 noon to 6:00pm

Here is you chance to take advantage of comparison shopping for virtually everything you may need or want in a home. Make certain that you check out all the displays where you will find everything from appliances to water purification. Not only will you see the latest home products but panel discussions are also scheduled.

The Gwinnett County Fair is in full swing. This year the fair opened on September 11, 2008 and will remain open through September 21, 2008. Hours are from 4:00 until 11:00 daily and the price of admission, $5.00 for adults, $2.00 for children 6-12 and seniors 65 plus include the entertainment. Entertainment is nightly at 7:30 by such entertainers as Gene Watson on 9-15, T G Sheppard on 9-16 (my wife’s favorite), The Bluegrass Alliance on 9-17, Linton Wages & the Sloo Fly Five on 9-18, and Joey Watkins and the River Street Band on 9-19.

The headliners are not the only entertainment at the fair. Of course children of all ages can enjoy the rides. Who doesn’t like a Ferris Wheel? In addition to the rides are the exhibits which cover everything from produce to canned goods to handcrafted items and what county fair would be complete without livestock. Ahh the aroma! We now have that new livestock cologne “Ode To Angus”.

For once my wife and I enjoyed the fair without seeing how much junk food we could consume. Not that it wasn’t there, we just didn’t eat it. What we did find were several vendors who had good ole country cookin and there is one vendor who has the best roasted corn I’ve ever eaten. If you get it make sure to ask for it to be double dunked in the butter. That is not to say that we didn’t get a large container of boiled peanuts and a caramel apple to bring home.

Just in case you didn’t know, the Gwinnett County Fairgrounds are located on Sugarloaf Parkway between Highway 124 and Highway 20 in Lawrenceville.

At last nights Lighting of the Great Tree, there was a video of Mayor Shirley Franklin announcing a photo contest of holiday lights in Atlanta. The contest is called “Holiday Lights, Southern Nights” and runs through December 15. Metro Atlanta residents are encouraged to submit photos of their holiday lights and decorations to www.atlanta.net. The photos will be voted on and the top three winners will receive the following prizes: A $500 Fresh Market gift card for Third Place, A $1,000 Macy’s gift card for Second Place and the Grand Prize of $2,500. All three winners will receive tickets to some of Atlanta’s most sought after attractions such as The Georgia Aquarium, The Atlanta Botanical Gardens and The Fernbank Museum of Natural History.

Let’s spread the word about this contest and give the voters an even more difficult job than normal in choosing the winners. Some of you started your decorating for the holidays right after Halloween and you have a good jump on the rest of us. But don’t worry, we will be getting our decorations up in plenty of time to get the photos submitted. The sooner you get your pictures submitted the more time they will be available for the voters. So hurry and get your photos in and give your fellow Atlantan’s plenty of time to vote on your holiday decorations.

As the holiday season approaches, Atlanta probably will not see a white Christmas as other areas of the country will. However we will have quite a few fun filled and totally entertaining events. Newer residents may be looking for a special event or two to attend while some of our more established residents may need a refresher course on some of the fun things to do during the holidays in Atlanta. While this list does not contain every event, my family has enjoyed these and have made them a holiday tradition.

1. The Lighting of The Great Tree atop Macy’s at Lenox Square – A Thanksgiving Night Tradition
2. Putting up our tree and decorations – We have collected decorations from all of our travels and decorating our tree is like a trip down memory lane
3. If you have children take them to ride the Pink Pig
4. The Festival of Trees – Benefiting Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
5. Light display at Lake Lanier Islands
6. Light display at Stone Mountain Park
7. Light display at Callaway Gardens
8. The Atlanta Ballet performance of The Nutcracker
9. The Chick-Fil-A Bowl
10. The Peach Drop on New Years Eve

It’s time to start making your plans to take in some of the festive events that metro Atlanta has to offer during the holidays. Hopefully this helps.

OK Atlanta, mark your calenders, on October 27, 2007 an auction will be held to benefit Children’s Miracle Network and Childrens Healthcare of Atlanta. The event will take place at Four Seasons Auction House in Buckhead and The Atlanta Auction Company will be in charge of the auction. Starting at 7:00 PM, with registration and time to preview the auction items, cocktails and heavy hors d’oeuvres will be served. As items become available and as additional information and scheduling is announced it will be posted here as well as other sites.

Of course any project of this magnitude requires alot of behind the scenes work and many sponsors to help with donations both of auction items as well as cash. If you would be interested in making a donation please contact RE/MAX Around Atlanta Partners in Duluth.

I thought it would be nice to post at the beginning of each month with things to do in Atlanta for the month. Please understand that this may not be a complete list of everything that you may want to do, however it could be a good list to start from.

We should start with Atlanta Braves Baseball. The season starts this week and of course continues through the summer. On the 13th thru the 15th The Atlanta Dogwood Festival will be held at Piedmont Park. On the 14th thru the 30th the Georgia Renaissance Festival will be held. For information call 770-964-8575. The Atlanta Film Festival will be held from the 20th thru the 28th. On the 21st and 22nd you could enjoy the auto show and swap meet at Horse Power at The Park, which will be at the Georgia International Horsepark.

This is just an example of some of the events happening in the Atlanta area for the month of April. If you have an event that you would like to have featured just let me know by adding a comment below.

From March 4th thru March 7th, Atlanta will be the hosting the RE/MAX International Convention. The last time RE/MAX held their International convention in Atlanta was 1992. Alot has changed since then. The RE/MAX network has grown substantially as has the population of Atlanta. 

So RE/MAX agents, while visiting Atlanta you will want to take in some of the sights that makes our city so rich in history and such a popular tourist destination. New attractions as well as many long time favorites provide visitors with a variety of opportunities for visiting areas of interest. Allow some extra time while you are here, you won’t regret it.

The Welcome Reception is being held at The Georgia Aquarium. You don’t want to miss this awesome attraction. Several other areas you may want to visit include:

• The Atlanta Zoo to see the new Giant Panda Cub
• For Civil War buffs The Cyclorama is a pictoral display of the Battle of Atlanta
• See the largest piece of exposed Granite in the world at Stone Mountain Park – It’s more interesting than just looking at a rock. The Golf Tornament will be held here.
• The King Center National Historic site that educates about the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Visit CNN Center
• Atlanta is home to Coca-Cola and The World of Coca-Cola near Underground Atlanta
• For shopping of course you will want to visit Lenox Square and Phipps Plaza in the Buckhead area

Looking forward to seeing you here!