Arriving in Atlanta, we made our way to the Corps of Engineers Campground at Alatoona Lake, McKinney Campground. Most COE campgrounds we have stayed at are really nice, and when we arrived, we asked for the best available site that we could fit on. With only three or four campers here, we got an excellent lake front site.



Our friends, Rodney and Kay also drove down from Nashville to visit friends, so while Kay was visiting, we spent time with Rodney and another friend who moved down here, Sam. Checking Yelp, we found a BBQ joint named Scott's with 9 ratings - all had given Scott's the  highest rating, so we decided to go and had a really excellent lunch there. 



Why can't we find a place like this in Chi town?

Taking a few pictures in the place, another patron approached us and asked if we wanted to buy a camera just like the one we were using (several year old Sony that was a very good camera in its day). He only wanted $50 (I had paid about $750). We took his number, and a little later the owner came around and we got to talking - he was a photographer and interested in the camera, so we gave him the fellow's number. Maybe we facilitated a sale!

We have been watching a show on Discovery Channel called Auction Kings 
based out of Atlanta (9pm Tuesdays in Chicago), and were surprised to find they had an auction going on the day we would be here! Since they only hold one or two a month, it was fortunate they had one going, not only on the day, but at time we could make! We talked Rodney and Sam into accompanying us, and set off for the auction. 

Can you imagine our surprise when we saw the film crews interviewing people outside the auction barn and the cameras set up inside too? They were filming for season 3? This was going to be fun to watch. 


We arrived just as the auction started, got our bidding numbers, and found some seats. We weren't too surprised at how much better the auction house looked on TV than in the flesh. 

Pretty soon, Sam was marveling at the bargains, and it was all we could do to stop him from bidding - we didn't have room to carry the stuff back to his place! All four of the main characters from the show were there, and it was neat to see them do their thing.

We (especially Anne) are always looking for interesting ornamental things to put in our garden, and when a cast iron Civil War pot came up, we just couldn't resist bidding on it. Pretty soon it was ours for $50 (ouch)! Soon after we bought another cast iron tea pot for $25. 


We had to leave shortly after our purchases, and when we got outside, the film crew wanted to interview us for possible use on the show!! They usually put these spots (that's a technical TV term, ya know) at the end of the show. They told us that the crew in LA cuts the show together from many clips, so a given segment may contain clips from different auctions. It took about 15 minutes to answer questions and get the shots they wanted plus signing waivers. It was all pretty interesting!

But we will probably wind up on the cutting room floor.........  

We managed to get into a pretty big traffic jam on the way back to the campground. 


But overall, we did enjoy Atlanta, especially visiting with Sam and Rodney.