As a first year, and a person who had essentially zero independence prior to college, it has been difficult to transition into college and learn to take care of myself. I am from Columbia, South Carolina, which is around three hours away from Agnes Scott College. So, I don’t get to see my family very often and when I do it is me driving all the way home to visit. Recently, through a domino effect of roomate switches, I wound up in a single dorm. When my mother found out she was thrilled, seeing it as an opportunity to come and stay with me.
Over the past weekend my mom came and spent two nights in my dorm room. This was the first time I really experienced being a host, having a guest come and stay at a place that was my own. This was also the first time my mother had stayed in a dorm since she would have been a freshman in college. I knew I had to pull together a fun weekend taking her to all my favorite things in Decatur and Atlanta, and make dorm life as bearable as possible for her.
On Friday night when she arrived we headed The Iberian Pig in Decatur Square, but unfortunately the wait was over an hour, so instead I took her to Brush, my favorite Sushi place in Decatur, it was practically empty at seven on a Friday night, no wait at all, I would definitely recommend this as an upscale option with no reservation required. After dinner I took her to Butter and Cream, a must for people visiting Decatur and a favorite dessert spot for Scotties. While my mom did not want ice cream she was more than pleased with their other homemade dessert options.
Finally, it was time to retire to my dorm. I didn’t have much ideas in terms of entertainment, it was not like I could take my mom to a party or to hangout with my friends at Waffle House. Netflix crime documentaries were the way to go. It wasn’t until it was time to sleep that the situation was less optimal than a hotel. At this point I have gotten used to wearing shoes in the shower and sharing a communal bathroom, but it was a little awkward for my mom, but doable. The only real problem we encountered is all the noise in the hallway and kitchen, something again I have gotten somewhat used to. Running my fan to create some white noise really helped.
The next day, I had all my favorite things Atlanta has to offer that are mom friendly lined up. First we went to Ponce City Market, my favorite place to shop and grab lunch. My mom especially enjoyed Topstich Studio, an independent fabric store with bold fashion fabrics and patterns from small company’s you won’t find at big fabric store brands (they also offer lessons which I plan to go to later). We ate lunch at W.H. Stiles Fish Camp, somewhere I had never been so I was a little nervous about (I felt so much pressure to make the perfect weekend). It turned out to be amazing, I had the calamari which was increible, and my mom had a shrimp po boy, which she said was the best one she had ever had.
My mom is an elementary school art teacher, so naturally I thought that the High Museum of Art would be a good activity. We did both enjoy it however a large portion of the collection is folk art/self taught art while my mom’s preference is toward impressionist and contemporary art, the hours of the museum are also more limited on the weekends and parking and tickets were pretty pricey. After that I took my mom to Little Five Points to do some more shopping and eat dinner. Unfortunately, at five thirty it was already very crowded in the area and the only parking was $10 which had to be in cash. We were able to eat at Savage Pizza, but could not go to any of my favorite thrift stores. I would recommend going there earlier in the day or to bringing some cash with you.
To finish the day we went to Lenox mall and spent at least two hours in the J.Crew. Their winter clothes were on super sale and all the new spring clothes were out. It was the perfect time to be there.
Sunday morning we went to breakfast at Highland Bakery, which was not crowded and had no wait unlike many restaurants serving brunch in the area. I asked her how her trip to Atlanta was, she said it was great, although she didn’t come to visit Atlanta, she came to spend time with me. It was great to catch up with my mom and hear how my family was doing and sort of take a break from college life and go back to the way things used to be. While it was a bit strange having her stay in my room, we both really enjoyed the weekend and she definitely wants to come and stay here again.