Christina and I had a brutal time getting to Atlanta and arrived late on Friday, June 7. We left straight from work and came dangerously close to missing our plane due to an already-late Uber driver stopping for Starbucks on the way. So of course our reaction was to seek out an escape room immediately upon landing.
We had a packed schedule for the weekend. Christina’s sister was graduating high school on Saturday. Sunday we planned to take a road trip to North Carolina to visit Christina’s grandparents. Monday we had an appointment with a jeweler to choose our wedding bands. So with the calendar nearly full, we managed to squeeze in only two escape rooms, plus a visit to Atlanta’s world-class aquarium.
Our first stop in Atlanta was Netherworld Escape. I took note of this business during my last trip to Atlanta, but I really wanted to have a guest with me given how one of their unique elements was giving each player in one of their rooms a secret side objective to accomplish during the mission. So now with Christina by my side, we signed up and went for it.
We played the Nosferatu room at Netherworld, and it was a wonderful experience (I’ll write about it in more detail separately). The room was well-designed with plenty to solve and the side objectives added a fun layer to the game. Also, we’ve been on a roll recently with being paired up with great teams. The four strangers we joined were brilliantly organized and communicated theories and discoveries readily.
Saturday we spent the day around Georgia Tech’s campus celebrating the graduation, so not too much to report from a puzzle perspective here (aside from figuring out the best way to follow the AHL playoffs while celebrating at a classy restaurant). Sunday we spent the day in a quiet mountainside resort town in North Carolina, in an area carved out by the Tennessee Valley Authority in the early 20th century. I tried looking for Geocaches in a few historically significant spots, but unfortunately the mountains in the area obstructed all our phone signals and we couldn’t check.
On the return trip from North Carolina to Atlanta, we stopped at Z Escape on the way and tried their Cells escape room. We were pleasantly surprised that the room was a 75 minute experience (I’m always thrilled when we get to play a room that’s longer than one hour), and we treated both of Christina’s parents and her sister to the game. Everyone loved it, even though the timing meant that after the game, Waffle House was our only option for dinner. (I was fine with this turn of events- I love breakfast food for dinner.)
Monday, the last day of our trip, we nearly attempted another escape room or two, but we opted to visit the Atlanta Braves’ ballpark and the Georgia Aquarium. Even though I regularly visit Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium, the Georgia Aquarium was still well worth the visit, particularly for the exhibit featuring whale sharks and manta rays, two specimens we don’t have in Chicago.
For a three day trip, we were a little light on the puzzles, but it was great to be back in Atlanta and to see another side of North Carolina I’ve never been through.
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